UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 20-F
(Mark One)
¨ | REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
OR
x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 |
OR
¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
OR
¨ | SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
Date of event requiring this shell company report .
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 000-53776. |
China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited
(Translation of Registrants name into English)
British Virgin Islands
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
Suite 2204, 22/F, Sun Life Tower
The Gateway, 15 Canton Road
Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
(Address of principal executive office)
Mr. Sio Kam Seng
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited
Suite 2204, 22/F, Sun Life Tower, The Gateway
15 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Telephone: (852) 2111 3815
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.
(Title of each class) | (Name of each exchange on which registered) | |
Ordinary shares, par value US$0.001 per share |
NYSE MKT |
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.
None
(Title of Class)
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.
None
(Title of Class)
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuers classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the Period covered by the Annual Report.
As of March 31, 2015 there were 73,543,782 shares of the issuers ordinary shares, $0.001 par value outstanding and 100,000 shares of the issuers preferred shares, $0.001 par value outstanding.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.¨ Yes x No
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.¨ Yes x No
NoteChecking the box above will not relieve any registrant required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from their obligations under those Sections.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.x Yes ¨ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of accelerated filer and large accelerated filer in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer ¨ |
Accelerated filer ¨ | Non-accelerated filer x |
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
U.S. GAAP ¨ | International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board x |
Other ¨ |
If Other has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.¨ Item 17 ¨ Item 18
If this is an Annual Report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).¨ Yes x No
(APPLICABLE ONLY TO ISSUERS INVOLVED IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS
DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed all documents and reports required to be filed by Sections 12, 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 subsequent to the distribution of securities under a plan confirmed by a court. ¨ Yes ¨ No
Page | ||||
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Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers |
1 | |||
1 | ||||
1 | ||||
30 | ||||
70 | ||||
71 | ||||
91 | ||||
97 | ||||
103 | ||||
104 | ||||
105 | ||||
Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk |
127 | |||
Item 12. Description of Securities Other Than Equity Securities |
128 | |||
129 | ||||
Item 14. Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of Proceeds |
129 | |||
129 | ||||
130 | ||||
130 | ||||
130 | ||||
130 | ||||
Item 16D. Exemptions From the Listing Standards for Audit Committees |
131 | |||
Item 16E. Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers |
131 | |||
131 | ||||
131 | ||||
132 | ||||
133 | ||||
133 | ||||
134 |
i
This Annual Report on Form 20-F relates to our ordinary shares, par value US$0.001 per share, which are traded on the NYSE MKT under the ticker symbol CNR.
In this Annual Report, references to the Company or China Metro are to China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, and/or, as the context requires, its primary subsidiaries: China Metro-Rural Limited, a limited company incorporated in the Cayman Islands and continued into the British Virgin Islands and Man Sang International Limited, a Bermuda company listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and/or, as the context requires, the subsidiaries of: China Metro-Rural Limited or Man Sang International Limited. References to the Merger are to the merger of Creative Gains Limited, a British Virgin Islands company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited that was acquired by China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited on December 1, 2009 solely for the purpose of entering into the Merger Agreement and effecting the Merger (Merger Sub) with and into China Metro-Rural Limited whereby the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub ceased and China Metro-Rural Limited continues as the surviving company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited. The Merger was completed on March 22, 2010. Prior to a name change on March 19, 2010, China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited was named Man Sang International (B.V.I.) Limited, or MSBVI. On July 28, 2010, the Company declared a dividend to its shareholders which was satisfied by way of distribution in specie of the entire equity interest in Man Sang International Limited, or MSIL, held by the Company, represented approximately 494 million ordinary shares of MSIL, or the Distribution, and was completed in August 2010. Subsequent to the Distribution, which is further discussed under Presentation of Financial Information, the Company no longer holds any interests in MSIL and its subsidiaries.
PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION
This is our sixth filing as a foreign private issuer on Form 20-F, and the sixth filing to include consolidated financial statements of the Company on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) giving the effect to our redomiciling transaction and common control merger, as described further below. The acquisition of equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited, occurred during the year ended March 31, 2010, has been accounted for as a combination of entities under common control in a manner similar to pooling of interests as both the Company and China Metro-Rural Limited were controlled by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky immediately prior to and immediately after the Merger. On this basis, the consolidated financial statements of China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited for periods prior to the Merger have been restated to include, to the extent of the equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited held by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, the assets and liabilities and results of operations of China Metro-Rural Limited for those periods as if China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited had owned China Metro-Rural Limited at the beginning of the financial period reported in the consolidated financial statements or when MSBVI and China Metro-Rural Limited came under common control by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, whichever is later, and all assets and liabilities of China Metro-Rural Limited have been stated at historical carrying amounts. The acquisition by the Company of interest owned by all the shareholders of China Metro, including Mr. Cheng, was treated as an equity transaction at the completion date of the Merger.
On July 28, 2010, the Company announced its decision to distribute its entire equity interest in Man Sang International Limited, or MSIL, to the Companys shareholders, or Distribution. On November 30, 2012, the Company disposed of its entire equity interest in China Focus City (H.K.) Holdings Limited (HK CFC) and, in effect, disposed of its entire equity interest in Qiqihar China Focus City Holdings (Group) Co., Ltd. (Qiqihar CFC). In line with the accounting policies of the Company and its subsidiaries, or the Group, the results attributable to MSIL, HK CFC and Qiqihar CFC are shown as discontinued operations in the Groups consolidated financial statements.
ii
The results of the continuing operations are presented in the consolidated income statements for each of the three years ended March 31, 2015. However, discontinued operations are presented in the consolidated income statements for the same periods as a separate amount, comprising the total of the post-tax profit or loss of the discontinued operations for the period together with any post-tax gain or loss recognized on the measurement to fair value less costs to sell, of the assets/disposal groups constituting discontinued operations.
Percentages and some amounts in this Annual Report have been rounded for ease of presentation. Any discrepancies between totals and the sums of the amounts listed are due to rounding.
In this Annual Report, unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, all references to U.S. dollars, dollars or US$ are to the legal currency of the United States and all references to H.K. dollars or HK$ are to the legal currency of Hong Kong. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from H.K. dollars to U.S. dollars were made at the rate of HK$7.8 to US$1.0, representing the rate for U.S. dollars in New York for cable transfers in Hong Kong dollars as certified for custom purposes by Federal Reserve Bank of New York. On July 24, 2015, the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfers in H.K. dollars per U.S. dollar as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was HK$7.7513 to US$1.00. We make no representation that the H.K. dollar or U.S. dollar amounts referred to in this Annual Report could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or H.K. dollars, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. See Key InformationExchange Rate Information for more detailed information regarding the translation of H.K. Dollars into U.S. dollars.
In addition, this Annual Report contains translations of Renminbi (RMB) amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience the readers of this Annual Report. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars were made at the rate of RMB6.20 to US$1.00. On July 24, 2015, the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfers in RMB per U.S. dollar as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was RMB6.2095 to US$1.00. We make no representation that the RMB or U.S. dollar amounts referred to in this Annual Report could have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. See Key InformationExchange Rate Information for more detailed information regarding the translation of RMB into U.S. dollars.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this Annual Report which are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Actual results and trends may differ materially from historical results or those projected in any such forward-looking statements depending on a variety of factors, including those described under Risk Factors beginning on page 9 of this Annual Report.
Our statements regarding market risks, including interest rate risk, foreign exchange rate risk, commodity risk, asset price risk, equity market risk, inflation and deflation, are subject to uncertainty. For example, certain market risk disclosures are dependent on choices about key model characteristics and assumptions and are subject to various limitations. By their nature, certain of the market risk disclosures are only estimates and, as a result, actual future gains and losses could differ materially from those that have been estimated.
All forward-looking statements in this Annual Report are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and no person undertakes any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason, except as required by law, even as new information becomes available or other events occur in the future. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
iii
PART I
Item 1. | Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers |
Not Applicable.
Item 2. | Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable |
Not Applicable.
Item 3. | Key Information |
A. Selected Financial Data
The acquisition of equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited, occurred during the year ended March 31, 2010, has been accounted for as a combination of entities under common control in a manner similar to pooling of interests as both the Company and China Metro-Rural Limited were controlled by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky immediately prior to and immediately after the Merger. On this basis, the consolidated financial statements of China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited for periods prior to the Merger have been restated to include, to the extent of the equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited held by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, the assets and liabilities and results of operations of China Metro-Rural Limited for those periods as if China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited had been the holding company of China Metro-Rural Limited at the beginning of the financial period reported in the consolidated financial statements or when the Company and China Metro-Rural Limited came under common control by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, whichever is later, and all assets and liabilities of China Metro-Rural Limited have been stated at historical carrying amounts. The acquisition by the Company of interest owned by all the shareholders of China Metro, including Mr. Cheng, was treated as an equity transaction at the completion date of the Merger.
On July 28, 2010, the Company declared a dividend to its shareholders which was satisfied by way of distribution in specie of the entire equity interest in Man Sang International Limited, or MSIL, held by the Company, represented approximately 494 million ordinary shares of MSIL, or the Distribution, and was completed in August 2010. Upon the completion of the Distribution, the Group no longer held any interests in MSIL and has discontinued its pearls and real estate businesses, or Man Sang Discontinued Operations, which was previously operated through MSIL. The summary of consolidated income statement re-presents the results of continuing operations, where the results of MSIL are accounted for as discontinued operations net of taxation for all years presented.
On November 30, 2012, the Company disposed of the entire equity interest in HK CFC and, in effect, disposed of the entire equity interest in Qiqihar CFC, which currently represented the Companys entire rural-urban migration and city re-development business in Qiqihar. Upon the disposal of HK CFC and Qiqihar CFC, the Group has discontinued its rural-urban migration and city re-development business in Qiqihar, or Qiqihar Discontinued Operations. The summary of consolidated income statement re-presents the results of continuing operations, where the results of HK CFC and Qiqihar CFC are accounted for as discontinued operations net of taxation for all years presented.
The selected consolidated statements of operation data of the Group presents the results for the five years ended March 31, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The Companys historical results do not necessarily indicate results expected for any future periods. The selected consolidated financial data below should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects below, and the other information contained in this Form 20-F.
1
The selected consolidated income statements of the Group for the years ended March 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The selected consolidated income statements of the Group for the years ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 18, 2013.
For the years ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
(HK$ in thousands, except for number of shares and per share data) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Income Statements Data: |
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Continuing Operations: |
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Revenue |
1,400,753 | 387,016 | 284,759 | 765,872 | 581,573 | |||||||||||||||
Cost of sales |
(817,112 | ) | (133,105 | ) | (217,955 | ) | (467,195 | ) | (352,265 | ) | ||||||||||
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Gross profit |
583,641 | 253,911 | 66,804 | 298,677 | 229,308 | |||||||||||||||
Other income, net |
2,888 | 16,685 | 67,535 | 61,363 | 68,234 | |||||||||||||||
Other gains/(losses), net |
40,584 | 101,412 | (69,617 | ) | 6,828 | 120,456 | ||||||||||||||
Selling expenses |
(35,304 | ) | (31,171 | ) | (32,254 | ) | (24,212 | ) | (22,436 | ) | ||||||||||
Administrative expenses |
(252,334 | ) | (154,948 | ) | (112,504 | ) | (117,922 | ) | (64,748 | ) | ||||||||||
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Operating profit/(loss) |
339,475 | 185,889 | (80,036 | ) | 224,734 | 330,814 | ||||||||||||||
Finance income/(costs)net |
7,842 | 10,492 | 4,384 | 389 | (3,124 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Share of loss of an associate |
(12,813 | ) | (2,258 | ) | (1,606 | ) | (2,456 | ) | (386 | ) | ||||||||||
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Profit/(loss) before income tax |
334,504 | 194,123 | (77,258 | ) | 222,667 | 327,304 | ||||||||||||||
Income tax expenses |
(280,455 | ) | (86,839 | ) | (35,746 | ) | (90,202 | ) | (124,630 | ) | ||||||||||
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Profit/(loss) for the year from continuing operations |
54,049 | 107,284 | (113,004 | ) | 132,465 | 202,674 | ||||||||||||||
Discontinued operations: |
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Profit for the year from discontinued operations, net of tax |
| | 17,532 | 98,594 | 29,878 | |||||||||||||||
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Profit/(loss) for the year |
54,049 | 107,284 | (95,742 | ) | 231,059 | 232,552 | ||||||||||||||
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Attributable to: |
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Equity holders of the Company |
61,246 | 104,331 | (101,104 | ) | 208,986 | 227,346 | ||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests |
(7,197 | ) | 2,953 | 5,632 | 22,073 | 5,206 | ||||||||||||||
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54,049 | 107,284 | (95,742 | ) | 231,059 | 232,552 | |||||||||||||||
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Earnings/(loss) per share from continuing and discontinued operations attributable to equity holders of the Company during the year: |
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Basic earnings/(loss) per share |
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From continuing operation |
HK$ | 0.83 | HK$ | 1.42 | HK$ | (1.61 | ) | HK$ | 1.56 | HK$ | 3.17 | |||||||||
From discontinued operations |
| | HK$ | 0.24 | HK$ | 1.40 | HK$ | 0.37 | ||||||||||||
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HK$ | 0.83 | HK$ | 1.42 | HK$ | (1.37 | ) | HK$ | 2.96 | HK$ | 3.54 | ||||||||||
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Diluted earnings/(loss) per share |
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From continuing operation |
HK$ | 0.04 | HK$ | 0.18 | HK$ | (1.61 | ) | HK$ | 1.56 | HK$ | 3.17 | |||||||||
From discontinued operations |
| | HK$ | 0.24 | HK$ | 1.40 | HK$ | 0.37 | ||||||||||||
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HK$ | 0.04 | HK$ | 0.18 | HK$ | (1.37 | ) | HK$ | 2.96 | HK$ | 3.54 | ||||||||||
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Shares used in computation of: |
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Basic earnings/(loss) per share |
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From continuing operation |
73,544,000 | 73,544,000 | 73,544,000 | 70,536,000 | 64,126,000 | |||||||||||||||
From discontinued operations |
73,544,000 | 73,544,000 | 73,544,000 | 70,536,000 | 64,126,000 | |||||||||||||||
Diluted earnings/(loss) per share |
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From continuing operation |
152,120,000 | 129,043,000 | 73,544,000 | 70,536,000 | 64,126,000 | |||||||||||||||
From discontinued operations |
152,120,000 | 129,043,000 | 73,544,000 | 70,536,000 | 64,126,000 | |||||||||||||||
DividendNon-cash (HK$000) |
| | | | 466,474 | |||||||||||||||
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2
The following table sets forth selected statements of financial position data of the Group as of the dates indicated. The selected consolidated statements of financial position data of the Group as of March 31, 2015 and 2014 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The selected consolidated statements of financial position data of the Group as of March 31, 2013 and 2012 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 18, 2013. The selected consolidated statement of financial position data of the Group as of March 31, 2011 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 16, 2012.
As of March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
(HK$ in thousands, except for number of shares) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Statements of Financial Position Data: |
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Total non-current assets |
1,175,257 | 969,940 | 934,448 | 903,966 | 855,083 | |||||||||||||||
Total current assets |
4,755,408 | 3,373,854 | 2,268,430 | 2,271,913 | 1,010,026 | |||||||||||||||
Total assets |
5,930,665 | 4,343,794 | 3,202,878 | 3,175,879 | 1,865,109 | |||||||||||||||
Total current liabilities |
3,773,831 | 1,974,140 | 1,267,633 | 1,506,647 | 664,505 | |||||||||||||||
Total non-current liabilities |
747,451 | 1,046,578 | 745,830 | 393,622 | 362,937 | |||||||||||||||
Total liabilities |
4,521,282 | 3,020,718 | 2,013,463 | 1,900,269 | 1,027,442 | |||||||||||||||
Total equity |
1,409,383 | 1,323,076 | 1,189,415 | 1,275,610 | 837,667 | |||||||||||||||
Share capital issued and outstanding (Preferred share 200,000; ordinary share 1,000,000,000, US$0.001 each (approximately HK$0.0078 each)) |
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Preferred share |
100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | |||||||||||||||
Ordinary share |
73,543,782 | 73,543,782 | 73,543,782 | 73,543,782 | 64,125,804 |
3
The following table sets forth selected income statements data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations for the five years ended March 31, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The selected income statements data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations for the years ended March 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The selected income statements data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations for the years ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 18, 2013.
For the years ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
(HK$ in thousands, except for per share data) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Income Statements Data: Qiqihar Discontinued Operations: |
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Revenue |
| | | 147,896 | | |||||||||||||||
Cost of sales |
| | | (9,358 | ) | | ||||||||||||||
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Gross profit |
| | | 138,538 | | |||||||||||||||
Other income and gains, net |
| | 619 | | | |||||||||||||||
Expenses |
| | (28,929 | ) | (5,665 | ) | | |||||||||||||
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Operating (loss)/profit |
| | (28,310 | ) | 132,873 | | ||||||||||||||
Finance incomenet |
| | 8,009 | 238 | | |||||||||||||||
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(Loss)/profit before income tax |
| | (20,301 | ) | 133,111 | | ||||||||||||||
Income tax credits/(expenses) |
| | 5,355 | (34,517 | ) | | ||||||||||||||
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(Loss)/profit for the year |
| | (14,946 | ) | 98,594 | | ||||||||||||||
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations |
| | 32,478 | | | |||||||||||||||
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Profit from discontinued operations |
| | 17,532 | 98,594 | | |||||||||||||||
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Attributable to: |
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Equity holders of the Company |
| | 17,532 | 98,594 | | |||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests |
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| | 17,532 | 98,594 | | ||||||||||||||||
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Earnings per share for profit from Qiqihar Discontinued Operations attributable to equity holders of the Company during the year |
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Basic |
| | HK$ | 0.24 | HK$ | 1.40 | | |||||||||||||
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Diluted |
| | HK$ | 0.24 | HK$ | 1.40 | | |||||||||||||
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4
The following table sets forth selected statements of financial position data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations as of the dates indicated. The selected statements of financial position data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations as of November 30, 2012 (the date of the disposal) has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The selected statements of financial position data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations as of March 31, 2012 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 18, 2013.
As of November 30, |
As of March 31, | |||||||||||
2012 | 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||||
(HK$ in thousands) | ||||||||||||
Statements of Financial Position Data of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations: |
||||||||||||
Total non-current assets |
195,049 | 149,365 | | |||||||||
Total current assets |
941,107 | 298,035 | | |||||||||
Total assets |
1,136,156 | 447,400 | | |||||||||
Total current liabilities |
804,116 | 132,792 | | |||||||||
Total non-current liabilities |
| | | |||||||||
Total liabilities |
804,116 | 132,792 | | |||||||||
Total equity |
332,040 | 314,608 | |
5
The following table sets forth selected income statements data of Man Sang Discontinued Operations for the five years ended March 31, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 on the basis of International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. The selected income statements data of Man Sang Discontinued Operations for the year ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 18, 2013.
For the years ended March 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
(HK$ in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Income Statements Data: Man Sang Discontinued Operations: |
||||||||||||||||||||
Revenue |
| | | | 157,452 | |||||||||||||||
Cost of sales |
| | | | (117,241 | ) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Gross profit |
| | | | 40,211 | |||||||||||||||
Other income and gains, net |
| | | | 7,722 | |||||||||||||||
Recycling of exchange difference to profit or loss upon the Distribution |
| | | | 20,284 | |||||||||||||||
Expenses |
| | | | (33,983 | ) | ||||||||||||||
Increase in fair values of investment properties and investment properties under construction |
| | | | 1,592 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Operating profit/(loss) |
| | | | 35,826 | |||||||||||||||
Finance incomenet |
| | | | 87 | |||||||||||||||
Share of results of an associate |
| | | | 17 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Profit before income tax |
| | | | 35,930 | |||||||||||||||
Income tax (expenses)/credits |
| | | | (6,052 | ) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Profit for the year |
| | | | 29,878 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Attributable to: |
||||||||||||||||||||
Equity holders of the Company |
| | | | 23,950 | |||||||||||||||
Non-controlling interests |
| | | | 5,928 | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
| | | | 29,878 | ||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Earnings per share for profit from Man Sang Discontinued Operations attributable to equity holders of the Company during the year |
||||||||||||||||||||
Basic |
| | | | HK$ | 0.37 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
Diluted |
| | | | HK$ | 0.37 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
The following table sets forth selected statements of financial position data of Man Sang Discontinued Operations as of the dates indicated. The selected statements of financial position data of Man Sang Discontinued Operations as of July 28, 2010 (the date of the Distribution) have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included in the Companys Form 20-F filed with the SEC on July 11, 2011.
As of July 28, 2010 | ||||
(HK$ in thousands) | ||||
Statements of Financial Position Data of Man Sang Discontinued Operations: |
||||
Total non-current assets |
1,046,725 | |||
Total current assets |
1,069,473 | |||
Total assets |
2,116,198 | |||
Total current liabilities |
690,328 | |||
Total non-current liabilities |
153,541 | |||
Total liabilities |
843,869 | |||
Total equity |
1,272,329 |
Exchange Rate Information
The Hong Kong dollar is freely convertible into other currencies, including the U.S. dollar. Since 1983, the Hong Kong dollar has been generally linked to the U.S. dollar at the rate of HK$7.80 to US$1.00. Under existing Hong Kong law:
| there are no foreign exchange controls or other laws, decrees or regulations that affect the remittance of dividend payments to U.S. residents; and |
| there are no limitations on the rights of non-residents or foreign owners to hold the Companys ordinary or preferred shares. |
The Basic Law of Hong Kong, or the Basic Law, which came into effect on July 1, 1997, provides that no foreign exchange control policies shall be applied in Hong Kong.
The market exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar against the U.S. dollar continues to be determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange market. However, against the background of the fixed rate system which applies to the issuance and withdrawal of Hong Kong currency in circulation, the market exchange rate has not deviated significantly from the level of HK$7.80 to US$1.00. The Hong Kong government has indicated its intention to maintain the link at that rate. Under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong dollar will continue to circulate and remain freely convertible. The Hong Kong government has also stated that it has no intention of imposing exchange controls in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong dollar will remain freely convertible into other currencies, including the U.S. dollar.
On May 18, 2005, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the introduction of certain refinements to the operation of the linked exchange rate system. These refinements effectively set the market exchange rate of the Hong Kong dollar against the U.S. dollar within a fixed trading range from HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 against US$1.00. However, the Company cannot assure you that the Hong Kong government will maintain the linked exchange rate system within the range of HK$7.75 to HK$7.85, or at all.
7
The following table sets forth the noon buying exchange rate for U.S. dollars in New York City for cable transfers in Hong Kong dollars as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the periods indicated:
Exchange Rate | ||||||||||||||||
Period End |
High | Average (1) | Low | |||||||||||||
(HK$ per US$) | ||||||||||||||||
Last Five Fiscal Years |
||||||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2011 |
7.7750 | 7.8040 | 7.7745 | 7.7501 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2012 |
7.7656 | 7.8087 | 7.7772 | 7.7532 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2013 |
7.7629 | 7.7699 | 7.7554 | 7.7493 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014 |
7.7567 | 7.7669 | 7.7571 | 7.7512 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015 |
7.7754 | 7.7686 | 7.7538 | 7.7495 | ||||||||||||
Last Six Months |
||||||||||||||||
January 2015 |
7.7529 | 7.7563 | 7.7531 | 7.7508 | ||||||||||||
February 2015 |
7.7559 | 7.7584 | 7.7551 | 7.7517 | ||||||||||||
March 2015 |
7.7540 | 7.7686 | 7.7584 | 7.7534 | ||||||||||||
April 2015 |
7.7513 | 7.7525 | 7.7509 | 7.7495 | ||||||||||||
May 2015 |
7.7535 | 7.7594 | 7.7527 | 7.7505 | ||||||||||||
June 2015 |
7.7513 | 7.7567 | 7.7528 | 7.7513 |
(1) | For the years indicated, the average exchange rates are determined by averaging the exchange rates on the last business day of each month during the relevant period. For the months indicated, the average exchange rates are determined by averaging the exchange rates on each day of the month. |
On July 24, 2015, the exchange rate was HK$7.7513 per US $1.00.
The following table sets forth the noon buying exchange rate for U.S. dollars in New York City for cable transfers in Renminbi (RMB) as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the periods indicated:
Exchange Rate | ||||||||||||||||
Period End |
High | Average (1) | Low | |||||||||||||
(RMB per US$) | ||||||||||||||||
Last Five Fiscal Years |
||||||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2011 |
6.5483 | 6.8323 | 6.6972 | 6.5483 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2012 |
6.2975 | 6.5477 | 6.3970 | 6.2935 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2013 |
6.2108 | 6.3879 | 6.2787 | 6.2105 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014 |
6.2164 | 6.2273 | 6.1220 | 6.0402 | ||||||||||||
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015 |
6.1990 | 6.2741 | 6.1952 | 6.1107 | ||||||||||||
Last Six Months |
||||||||||||||||
January 2015 |
6.2495 | 6.2535 | 6.2187 | 6.1870 | ||||||||||||
February 2015 |
6.2695 | 6.2695 | 6.2518 | 6.2399 | ||||||||||||
March 2015 |
6.2065 | 6.2741 | 6.2386 | 6.1955 | ||||||||||||
April 2015 |
6.2018 | 6.2185 | 6.2010 | 6.1927 | ||||||||||||
May 2015 |
6.1980 | 6.2086 | 6.2035 | 6.1958 | ||||||||||||
June 2015 |
6.2000 | 6.2086 | 6.2052 | 6.1976 |
(1) | For the years indicated, the average exchange rates are determined by averaging the exchange rates on the last business day of each month during the relevant period. For the months indicated, the average exchange rates are determined by averaging the exchange rates on each day of the month. |
On July 24, 2015, the exchange rate was RMB6.2095 per US$1.00.
8
B. Capitalization and Indebtedness
Not applicable.
C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds
Not applicable.
D. Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business
Our ability to execute our business strategy and grow on our agricultural logistics businesses and rural-urban migration and city re-development business will depend in part on the success of the PRCs agricultural industry and the economic growth and implementation of government policies, and if the PRC agricultural industry and economy do not continue to grow at a strong rate or the local government fails to implement its policies, our business may suffer.
We have established logistics platforms in Tieling, Liaoning Province called China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, Dezhou, Shandong Province called China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, Hengyang, Hunan Province called China Glorious CityHengyang and Zhoukou, Henan Province called China Glorious CityZhoukou, which are available to regional and international traders based upon an open and free market system for the mutual benefit of sellers and buyers. The logistics platforms are designed to facilitate the marketing of products provided or desired by willing buyers and sellers. Agriculture products have risk exposure, including weather, climate and seasonal price fluctuations. Farmers are exposed to risks associated with output and input prices, production volume and risks associated with income from non-farm sources.
In the past, we established a rural-urban migration and city re-development business in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province called China Focus CityQiqihar, which was available to Qiqihar as well as regional traders and residents which was to be comprised of commercial, business, residential and governmental districts. China Focus CityQiqihar was designed to accommodate the local governments plan to relocate the administration center of Qiqihar. Following the disposal of China Focus CityQiqihar in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, we have continued to carry out this business through existing locations. The rural-urban migration and city re-development business has risk exposure including change of local and national economic climates and government policies.
Our results of operation may be significantly adversely affected by these risks.
The PRC Government may introduce new green laws with environmental challenges that may have an adverse effect on our actual and prospective tenants and customers, and therefore could adversely affect our operations.
There are few quantitative estimates of projected environmental degradation associated with intensive agricultural production. Yet environmental cleanup will pose a competing challenge for investment in agriculture. Abundant use of coal to meet the increasing demands for energy and rapid growth of cities with associated growth of automobiles and municipal waste have been large sources of incredibly high levels of air pollution in China.
Acid rain and water use and pollution associated with industrialization and urbanization are other major sources of water constraint. Disposal of industrial waste and organic fertilizer runoffs has been the major source of water pollution. Yet the health impact has been generally contained due to the widespread availability of safe drinking water. Still, water pollution is increasing water shortages and increasing the cost of provision of drinking water since this often requires that people move to safer areas.
9
Chinas per capita energy demand and increased use of automobiles associated with urbanization will critically shape the environmental prospects in China. Reduction in environmental pollution will require the PRC Government to encourage the replacement of outdated and environmentally polluting technologies, increasing energy efficiency and emission standards comparable to those used in Europe and the U.S., and price polluting industrial inputs to reflect the cost of pollution cleanup. The PRC Government would also need to consider imposing taxes on such items as coal, based on sulfur and ash content, investing in alternative technologies in public transport and domestic energy use, such as the greater use of gas for cooking, planning and regulating industrial, and public and household uses more effectively. Each of these events could have a material adverse effect on our operations.
The results of our operations substantially depend on our ability to execute our business strategy and on economic growth in the regions of our trade center projects.
The results of our operations substantially depend on the successful execution of our business strategy to attract and retain high quality tenants, achieve market rental rates and improve the surrounding infrastructure. Our success will also depend upon continuing growth in the economic activities region, as well as regions surrounding properties planned for future development, and our ability to compete with other similar businesses. We may face challenges in implementing our strategy, and our ability to achieve our goals may be adversely affected by various factors, some of which are beyond our control. If we are not able to execute our business strategy or successfully compete with other similar businesses, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
We may not be able to increase our revenues from servicing and assignments of development rights, sales or leases of properties or achieve satisfactory rental rates from period to period.
Our revenues from the sales of trade center units in fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2014 were HK$273.4 million and HK$205.0 million, respectively. Our revenue from the leases of properties decreased from HK$5.0 million in the fiscal year 2013 to HK$4.8 million in the fiscal year 2014 and our revenue from property management services decreased from HK$6.4 million in the fiscal year 2013 to HK$5.4 million in the fiscal year 2014. Our revenue from servicing and assignments of development rights in the fiscal year 2014 was HK$171.8 million. Our revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 was HK$1,400.7 million, which includes revenue from sales of trade centers units, leases of properties, property management services and hotel income of HK$1,393.9 million, HK$2.9 million, HK$2.8 million and HK$1.1 million, respectively.
Each servicing and assignment of development rights was negotiated with independent third parties on a case by case basis and the premium may be significantly affected by economic climates and other factors at the time of negotiation. We therefore cannot assure you that, in the future, we will be able to negotiate a premium that is higher than a rate we have already achieved in previous periods, nor we will be able to increase the number of successful negotiations with independent third parties.
Our certain commission lease arrangements provide us the right to lease to, and receive rental income from, third parties for the trade center units that we have sold to the purchasers of these units, for a period of approximately three years. However, if we are unable to lease the trade center units for which we have entered into such commission lease arrangements, we will not receive any rental income from these units. Under these commission lease arrangements, we are not obligated to pay any rent during the three-year period. Such transactions are accounted for as a sale and operating leaseback given that as part of the sale transaction, the Company disposes of substantially all risks and rewards of owning the property. In concluding that substantially all risks and rewards of owning the property have been transferred, the Company considers the short period of the lease and the expected future rentals it could earn by letting out these properties, which are insignificant relative to the value of the property. We cannot assure you that, in the future, we will be able to charge sufficiently high rental rates. As a result, failure to lease the trade center units or to lease the units at satisfactory rental rates would adversely affect our profits for the applicable period.
10
Some of our buyers may not be able to obtain mortgages from banks and the inability to secure financing may adversely impact the Companys stock price.
Currently a significant portion of our sales are settled by one-off payment from buyers. The remaining buyers purchase spaces in our trade centers through mortgages with banks with typically at least a 50% down payment. Due to the volume involved and the mortgage approval process, some of the buyers that intend to purchase spaces in our trade centers through mortgage financing may not be successful in their mortgage applications for a variety of reasons. In the event that the applicants do not successfully receive mortgage financing, the Company may not be able to recover its accounts receivable from those buyers on time, the Companys financials may be impaired, and the Companys stock price may go down.
We currently rely on China Glorious CityZhoukou and China Glorious CityHengyang for all of our rural-urban migration and city re-development business revenues and China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling for all of our agricultural logistics business revenues. We may be unsuccessful in expanding our projects in these cities, and if we are unsuccessful, our stock price may fall.
Although our agricultural logistics business has properties under development and planned for future development, we currently rely on China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling for our agricultural logistics business revenues, and China Glorious CityZhoukou and China Glorious CityHengyang for our rural-urban migration and city re-development business. These revenue sources may entail a higher level of risk as compared to other operators of trade centers that have revenue-generating properties spread over several different locations or have a more diverse range of property investments. In the event of a circumstance which adversely affects the operations or business of China Glorious CityZhoukou, China Glorious CityHengyang, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, or their attractiveness to tenants and developers, we will not have income from other properties in our agricultural logistics business and rural-urban migration and city re-development business to mitigate any ensuing loss. A concentration of investments in only few locations will cause us to be highly susceptible to a downturn in regional agricultural, property or logistics industry. In addition, any property damage at any one of China Glorious CityZhoukou, China Glorious CityHengyang, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, resulting from fire or other causes, or a downturn in the industrial materials, agricultural or manufacturing industries in China, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, we cannot assure that China Glorious CityZhoukou, China Glorious CityHengyang, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling will continue to attract tenants or developers to generate revenue, or that we will be successful in the future. Although we have projects planned for future development in fiscal years 2016, 2017 and 2018, we cannot assure that we will be able to successfully obtain state-owned land use rights for all or any portion of land necessary for the development of these projects, complete the development of these projects or generate revenue and net income from these projects at all or in amounts that we expect.
If we are unable to obtain the state-owned land use rights for our properties planned for future development, we will not be able to develop these planned projects.
Our Hong Kong subsidiary, China Metro-Rural Exchange Limited, signed a framework agreement with Tieling Municipal Government in 2006. Pursuant to this master agreement, the Tieling Municipal Government has identified land which is suitable for our development strategy to develop logistics platforms called China Northeast Logistics CityTieling.
Our Hong Kong subsidiary, China Metro-Rural Development Limited, signed a framework agreement with Dezhou Municipal Government in 2010. Pursuant to this framework agreement, the Dezhou Municipal Government has identified land which is suitable for our development strategy to develop logistics platforms called China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou.
11
Our Hong Kong subsidiary, China Glorious City Development Limited, signed a framework agreement with Hengyang Municipal Government in 2012. Pursuant to this framework agreement, the Hengyang Municipal Government has identified land which is suitable for our development strategy to develop logistics platforms called China Glorious CityHengyang.
Our Hong Kong subsidiary, China Glorious City Investments Limited, signed a framework agreement with Zhoukou Municipal Government in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. Pursuant to this framework agreement, the Zhoukou Municipal Government has identified land which is suitable for our development strategy to develop logistics platforms called China Glorious CityZhoukou.
However, the signing of these master framework agreements do not guarantee that we will obtain the land identified therein, which will be transferred by public tender, auction or listing for sale. We cannot assure that the relevant land administration authorities will grant us the appropriate land use rights or issue the relevant land use right certificates in a timely manner, or at all. Moreover, we cannot assure that we will be successful in our bidding for the plots of land or that we will be able to obtain the land at our desired price. If we are not successful in our bidding for the plots of land in the future or fail to obtain land use rights for all or any portion of such land, we may not be able to develop any future projects.
We may experience conflicts of interest with China South City Holdings Limited as a result of contracts to which certain of our major shareholders are a party.
In addition to their investments in the Company, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, and his brother, Mr. Cheng Tai Po, own all of the outstanding shares of Accurate Gain Developments Limited and Proficient Success Limited. As of March 31, 2015, Accurate Gain Developments Limited, Proficient Success Limited, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, and Mr. Cheng Tai Po owned an aggregate of 2,451,116,976 of the 8,000,671,999 outstanding shares of China South City Holdings Limited, or China South City. China South City is a leading developer and operator of large-scale integrated logistics and trade centers in China, providing a comprehensive trading platform for domestic and international wholesale suppliers, buyers, manufacturers, distributors and end-users of products from raw materials to finished products. It sells and leases well-designed, high quality trade center units for businesses to display and sell their products. China South City also provides their clients with one-stop convenient supply chain solutions that include a full range of facilities and services such as offices, residential, conference and exhibition facilities, hotels and restaurants, warehousing and on-site logistics services, property management, e-commerce, banking, on-site government services in a bid to offer. Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, is also the Co-Founder, Co-Chairman and Executive Director of China South City. In addition, Mr. Leung Moon Lam is a Co-Founder, Executive Director and the Chief Executive Officer of China South City.
Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, and Mr. Leung Moon Lam are each a party to a deed of option and undertaking with China South City. Pursuant to the deed of option and undertaking of which we are not a party, each of Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, and Mr. Leung Moon Lam has granted to China South City an option to acquire all their respective effective interests in China Northeast Logistics CityTieling at any time until September 30, 2014 or two years after the completion of the development of China Northeast Logistics CityTieling (whichever is later) so long as: (i) for Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, he remains a controlling shareholder of China South City or a director of China South City; or (ii) for Mr. Leung Moon Lam, he remains a director of China South City. China South City also has the right to buy all the respective interests held by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, and/or Mr. Leung Moon Lam in China Northeast Logistics CityTieling before they are offered to any other third party. The price payable by China South City for such interests shall be determined with reference to the fair market value of such interests as determined by an internationally recognized valuer.
12
If China South City decides, after due consideration, not to exercise the option but wishes to develop China South Citys business operations in Liaoning Province, which may result in competition between China South City and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, China South City shall be entitled to, at any time within the above option period, require Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky (so long as he remains a controlling shareholder of China South City or a director of China South City), and/or Mr. Leung Moon Lam (so long as he remains a director of China South City) to dispose of all their respective interests in China Northeast Logistics CityTieling to independent third parties as soon as practicable and in any event prior to the occurrence of any competition between China South City and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. As a result, there may be conflicts of interest presented by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Rickys, and Mr. Leung Moon Lams relationships with both us and China South City, which may adversely affect our opportunities, prospects and results of operations.
In connection with our Merger in 2010, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky and Mr. Leung Moon Lam sought confirmation from China South City as to whether China South City would opt to exercise its rights of first offer granted to it by both Mr. Cheng and Mr. Leung to purchase all their respective effective interests in China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. Following that request, China South City held an extraordinary general meeting in which its independent shareholders approved, confirmed and ratified its non-exercise of the rights of first offer granted to it by each of Mr. Cheng and Mr. Leung in relation to the Merger. While the rights of first offer no longer exist with respect to the completed Merger, the option to exercise the rights of first offer remains in effect with respect to subsequent transfers until September 30, 2014 or two years after the completion of the development of China Northeast Logistics CityTieling (whichever is later).
Five of our PRC subsidiaries, China Northeast Logistics City Co. Ltd., or China Tieling Northeast, China Northeast Logistics City Dezhou Co., Ltd., or China Dezhou Northeast, China Glorious City (Hengyang) Co. Ltd., or China Hengyang Glorious, China Glorious City Investments (Zhoukou) Co., Ltd., or China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, and China Glorious City Strategic (Zhoukou) Co., Ltd., or China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic, are wholly foreign owned enterprises, and are subject to restrictions imposed by relevant PRC laws and regulations.
China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic were approved by their respective local authorities and filed with the PRC Ministry of Commerce as wholly foreign owned enterprises and, accordingly, are subject to regulations and restrictions applicable to foreign investment real estate enterprises, including, but not limited to, restrictions on their ability to obtain loans within and outside of the PRC, as well as restrictions on the conversion and sale of foreign exchange into their capital accounts. In addition, China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic, as foreign investment real estate enterprises, are required to maintain registered capital levels at 50% or more of their total investment. As of March 31, 2015, the registered total investment in China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic were US$49.80 million, US$49.90 million, US$59.99 million, US$39.99 million and US$19.99 million respectively, including registered capital of US$35.00 million, US$49.90 million, US$30.00 million, US$20.00 million and US$10.00 million respectively, representing approximately 70%, 100%, 50%, 50% and 50% of their respectively registered total investments. Currently, China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic, our project companies for our properties planned for future development in Liaoning, Shandong, Hunan and Henan, are our only subsidiaries categorized as foreign investment real estate enterprises.
13
The cyclical nature of the real estate, agricultural and logistics industries could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our results of operations are and will continue to be affected by the cyclical nature of the real estate, agricultural and logistics industries in the PRC. Property values and rents are affected by, among other factors, the supply and demand of comparable properties, interest rates, inflation, the rate of economic growth, tax laws and political and economic developments in the PRC. Our tenants and customers may be affected by the weather, climate, import and export of agricultural products and machines, price of the agricultural products and the fluctuation of the RMB. We cannot assure that property values and rents will not decline. In addition, increased competition brought by any additional supply could adversely affect trade center rents and occupancy rates as well as sales prices for new trade center units. Our trade centers depend upon the growing demand for industrial and agricultural materials and logistics services in China. A significant downturn in the PRC economy could adversely affect such demand, as well as the demand by suppliers for trade center units.
Our results of operations may fluctuate from period to period due to variations in the proceeds received from sales and leases of trade center units and the fair value of our investment properties.
Our results of operations tend to fluctuate from period to period depending upon the proportion and gross floor area, or GFA, of trade center units that are sold or leased, and when our projects in various stages of development are completed. We generally sell trade center units in the initial stages following completion of a project subject to the then-current market conditions. The number of trade centers that we are able to develop or complete during any given period is limited due to the substantial capital requirements for land acquisition and construction, as well as the lengthy development periods required before positive cash flows may be generated. In addition, the trade centers that we have developed or that are under development are large-scale, integrated, multi-phase projects to be developed over the course of several years. The selling prices and rental rates of trade center units are also subject to fluctuation, which may impact our sales proceeds and rental income and, accordingly, our revenues for any given period. In this regard, rental rates also vary among trade centers, according to market demand and dates of completion of the various trade centers, which affects rental rates because we generally offer tenants of newly completed trade center units preferential rental rates and rent-free periods in order to increase occupancy rates of these trade centers. Our rental rates for future periods may also be affected by similar incentive plans, and may be adversely affected by cyclical changes in market demand.
Our results of operations may also fluctuate due to changes in the fair value of our trade center units and other facilities retained for rental income and capital appreciation of investment properties. We reassess the fair value of our investment properties each year. Property valuation typically requires the use of certain bases and assumptions with respect to a variety of factors, including supply and demand of comparable properties, the rate of economic growth in the location of the property, interest rates, inflation and political and economic developments in the PRC.
Our operations are subject to extensive governmental regulations, and we are susceptible to changes in policies related to the real estate, agricultural and logistics industries in the PRC.
In order to develop and operate a trade center development, we must obtain various permits, licenses, certificates and other approvals from the relevant administrative authorities at various stages of our trade center development, including land use rights documents, planning permits, construction permits and certificates or confirmation of completion and acceptance. Each approval is dependent on the satisfaction of certain conditions.
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We cannot assure that we will be able to fulfill the pre-conditions necessary to obtain required governmental approvals, or that we will be able to adapt to new laws, regulations or policies that may come into effect from time to time with respect to the real estate, agricultural or logistics industries in general or the particular processes with respect to the grant of approvals in China. There may also be delays on the part of relevant administrative bodies in reviewing our applications and granting approvals. We may also be subject to periodic delays in our trade center development projects due to building moratoria in the areas in which it operates or plans to operate. If we are unable to obtain, or experience material delays in obtaining, the requisite governmental approvals, or if a building moratorium is implemented at one or more of our project sites, the development and sale of our projects could be substantially disrupted, which would result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, we cannot assure that the implementation of laws and regulations by relevant authorities, or the interpretation or enforcement of such laws and regulations, will not cause us to incur additional costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face competition from other agricultural logistics and industrial materials trade centers.
Our logistics city projects may face competition from other agricultural and industrial materials trade centers in China. The greatest concentration of industrial materials trade centers in China is in Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and the Manchuria area. The agricultural, industrial materials and finished goods featured at these competing trade centers include agricultural products, building materials, automobile and accessories and small goods. In addition, there may be an increase in supply of industrial materials trade centers in Guangdong and elsewhere in China, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, in the future.
The greatest concentration of agricultural trade centers in China is in Manchuria and Shanghai. The agricultural products for which these trade centers compete include raw materials, corns, wheat, fertilizers, seeds and pesticides, agricultural machinery and tools, which are concentrated in the Manchuria area. The Shanghai Agriculture Equity Exchange (SAEE) was established on September 8, 2009, and the management anticipates that similar exchanges will be established in the future.
This competition may affect our ability to attract and retain tenants and buyers and may reduce the rents or prices we are able to charge. We cannot assure that we will prevail in competing with other trade center operators. Our inability to compete effectively could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Demand for our trade centers may be negatively affected by uncertainty regarding the recovery of the global economy, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Uncertainty regarding the recovery of the global economy may diminish the demand from many parts of the world and increase volatility in credit and equity markets. If these conditions persist or worsen, regardless of any efforts by various governmental authorities to stimulate the economy, they may adversely affect the availability, terms and cost of borrowings in the future, including financing necessary to complete our properties planned for future development, as well as the demand for our trade center units. Because our operations are capital intensive, and rely principally on cash flows from operations and bank borrowings, we cannot assure that the global economic downturn will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flow.
The timing and nature of any recovery in the global economy remain uncertain, and there can be no assurance that market conditions will improve in the near future or that our results will not be adversely affected. Furthermore, if economic conditions become worse, the development of our properties could be adversely affected and materially delayed.
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We may not be able to renew or re-obtain qualification certificates as real estate developers upon expiration of our current qualification certificate, which could adversely affect our business.
Our subsidiaries located in Tieling City, Dezhou City, Hengyang City and Zhoukou City are required to certain qualification certificates to enable us to conduct business as real estate developers.
On December 22, 2010, China Tieling Northeast obtained from the Liaoning Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau a Qualification Certificate for Real Estate Development Enterprise in Grade III with an effective term until December 21, 2013 allowing China Tieling Northeast to undertake property development in the PRC. On April 17, 2014, this qualification certificate was renewed for a term until March 3, 2017. After the expiration of its current qualification certificate, China Tieling Northeast will need to renew this qualification certificate or apply for a qualification certificate in a higher grade.
The Dezhou Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau has granted interim qualification certificates to China Dezhou Northeast and Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. confirming that China Dezhou Northeast and Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. are allowed to undertake the development of properties in the PRC. The interim qualification certificate of China Dezhou Northeast expired on September 30, 2014, but the qualification certificate was then renewed until December 31, 2015. The interim qualification certificate of Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. expired on June 30, 2014 and currently we have no plan to further renew its qualification certificate as it is currently inactive. Upon expiration of the interim qualification certificate, China Dezhou Northeast will be required to renew its qualification certificate.
The Hunan Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau has granted an interim qualification certificate to China Hengyang Glorious confirming that China Hengyang Glorious is allowed to undertake the development of properties in the PRC. The interim qualification certificate of China Hengyang Glorious expired on January 23, 2015, but the qualification certificate was then renewed until January 23, 2016. Upon expiration of the interim qualification certificate, China Hengyang Glorious will be required to renew its qualification certificate.
The Zhoukou Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau has granted interim qualification certificates to China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. confirming that China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. are allowed to undertake the development of properties in the PRC. The interim qualification certificates of China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic will expire on July 8, 2017. The interim qualification certificate of Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. expired on July 8, 2015 and the entity is in the process of renewing it. Upon expiration of the interim qualification certificates, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic will be required to renew their qualification certificates.
We cannot assure that these entities will be able to renew the current qualification certificates or obtain a new qualification certificates in a timely manner, or at all. If these entities or other project companies for our future projects are unable to renew the current qualification certificates or obtain new qualification certificates, they may not be permitted by the PRC Government to continue to engage in property development activities associated with the development of their integrated logistics trade center business, which would materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The appraisal value of our properties may materially differ from the value we could receive in an actual sales transaction.
Property valuations include a subjective determination of certain factors relating to the properties, such as their relative market position, their financial and competitive strengths, location and their physical condition. Further, the valuation of the properties is not an indication of, and does not guarantee, a sale price corresponding to such valuation, currently or in the future. Unforeseen changes in a particular integrated logistics and trade center development or in general or local economic conditions could affect the value of our properties, and the resulting amounts we obtain may be materially lower than the amount set forth in the valuations.
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Potential liability for environmental problems could result in substantial costs.
We are subject to a variety of environmental laws and regulations during the construction of our development projects. The particular environmental laws and regulations which apply to any given project development site vary greatly according to the sites location, the sites environmental condition, the present and former uses of the site, as well as adjoining properties. Environmental laws and conditions may result in project delays, may cause us to incur substantial compliance and other costs and can prohibit or severely restrict project development activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas. In addition, we cannot predict the impact that unforeseeable environmental contingencies or new or changed laws or regulations may have on us or our trade center projects.
As required by PRC law, independent environmental consultants have conducted environmental impact assessments at all of our construction projects. Although the environmental investigations conducted to date have not revealed any environmental liability that would be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations, it is possible that these investigations did not reveal all environmental liabilities or their extent, and there may be material environmental liabilities of which we are unaware. Upon completion of each project, the relevant environmental authorities will inspect the site to ensure compliance with all applicable environmental standards and prepare a report to confirm such compliance. We cannot assure that such internal control procedures will be effective in preventing non-compliance. If any portion of the project is found to be non-compliant with relevant environmental standards or if we are unable to obtain necessary licenses for releasing contaminants, it may be subject to suspension of a portion of our operations as well as fines and penalties.
Sales of our properties are subject to land appreciation tax and income tax.
Our sales of trade center units and residential properties are subject to land appreciation tax in the PRC. In addition, sales of properties in our properties planned for future development may be subject to land appreciation tax. Land appreciation tax is payable on the gain, representing the balance of the proceeds received on such sale, after deducting various prescribed items, including sums paid for acquisition of land use rights, the direct costs and expenses of the development of the land and construction of buildings and supplementary facilities or the appraised price of any previous buildings and structures existing on the land and taxes related to the assignment of the real property. Under applicable PRC laws and regulations, land appreciation tax is chargeable on the gain at progressive rates ranging from 30% to 60%. Certain exemptions may be available for the sale of ordinary residential properties if the appreciation of land value does not exceed 20% of the total deductible items as provided in the relevant tax laws.
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On December 28, 2006, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice on Administration of the Settlement of Land Appreciation Tax of Property Development Enterprises, or the LAT Notice, which became effective on February 1, 2007. The LAT Notice provides that land appreciation tax should be settled in stages during a real estate development project and sets forth, among other things, methods of calculating land appreciation tax and a time frame for settlement of land appreciation tax. We have accrued all land appreciation tax payable on our property sales and transfers in accordance with the progressive rates specified in relevant tax laws mentioned above. We have paid such land appreciation tax expenses based on the total sales amount of the contracts it entered into with purchasers of trade center units for each fiscal year at the rates of ranging from 1.5% to 3% set by the local municipal tax authorities. As of March 31, 2014, we in aggregate paid land appreciation tax to the local municipal tax authorities an accumulated amount of HK$61.2 million and we made an accumulated provisions for land appreciation in the amounts of HK$107.8 million. Except for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, the relevant tax authorities have yet to commence the assessment of our land appreciation taxes in order to collect the additional tax payments from it. During the fiscal year, year ended March 31, 2015, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou has completed a final assessment for land appreciation tax for one of its projects. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, we paid land appreciation tax to the local municipal tax authorities in the amount of HK$65.3 million which included an additional land appreciation tax of HK$30.3 million assessed for one of the projects at China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, and made a provision in the amount of HK$173.9 million. Our cash flows and financial condition will be affected if the PRC tax authorities do proceed to collect the land appreciation tax for which we have made provisions. In addition, provisioning for land appreciation tax requires our management to use a significant amount of judgment with respect to the appreciation of land value and the allowability of deductible items for income tax purposes. If the land appreciation tax provisions we have made are substantially lower than the actual land appreciation tax amounts assessed by the tax authorities, our results of operations and cash flows will be materially and adversely affected.
We may be required to forfeit land to be developed if it does not comply with the terms of our land grant contract.
Under PRC laws, if a developer fails to develop land according to the terms of its land grant contract (including those relating to payment of fees, land use or the time for commencement and completion of the development of the land), the relevant land administration authorities may issue a warning to or impose a penalty on the developer or require the developer to forfeit the land. Further, if the development is delayed for longer than one year, the developer may be restricted from bidding for any new land. Thus, if we were to delay development on the lands acquired for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, China Glorious CityHengyang and China Glorious CityZhoukou (and if these restrictions were applied to us), we may be restricted from bidding for other land designated to us for development. We have not received such a warning or been subject to such a penalty or threat of forfeiture in the past. However, we cannot assure that circumstances leading to possible forfeiture of land or delays in the completion of the above projects will not occur in the future.
In addition, although the local governments are responsible in the framework agreements for relocating existing residents on the land and associated relocation expenses, the local governments may experience delays in their negotiation process with the existing residents of the land which may result in delays in the development of any future properties by us. With respect to any future properties of ours, we will be responsible for land payments only following the successful relocation of existing residents by and at the cost of the local governments.
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We may not be able to commence or complete our properties planned for future real estate projects on time or within budget.
Our real estate projects involve acquiring land use rights for large plots of land, many of which have existing structures and residents, from municipal and provincial governments of the PRC. Other properties we may develop in the future may also involve similar circumstances. Acquiring these development rights, converting them into land use rights and committing the financial and managerial resources to develop the land involve significant risks. Before a real estate development project generates any revenue, we must make a variety of material expenditures, including to acquire the development rights and to construct the required infrastructure.
It generally takes several years for a planned real estate project to generate revenue, and we cannot assure you that our real estate projects will achieve positive cash flow. As a result, our current and future real estate development activities may be exposed to the following risks:
| we may lease or sell developed properties at below expected rental rates or sales prices, and we may experience delays in the sale or leasing of developed properties; |
| we may be unable to complete construction of our real estate projects on schedule, or on budget, due to a variety of factors including shortages of materials, equipment, technical skills and labor, adverse weather conditions, natural disasters, labor disputes, disputes with contractors and sub-contractors, accidents, changes in government priorities and policies, changes in market conditions, delays in the relocation process, delays in obtaining the requisite licenses, permits and approvals from the relevant authorities and other problems and circumstances, resulting in increased debt service expense and construction costs; |
| occupancy rates, rents and sales prices at our real estate properties may fluctuate depending on a number of factors, including market and economic conditions, and may result in our investments being less profitable than we expected or not profitable at all; |
| the services rendered by our contractors may not always meet our quality requirements, and negligence or poor work quality by any contractors may result in defects in our buildings or trade center units, which could in turn cause us to suffer financial losses, harm our reputation or expose us to third-party claims; |
| since it normally takes several years for us to complete a real estate project, we expect that we will be affected by increases in the costs of construction materials and the costs of other goods and services, most significantly labor costs; |
| we may delay, or change the structure of, real estate projects and as a result we may lose deposits paid to participate in the land tender process or fail to recover expenses already incurred; and |
| we may be unable to obtain, or face delays in obtaining, required zoning, land use, building, occupancy, and other governmental permits, rights and authorizations, which could result in increased costs with respect to a project. |
The occurrence of any of these circumstances, most of which are beyond our control, could delay the completion of our real estate projects, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, which in turn could cause the market value of our shares to decline.
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We may not be able to obtain adequate funding for our property under development or any properties planned for future development.
To date, for investment activities, we have relied primarily on bank borrowings and other loans for our funding and liquidity requirements; and to a lesser extent on cash inflows from operations. For further information on our available funding and liquidity resources, please see Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsLiquidity and Capital Resources. As of March 31, 2015, we had net current assets of HK$981.6 million and the outstanding balance of our total indebtedness (including trade payables, other payables and accruals, excluding shareholders loans and loans from a non-controlling interest) amounted approximately HK$3,436.4 million, which included primarily bank and other borrowings, trade payables, other payables and accruals and convertible bonds in the amounts of HK$1,149.7 million, HK$1,679.2 million and HK$607.5 million, respectively. Approximately HK$621.7 million of our total bank and other borrowings were due within one year or on demand and approximately HK$528.0 million were due within a period of more than one year but not exceeding five years. The projected total investment for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, China Glorious CityHengyang and China Glorious CityZhoukou could be up to an amount of approximately US$2 billion, US$5 billion, US$2 billion and US$4 billion, respectively.
We also have available cash flow from our operations, but such amounts are not likely to be sufficient to fund our future development requirements. Due to the nature of our trade center development business, it may from time to time experience periods of net cash outflows, when imbalances may arise between the timing of cash inflows from rentals and sales of trade center units and our cash outflows relating to the construction of properties and purchases of state-owned land use rights. We may require additional bank borrowings and, if necessary, offerings of debt and equity securities for a significant portion of our liquidity requirements to finance the construction costs of these projects, which are expected to be completed in stages. We cannot assure that we will be able to obtain additional financing at competitive costs, or at all. In addition, although we have not experienced any difficulties in the past, we may not be able to renew our existing loan facilities granted by banks in the PRC on satisfactory terms, or at all. If we are unable to obtain necessary additional financing or renew existing loan facilities, we will not be able to complete future projects, and our business development could be severely disrupted.
We cannot assure that we will be able to obtain sufficient funding to finance intended purchases of land use rights, develop future projects or meet other capital needs as and when required at a commercially reasonable cost or at all. Failure to obtain adequate funding at a commercially reasonable cost may limit our ability to commence new projects or to continue the development of existing projects or may increase our borrowing costs.
In previous years, the PRC Government introduced a number of measures and regulations to restrict the ability of property developers to raise capital through external financing and other methods. Because the local authorities treat our project companies, as real property developers, we have been subject to these measures and regulations with respect to China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd.
We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future.
As of March 31, 2015, our debt-to-equity ratio (total bank and other borrowings and convertible bonds/total equity) was approximately 124.7%. We may incur additional indebtedness to complete additional projects and grow our supporting infrastructure, and the amount of such additional indebtedness may be substantial. We will face more risks if we or our subsidiaries incur additional debt. For example, the additional debt could:
| limit our ability to satisfy our obligations under our borrowings; |
| increase our vulnerability to adverse general economic and industry conditions; |
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| require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to servicing and repaying our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund project developments, working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes; |
| limit our flexibility in planning for or reacting to changes in our businesses and the industry in which we operate; |
| restrict us from making strategic acquisitions or exploring business opportunities; |
| place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt; |
| limit, along with the restrictive covenants of our indebtedness, among other things, our ability to borrow additional funds or make guarantees; and |
| increase the cost of additional financing. |
Our ability to generate sufficient cash to satisfy our outstanding and future debt obligations will depend upon our future operating performance, which will be affected by then prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We anticipate that our operating cash flow will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating expenses and to service our debt obligations as they become due. However, we may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow for these purposes. If we are unable to service our total indebtedness, we will be forced to adopt an alternative strategy that may include actions such as reducing or delaying capital expenditures, selling assets, restructuring or refinancing our indebtedness or seeking additional equity capital. These strategies may not be implemented on satisfactory terms, if at all.
If we are unable to comply with the restrictions and covenants in our loan agreements, there could be a default under the terms of these agreements, which could cause repayment of our debt to be accelerated.
The bank loan agreements of our PRC subsidiaries contain a number of significant restrictive covenants. These covenants restrict, among other things, our PRC subsidiaries ability and the ability of their subsidiaries to incur additional debt or make guarantees, incur liens, pay dividends or distributions on its or its subsidiaries capital stock, prepay certain indebtedness, sell or transfer property or assets, make investments and merge or consolidate with another company.
If our PRC subsidiaries are unable to comply with the restrictions and covenants in its current or future loan and other agreements, there could be a default under the terms of these agreements. In the event of a default under these agreements, the holders of the debt could terminate their commitments to lend to our PRC subsidiaries, accelerate the outstanding debt and/or terminate the agreements, as the case may be. If the underlying obligation relates to our PRC subsidiaries secured borrowings, the lender can enforce the mortgages over the property securing the defaulted loan. If any of these events occur, our PRC subsidiaries cannot assure that their assets and cash flows would be sufficient to repay all of their indebtedness, or that they would be able to obtain alternative financing on terms that are favorable or acceptable to our PRC subsidiaries.
Our PRC subsidiaries are not currently in breach of any of these covenants.
In addition, the terms and conditions of convertible bonds we issued during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, contained a number of significant restrictive covenants as well as financial covenants. These covenants restricted our ability and our non-PRC incorporated subsidiaries ability to incur additional secured debts, incur liens, pay dividends distribution on its capital stock, prepay certain indebtedness, sell or transfer assets and merge or consolidate with another company.
If we are unable to comply with these restrictions and covenants, there could be a default under the terms of these convertible bonds. In the event of default under these convertible bonds, the holder of the convertible bonds could accelerate the repayment of these convertible bonds. If this occurs, we cannot assure that our assets and cash flows would be sufficient to repay all of our indebtedness, or that we would be able to obtain alternative financing on terms that are favorable or acceptable to us.
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We have obtained waivers from the holders of these convertible bonds in prior years in respect of any non-compliance of covenants for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2013, 2014 and 2015. No waiver has been obtained for subsequent periods as of July 24, 2015 as it is uncertain as to whether a waiver is required.
We depend on China Metro-Rural Limiteds founding shareholders. Our business and growth prospects may be severely disrupted if we lose the support and service of all or any one of them.
Our success and growth depends on the efforts of the founding shareholders of the China Metro-Rural Limited (Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky and Mr. Leung Moon Lam). These founding shareholders are critical to our success because of their vision for us and their industry knowledge and relationships. If we were to lose their support, our relationships with bankers, government officials, potential tenants and industry personnel could be adversely affected. We may not be able to replace these founding shareholders easily or at all. As a result, the loss of any of these founding shareholders, whether because any one or more of them become unwilling to continue in their present capacities with us, develop disagreements between each other, leave to join a competitor or form a competing business, or other reasons, would severely disrupt our business and growth prospects.
We depend on our senior management and other important staff members, as well as on our ability to attract and retain qualified management personnel.
We depend on the efforts and skill of our senior management and other important staff members. As a result, our future success depends to a significant extent on the continuing service and coordination of these individuals, who are not obligated to remain employed with us.
Our success also depends on our ability to identify, hire, train and retain suitably skilled and qualified employees with the requisite industry expertise. The loss of any member of our senior management team and our other employees could have a material adverse effect on our business if we are unable to find suitable replacements in a timely manner. Competition for such personnel is intense, and any failure to recruit and retain the necessary personnel or the loss of a significant number of employees at any time could harm our business and prospects.
We may suffer losses caused by natural disasters or accidents and these losses may not be covered by insurance.
Our business may be adversely affected due to the occurrence of typhoons, severe storms, floods, wildfires, earthquakes or other natural disasters, or accidents (including fire or explosion) or similar events in the areas where we operate our trade centers. We do not carry any property insurance. Should a loss occur, we could lose all or a portion of the capital invested in a property, as well as the anticipated future revenues from the property. Nevertheless, we would remain obligated for any bank borrowings or other financial obligations related to the property. It is also possible that if we were to obtain insurance, third-party insurance carriers would not be able to maintain reinsurance sufficient to cover any losses that may be incurred. Any material uninsured loss could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are a holding company and rely on dividends paid by our subsidiaries for our funding requirements.
As a holding company, we depend upon the receipt of dividends from our subsidiaries to pay dividends to our shareholders and satisfy our obligations. The ability of our direct and indirect subsidiaries to pay dividends to their shareholders (including us) is subject to relevant shareholders agreements or constitutional documents and restrictions contained in the loan agreements of such subsidiaries or other instruments.
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In addition, the ability of our subsidiaries in the PRC to pay dividends to their shareholders is subject to the requirements of PRC law. PRC regulations permit payment of dividends only out of accumulated profits as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Dividends may not be paid until cumulative prior years losses are made up. As a result, if our subsidiaries in the PRC incur losses, such losses may impair their ability to pay dividends or other distributions to us, which would restrict our ability to pay dividends and to service our indebtedness. Our PRC subsidiaries are required to make monthly contributions to the social security plan and the housing reserve fund maintained for their employees, consisting of pension benefits, personal injury insurance, maternity insurance and medical and unemployment benefits. In addition, some of our PRC subsidiaries may be required to set aside at least 10% of their after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards in accordance with their articles of association and PRC law each year to their PRC statutory reserve until the cumulative amount of such reserve reaches 50% of their registered capital. As of March 31, 2015, we have PRC statutory reserve of approximately HK$143,070,000 for our PRC subsidiaries.
Any occurrence of avian influenza or other widespread public health problems could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In December 2003, January 2004, March 2013 and November 2014, there were media reports regarding the spread of the avian influenza, among birds and in particular poultry, as well as some isolated cases in countries outside Hong Kong and PRC of transmission of the virus to humans. We cannot assure that there will not be a serious outbreak of a contagious disease in the PRC in the future. A renewed outbreak of SARS, pandemic avian influenza or other widespread public health problems in the PRC could have a material adverse effect on the PRC economy and our property market generally, and on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Restrictions on foreign currency exchange may limit our ability to obtain and remit foreign currency or to utilize our revenues effectively.
We currently receive substantially all of our revenues in Renminbi through our ownership and operation of China Glorious CityZhoukou, China Glorious CityHengyang, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. However, certain of our expenses, including labor costs for our employees in Hong Kong, rental expenses for our office space in Hong Kong and advertising expenses for advertising in Hong Kong and overseas media are denominated in foreign currencies, mostly Hong Kong dollars and U.S. dollars. As a result, any restriction on currency exchange may limit our ability to use revenues generated in Renminbi to pay our foreign currency denominated expenses and service and repay our foreign currency denominated indebtedness. Our ability to satisfy our foreign currency denominated debt obligations depends upon the ability of our subsidiaries incorporated in the PRC to obtain and remit sufficient foreign currency. Our subsidiaries incorporated in the PRC must present certain documents to the designated foreign exchange bank before they can obtain and remit foreign currency out of the PRC (including, in the case of dividends, evidence that the relevant PRC taxes have been paid and, in the case of shareholder loans, evidence of the registration of the loan with the relevant local office of the State Administration for Foreign Exchange). We cannot assure that our subsidiaries incorporated in the PRC will not encounter difficulty in the future when undertaking these activities. If our PRC subsidiaries are unable to remit dividends to us, we would be unable to make payments of interest and/or principal on our foreign currency denominated indebtedness.
We have exposure to general real estate investment risks.
Real estate investments, like many other types of long-term investments, have historically experienced significant fluctuations in value, and specific market conditions and cycles may result in occasional or permanent reductions in the value of our investments. Property cash flows and the marketability and value of real property will depend on many factors beyond our control, including, without limitation:
| adverse changes in international, national, regional and local economic and market conditions; |
| changes in interest rates or financial markets; |
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| fluctuating local real estate conditions and changes in local laws and regulations; |
| changes or promulgation and enforcement of governmental regulations relating to land use and zoning, environmental, occupational and safety matters; |
| changes in real estate tax rates and other operating expenses; |
| existence of uninsured or uninsurable risks; and |
| natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism. |
The cyclical nature of the real estate industry could adversely affect our results of operations.
The results of our real estate operations are affected by the cyclical nature of the real estate industry in the PRC. Property values and rents are affected by, among other factors, supply and demand of comparable properties, interest rates, unemployment rates, inflation, the rate of economic growth, tax laws and political and economic developments in the PRC. We cannot assure you that property values and rents will not decline in the future. A significant downturn in demand for our units would result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations are subject to extensive governmental regulations, and we are susceptible to changes in policies related to the real estate market in the PRC.
In order to develop and operate our projects, we must obtain various permits, licenses, certificates and other approvals from the relevant administrative authorities at various stages of development, including land use rights documents, planning permits, construction permits, and certificates or confirmations of completion and acceptance. Each approval is dependent on the satisfaction of certain pre-conditions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to fulfill the pre-conditions necessary to obtain required governmental approvals, or that we will be able to adapt to new laws, regulations or policies that may come into effect from time to time with respect to the real estate market in general or the particular processes with respect to the grant of approvals in China. There may also be delays on the part of relevant administrative bodies in reviewing our applications and granting approvals. If we fail to obtain, or experience material delays in obtaining, the requisite governmental approvals, the development, sale and lease of our projects could be substantially disrupted, which would result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our principal shareholder has substantial control over us and can affect decisions made by our shareholders.
As of July 1, 2015, our principal shareholder, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, together with his affiliates, controls 43,082,427 of our outstanding ordinary shares and 100,000 of our outstanding preferred shares, which together represented 46,273,652, or 60.30%, of our outstanding voting shares.
Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky has the requisite voting power to exert substantial influence over actions which require shareholder approval and generally to direct our affairs, including decisions regarding the election of directors, mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other significant corporate actions. This concentration of ownership may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of the Company, which could deprive our shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of the Company and might reduce the price of our shares. These actions may be taken even if they are opposed by our other shareholders.
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Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on the appreciation in price of our ordinary shares for a return on your investment.
Except for the Distribution, we have never declared or paid any dividends on our ordinary shares. We intend to retain any future earnings to finance the growth and development of our business and do not anticipate paying any dividends in the foreseeable future. Any dividends paid will be solely at the discretion of our Board of Directors, and the amount of any dividends will depend on various factors, including, without limitation, market conditions, our strategic plans and prospects, our business opportunities, our financial condition and operating results, working capital requirements and anticipated cash needs, contractual restrictions and obligations, payments by subsidiaries of cash dividends to us and legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, and other factors that our directors deem significant from time to time. Accordingly, the return on your investment in us will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our ordinary shares. Our ordinary shares may not appreciate in value or maintain the price at which you purchased units. You may not realize a return on your investment and may even lose the entire amount of your investment.
It may be difficult to effect service of process upon us or our directors or to enforce any judgments obtained from non-PRC courts, and it therefore may be difficult for you to resolve any grievance you have with us.
Our operations are substantially conducted and substantially all of our assets are located within China. Our directors reside in Hong Kong and China, where substantially all of their assets are located. Investors may experience difficulties in effecting service of process upon us, our directors or our senior management in China and it may not be possible to effect such service of process outside China. In addition, our PRC legal counsel has advised us that China does not have treaties with the United States and many other countries providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of court judgments. Therefore, recognition and enforcement in China of judgments of a court in the United States or certain other jurisdictions may be difficult or impossible.
Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares
The market price and trading volume of our ordinary shares may be volatile.
The market price of our ordinary shares may become highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, trading volume in our ordinary shares may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. Some of the factors that could result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our ordinary shares include, among other things: actual or anticipated changes in our current or future financial performance and general market and economic conditions. We cannot assure you that the market price of our ordinary shares will not fluctuate or decline significantly.
Future sales of our ordinary shares could have an adverse effect on our stock price.
We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of ordinary shares, or the availability of shares for future sales, on the market price of our ordinary shares. Sales of substantial amounts of ordinary shares, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our ordinary shares. In addition, a large supply of saleable ordinary shares, such as those underlying warrants issued in our May 2011 offering and August 2011 placements, those underlying convertible bonds and warrants issued in our August 2012 placement, or those underlying convertible bonds issued in our December 2013, January 2014 and March 2014 placements or other shares eligible for future sale, may adversely affect the prevailing market prices for our ordinary shares.
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Our convertible bonds issued in August 2012, December 2013, January 2014 and March 2014 could prevent the acquisition or sale of our business.
The conversion price of the convertible bonds and the exercise price of the warrants issued in our August 2012 placement may be decreased if we issue securities below certain prices or if we fail to meet certain financial targets set forth in the warrants and convertible bonds. The exercise prices of the bonds issued in December 2013, January 2014 and March 2014 do not include this feature. The exercise of any of the convertible bonds and warrants could further dilute the holdings of existing shareholders.
In addition, the issuance of our ordinary shares to the investors upon exercise of the offered warrants and convertible bonds could have an anti-takeover effect because such issuance will make it more difficult for, or discourage an attempt by, a party to obtain control of the Company by tender offer or other means. Such issuance of ordinary shares will increase the number of shares entitled to vote, increase the number of votes required to approve a change of control of the Company, and dilute the interest of a party attempting to obtain control of the Company.
Risks Relating to Doing Business in the PRC
Economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies in China could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
All of our agricultural logistics business is conducted in, and all of our agricultural logistics revenues are derived from China. The economy of China differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including, but not limited to: structure; governmental involvement; level of development; growth rate of gross domestic product, or GDP; capital re-investment; allocation of resources; control of foreign currency; and rate of inflation. The economy of China has been transitioning from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy. Although in recent years the PRC Government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the PRC Government. In addition, the PRC Government continues to play a significant role in regulating industries by imposing industrial policies. It also exercises significant control over Chinas economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.
Policies and other measures taken by the PRC Government to regulate the economy could have a significant negative impact on economic conditions in China, with a resulting negative impact on our business. For example, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected by:
| new laws and regulations and the interpretations of those laws and regulations; |
| the introduction of measures to control inflation or stimulate growth; |
| changes in the rate or method of taxation; or |
| the imposition of additional restrictions on currency conversions and remittances abroad. |
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Previous macroeconomic measures taken by the PRC Government to manage economic growth could have adverse economic consequences, and recent fiscal stimulus measures may not be successful in offsetting a decline in the rate of economic growth in the PRC.
In previous years, the PRC Government had periodically taken measures to slow economic growth to a more manageable level, in response to concerns about Chinas historical high growth rate in industrial production, bank credit, fixed investment and money supply. These measures have included macroeconomic measures to control perceived over investment in the real property market. More recently, along with a decline in economic growth worldwide, the rate of growth of the PRC economy has slowed down. In 2014, Chinas real GDP grew by a rate of an estimated 7.4% as compared to a rate of 7.7% and 7.75% in 2013 and 2012, respectively. In response to the recent global economic downturn, and a resulting slowdown in the PRC economy, the PRC Government has adopted increasingly flexible macroeconomic policies, including an announced fiscal stimulus package, aimed at offsetting the slowdown brought by the financial crisis. These policies include measures specifically designed to encourage development of the domestic property market, which represents a reversal on policies implemented since 2003 designed to tighten control on the real property market. However, we cannot assure you that the PRC Governments fiscal stimulus package will be successful in offsetting the slowdown resulting from the current economic downturn and deterioration in the global credit markets, or that restrictive measures already in place will not adversely affect our business.
The PRC legal system has inherent uncertainties that could negatively impact our business.
Our business is operated through, and our revenues are generated by, our operating subsidiaries in the PRC. Substantially all of our assets are located in the PRC. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes. Prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. Since 1979, the PRC Government has issued laws and regulations dealing with economic matters such as foreign investment, corporate organization and governance, commerce, taxation and trade. However, because these laws and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited volume of published cases and their nonbinding nature, interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations involve uncertainties. In addition, as the legal system in China develops, changes in such laws and regulations, their interpretation or their enforcement may have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to risks of fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Renminbi and foreign currencies.
From 1994 until recently, the conversion of Renminbi into U.S. dollars was based on rates set by the Peoples Bank of China, which were set daily based on the previous days PRC interbank foreign exchange market rate and current exchange rates on the world financial markets. On July 21, 2005, the Peoples Bank of China announced a reform of its exchange rate system and revalued the Renminbi to RMB8.11 to US$1.00. Under the reform, the Renminbi would no longer be effectively linked to the United States dollar but instead would be allowed to fluctuate within a narrow and managed band against a basket of foreign currencies. We cannot assure you that such exchange rate will not fluctuate widely against the U.S. dollar, Hong Kong dollar or any other foreign currency in the future. The PRC Government may adopt further reforms of its exchange rate system, including making the Renminbi freely convertible in the future. However, we cannot predict if or when these further reforms will occur. Although currently a substantial portion of our revenues, expenses and bank loans are denominated in Renminbi, we do have loans that are denominated in Hong Kong dollars and convertible bonds that are denominated in United States dollars. Fluctuation of the value of Renminbi will affect the amount of our non-Renminbi debt service in Renminbi terms since we have to convert Renminbi into non-Renminbi currencies to service our foreign debt. Since a substantial portion of income and profits are denominated in Renminbi, any appreciation of Renminbi will also increase the value of, and any dividends payable on, our shares in foreign currency terms. Conversely, any depreciation of Renminbi will decrease the value of, and any dividends payable on, our shares in foreign currency terms.
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If the custodians or authorized users of controlling non-tangible assets of the Company, including corporate chops and seals, fail to fulfill their responsibilities or misappropriate or misuse these assets, the Companys business and operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Under PRC law, legal documents for corporate transactions, including contracts that the Companys business relies on, are executed using the chops or seal of the signing entity or with the signature of a legal representative whose designation is registered and filed with the relevant branch of the Administration of Industry and Commerce (AIC).
Although the Company usually utilizes chops to enter into contracts, the designated legal representatives of each of the Companys PRC subsidiaries have the apparent authority to enter into contracts on behalf of such entities without chops and bind such entities. All designated legal representatives of the Companys PRC subsidiaries are members of the Companys senior management team who have signed employment agreements with the Company or its PRC subsidiaries under which they agree to abide by various duties they owe to the Company.
In order to maintain the physical security of the Companys chops, the chops are generally stored in secured locations accessible only by the authorized personnel in the legal or finance departments of each of the Companys subsidiaries. The Companys designated legal representatives generally do not have access to the chops, but if such designated legal representatives were to obtain the chops, in spite of these protections, the Company may encounter difficulties in maintaining control over the relevant entities. Although the Company has implemented internal control procedures to monitor the use of corporate chops, such procedures may not be able to prevent all instances of abuse or negligence.
If any of the designated legal representatives obtains and misuses or misappropriates the Companys chops and seals or other controlling intangible assets for whatever reason, the Company could experience disruption to its normal business operations. If a designated legal representative obtains control of the chops in an effort to obtain control over the entity, the Company or its PRC subsidiary would need to pass a new shareholder or board resolution to designate a new legal representative and the Company would need to take legal action to seek the return of the chops, apply for new chops with the relevant authorities, or otherwise seek legal redress for the violation of the representatives fiduciary duties to the Company, which could involve significant time and resources and divert management attention away from the Companys business. In addition, the affected entity may not be able to recover corporate assets that are sold or transferred out of the Companys control in the event of such a misappropriation if a transferee relies on the apparent authority of the representative and acts in good faith.
The audit report included in this Annual Report is prepared by an auditor who is not inspected by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and, as such, you are deprived of the benefits of such inspection.
Auditors of companies that are registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and traded publicly in the United States, including our independent registered public accounting firm, must be registered with the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the PCAOB) and are required by the laws of the United States to undergo regular inspections by the PCAOB to assess their compliance with the laws of the United States and professional standards. Because we have substantial operations within the PRC and the PCAOB is currently unable to conduct inspections of the work of our auditors as it relates to those operations without the approval of the Chinese authorities, our auditors work related to our operations in China is not currently inspected by the PCAOB.
This lack of the PCAOB inspections of audit work performed in China prevents the PCAOB from regularly evaluating audit work of any auditors that was performed in China including that performed by our auditors. As a result, investors may be deprived of the full benefits of the PCAOB inspections.
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The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of audit work performed in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditors audit procedures as compared to auditors in other jurisdictions that are subject to the PCAOB inspections on all of their work. In May 2013, the PCAOB announced that it had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on Enforcement Cooperation with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the CSRC) and the PRC Ministry of Finance, which establishes a cooperative framework between the parties for the production and exchange of audit documents relevant to investigations undertaken by the PCAOB, the CSRC or the PRC Ministry of Finance in the United States and the PRC, respectively. The PCAOB continues to be in discussions with the CSRC and the PRC Ministry of Finance to permit joint inspections in the PRC of audit firms that are registered with the PCAOB and audit PRC companies that trade on the U.S. exchanges.
If additional remedial measures are imposed on the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms, including an affiliate of our independent registered public accounting firm, associated with administrative proceedings brought by the SEC alleging the firms failure to meet specific criteria set by the SEC, we could result in financial statements being determined to not be in compliance with the requirements of the Exchange Act.
In December 2012, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings against the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms, including an affiliate of our independent registered public accounting firm, alleging that these firms had violated U.S. securities laws and the SECs rules and regulations thereunder by failing to provide to the SEC the firms work papers related to their audits of certain PRC-based companies that are publicly traded in the United States. On January 22, 2014, an initial administrative law decision was issued, sanctioning these accounting firms and suspending them from practicing before the SEC for a period of six months. The sanction will not take effect until there is an order of effectiveness issued by the SEC. Any Commission endorsement or other determination itself could be appealed by the accounting firms in the U.S. court system. On February 12, 2014, the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms initiated a review of the initial administrative law decision to the SEC. We were not and are not involved in the proceedings brought by the SEC against these accounting firms. On February 6, 2015, the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms each agreed to a censure and to pay a fine to the SEC to settle the dispute and avoid suspension of their ability to practice before the SEC and audit US-listed companies. The settlement required the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms to follow the SECs specified procedures and to seek to provide the SEC with access to the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms audit documents via the China Securities Regulatory Commission in response to future document requests by the SEC made through the China Securities Regulatory Commission. If potential document productions depart from the criteria pursuant to the SECs specified procedures, the SEC retains authority to impose a variety of additional remedial measures on the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms, depending on the nature of such departure.
If the Big Four PRC-based accounting firms are subject to the additional remedial measures, because our auditor having its PRC-based affiliate carrying out audit procedures on our Mainland China operations, our ability to file our financial statements in compliance with SEC requirements could be impacted.
Risk Related to U.S. Taxation
There is a risk that we could be treated as a U.S. domestic corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which could result in a significant U.S. federal income tax liability to us.
Section 7874(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, or Section 7874(b), generally provides that a corporation organized outside the United States which acquires, directly or indirectly, pursuant to a plan or series of related transactions substantially all of the assets of a corporation organized in the United States will be treated as a domestic corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes if shareholders of the acquired corporation own at least 80% (of either the voting power or the value) of the stock of the acquiring corporation after the acquisition. If Section 7874(b) applied to the liquidation of Man Sang Holdings Inc. in 2009, then we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our worldwide taxable income following the liquidation.
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We believe that under Section 7874(b), we should not be treated as a domestic corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes because Man Sang Holdings Inc. transferred no assets to us (other than rights to a potential tax refund, which was insignificant). However, the IRS may assert that we are subject to U.S. federal income tax on our worldwide income after the liquidation.
U.S. holders of our ordinary shares and warrants may suffer adverse tax consequences if we are characterized as a Passive Foreign Investment Company.
There is a risk that we will be classified as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our status as a PFIC could result in a reduction in the after-tax return to U.S. holders of our ordinary shares and warrants and may cause a reduction in the value of such shares and warrants. We will be classified as a PFIC for any taxable year in which (i) at least 75% of our gross income is passive income or (ii) at least 50% of the average value of all of our assets produce or are held for the production of passive income. For this purpose, passive income includes dividends, interest, royalties and rents that are not derived in the active conduct of a trade or business. Based on the projected composition of our income and valuation of our assets, we do not believe we were a PFIC for the year ended March 31, 2015. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service or a U.S. court could determine that we are a PFIC in any year. If we are classified as a PFIC, U.S. holders of our ordinary shares and warrants could be subject to greater U.S. income tax liability than might otherwise apply, imposition of U.S. income tax in advance of when tax would otherwise apply, and detailed tax filing requirements that would not otherwise apply. The PFIC rules are complex and U.S. holders of our ordinary shares and warrants are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules to them in their particular circumstances. See Material United States Federal Income Tax Consequences.
Item 4. | Information on the Company |
A. History and Development of the Company
China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, or China Metro, was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands as an international business company under the name Man Sang International (B.V.I.) Limited, or MSBVI, under the International Business Companies Act on August 14, 1995, and automatically re-registered as a business company on January 1, 2007 pursuant to The BVI Business Companies Act, 2004. Prior to August 25, 2009, MSBVI was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Man Sang Holdings, Inc., or MSHI, a United States domestic issuer incorporated in the State of Nevada whose ordinary shares were listed on the NYSE MKT (formerly known as the American Stock Exchange). On August 25, 2009, at a general meeting, the shareholders of MSHI resolved that MSHI liquidated and dissolved, whereby we were effectively redomiciled from the United States to the British Virgin Islands and, as part of this transaction (the Reorganization), MSBVI became the successor of MSHI and a non-United States domestic issuer whose ordinary shares are listed on the NYSE MKT. From its inception in August 1995 through the completion of the dissolution and liquidation on August 25, 2009, MSBVI was a wholly-owned subsidiary of MSHI. As a result of the dissolution and liquidation of MSHI on August 25, 2009, MSBVI became the listed holding company of our group. On March 19, 2010, MSBVI was renamed China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited. Our ordinary shares are traded on the NYSE MKT under the ticker symbol CNR.
Upon the effective date of the Reorganization, the Company and its subsidiaries continued to conduct the business previously conducted by MSHI and its subsidiaries (including the Company). Although the dissolution and liquidation of MSHI resulted in the cessation of MSHI as the holding company of the Group, the dissolution and liquidation had no material impact on our financial condition or operating results, other than the costs incurred in connection with its dissolution and liquidation. As the Company contractually assumed all rights, title, obligations and liabilities of MSHI upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the agreement and plan of the dissolution and liquidation, there was a continuation of the risks and benefits to the ultimate controlling owners that existed prior to the dissolution and liquidation of MSHI. Accordingly, the Reorganization has been accounted for as a reorganization of entities under common control in a manner similar to pooling-of-interests. On this basis, the Company has been treated as the holding company of MSHI in all periods presented in the financial statements rather than from the effective date of the Reorganization.
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Subsequent to the Reorganization, pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger, or the Merger Agreement, dated as of February 19, 2010, by and among the Company, China Metro-Rural Limited and Creative Gains Limited (Creative Gains) (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company), Creative Gains was merged with and into China Metro (the Merger). Immediately after the Merger, Creative Gains ceased and China Metro became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The acquisition of equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited has been accounted for as a combination of entities under common control in a manner similar to pooling of interests as both the Company and China Metro-Rural Limited were controlled by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky immediately prior to and immediately after the Merger. On this basis, the consolidated financial statements of China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited for periods prior to the Merger have been restated to include, to the extent of the equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited held by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, the assets and liabilities and results of operations of China Metro-Rural Limited for those periods as if China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited had owned China Metro-Rural Limited at the beginning of the financial period reported in the consolidated financial statements or when MSBVI and China Metro-Rural Limited came under common control by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, whichever is later, and all assets and liabilities of China Metro-Rural Limited have been stated at historical carrying amounts. The acquisition by the Company of interest owned by all the shareholders of China Metro, including Mr. Cheng, was treated as an equity transaction at the completion date of the Merger.
As a result of the Merger, our principal operating subsidiaries are China Metro-Rural Limited and its subsidiaries as well as Man Sang International Limited and its subsidiaries.
In addition, on July 28, 2010, the Company declared a dividend to its shareholders which was satisfied by way of distribution in specie of the entire equity interest in Man Sang International Limited, or MSIL held by the Company, represented approximately 494 million ordinary shares of MSIL and was completed in August 2010. Upon the completion of the Distribution, the Group no longer held interest in MSIL and has discontinued its pearls and real estate businesses, or Man Sang Discontinued Operations, which was previously operated through MSIL. Selected financial data of Man Sang Discontinued Operations is set forth above in Item 3. Key InformationA. Selected Financial Data.
On November 30, 2012, the Company disposed of its entire interest in CFC HK and, in effect, disposed of its entire interest in Qiqihar CFC, which represented Qiqihar Discontinued Operations. The Group continues to carry out its rural-urban migration and city re-development business through other subsidiaries. Selected financial date of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations is set forth above in Item 3. Key InformationA. Selected Financial Data.
B. Business Overview
China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, or China Metro, is focused on being one of the leading developers and operators of large scale, integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers in China that facilitate a relationship between sellers and buyers of agricultural products and small goods, provide relevant physical platform and timely marketing information and intelligence, provide a transparent and competitive market price discovery mechanism and provide infrastructure to enhance the living standards of those from the rural area. In addition, China Metro also carries out rural-urban migration and city re-development business, which consists of development and sales of commercial and residential properties and servicing and assignments of development rights to independent third party developers.
On November 30, 2012, the Company disposed of its entire interest in HK CFC and, in effect, disposed of its entire entity interest in Qiqihar CFC, which at the time, represented the Companys entire rural-urban migration and city re-development business. Accordingly, the rural-urban migration and city re-development business carried out by HK CFC and Qiqihar CFC have been classified as discontinued operations (Qiqihar Discontinued Operations). The Group continues to carry out its rural-urban migration and city re-development business through other subsidiaries.
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Agricultural logistics business
Our agricultural logistics business is comprised of (1) development and operation of integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers and supporting facilities; and (2) property management which engages in the management of developed properties within the logistics platformsknown as China Northeast Logistics Cities. We currently are developing two locations in the PRC, namely Northeast Logistics City in Tieling City, Liaoning Province, or China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, and Dezhou Northeast Logistics City in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, or China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou.
Each China Northeast Logistics City is an integrated agricultural logistics and trade center platform which mainly focuses on agriculture industry, including agricultural products, agricultural machineries, fertilizers and chemicals, and small goods. Our projects, China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, are currently operating.
Each China Northeast Logistics City will provide a wide range of products and services necessary for agricultural production, including farm equipment, financial services, grain agronomy, marketing, storage and transportation. Each China Northeast Logistics City will provide trade centers covering agricultural products such as corn, rice, beans, seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, agricultural machinery and other related tools as well as industrial products such as leather, textile and clothing hardware and accessories, building materials, specialized vehicles and their spare parts. We will also facilitate and make available to our trade center tenants and their customers a full range of integrated agricultural logistics and trade facilities and services, including transportation services, warehouses, agricultural logistics liaison services, on-site agricultural logistics service providers and quality testing services. The agricultural logistics services will be provided by on-site joint venture and third party service providers in our facilities. In addition, we will provide value-added exhibition and conference, residential, hotel and office facilities and procure other parties to provide banking and advertising services as well as food and beverage services. Our business model will be further augmented by the on-site presence of PRC Government agencies, which offer a diverse range of services, including registration and compliance, customs, tax administration, public security and human resources services primarily to trade center tenants, farmers and other customers.
Our development activities consist of site selection, land acquisition, project design and construction of trade centers, warehouse facilities and supporting commercial and residential facilities. Our operations consist of the operation of these trade centers and facilities on our project sites.
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling as a whole, including all trade centers and supporting commercial, warehouse and residential facilities, is expected to cover a total planned GFA of approximately 4.1 million square meters upon completion of all phases. China Northeast Logistics CityTieling commenced construction in January 2008, was partially completed in February 2009 and began operating in August 2009. We sell and lease trade center units at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling to agricultural traders, farmers, domestic and international suppliers, distributors of raw materials and agricultural products, and we provide superior facilities and an integrated platform from which to display and sell their agricultural or related products to buyers. We focus on developing our trade centers by providing superior project planning and managing completed trade centers with quality services. We intend to maintain an optimal mix between trade center units for sale and trade center units held as investment properties for lease.
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As of March 31, 2015, a total GFA of approximately 501,000 square meters (excluding self-used properties) were completed and more than 3,400 independent individuals had entered into sales and purchase agreements to purchase more than approximately 319,000 square meters of GFA, or approximately 60%, of our completed GFA. As of March 31, 2015, we completed sales of GFA of approximately 319,000 square meters (including approximately 39,000 square meters of residential properties). For such sales, we had outstanding accounts receivable of approximately HK$6,201,000, or less than 1% of such sales. As of March 31, 2015, an additional approximately 175,000 square meters of GFA are currently under construction. In addition, we have GFA of approximately 284,000 square meters and approximately 94,000 square meters, available for sale and pre-sale, and for lease, respectively.
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou is expected to have a total site area of 7 million square meters, which is expected to provide GFA of approximately 15 million square meters upon completion of all phases. We entered into a framework agreement to develop China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou with the Dezhou Municipal Government in July 2010 and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 8, 2010. China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou is located in Dezhou City of Shandong Province, approximately 60 minutes drive from Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province. We have acquired land use rights with site area of approximately 794,590 square meters for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou. The construction for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou commenced in June 2011.
As of March 31, 2015, a total GFA of approximately 236,000 square meters (excluding self-used properties) were completed and more than 2,500 independent individuals had entered into sales and purchase agreements to purchase approximately 195,000 square meters of GFA, or approximately 83%, of our completed GFA. As of March 31, 2015, we completed sales of GFA of approximately 195,000 square meters. For such sales, we had outstanding accounts receivable of approximately HK$8,128,000, or 1% of such sales. As of March 31, 2015, an additional approximately 225,000 square meters of GFA are currently under construction.
As of March 31, 2015, our total investments incurred for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou are approximately RMB2,245 million (US$366 million) and RMB2,182million (US$356 million), respectively.
Rural-urban migration and city re-development business
Our rural-urban migration and city re-development business is comprised of (1) servicing and assignments of development rights and (2) development and sales of residential, commercial and other auxiliary properties in new city center districts. It is China Metros strategy to assign the development rights to independent third party developers on portion of land plots that have been allocated by the local governments under the framework agreements for their development in return for a premium while retaining the remaining portion for China Metros own development.
China Metro previously carried out rural-urban migration and city re-development business through China Focus CityQiqihar. Upon disposal of China Focus CityQiqihar during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, China Metro continues this business through existing locations, such as China Glorious CityHengyang and China Glorious CityZhoukou.
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China Glorious CityHengyang
China Glorious CityHengyang is expected to carry out rural-urban migration and city re-development business as well as logistics platform business. It is expected to have a total site area of 2.7 million square meters, which is expected to provide GFA of approximately 7.5 million square meters including commercial, residential, warehousing and other auxiliary facilities upon full completion. As of March 31, 2015, we acquired approximately 942,918 square meters of land through auction for our own development as well as for assignment to third parties. As of March 31, 2015, approximately 504,000 square meters of GFA is under construction.
China Glorious CityZhoukou
China Glorious CityZhoukou is expected to carry out rural-urban migration and city re-development business as well as logistics platform business. It is expected to have a total site area of approximately 5.5 million square meters, which is expected to provide GFA of approximately 13.2 million square meters. As of March 31, 2015, we acquired approximately 617,045 square meters of land through auction.
As of March 31, 2015, a total GFA of approximately 250,000 square meters (excluding self-used properties) were completed and more than 2,100 independent individuals had entered into sales and purchase agreements to purchase more than approximately 195,000 square meters of GFA, or approximately 78%, of our completed GFA. As of March 31, 2015, we completed sales of GFA of approximately 195,000 square meters. For such sales, we had outstanding accounts receivable of approximately HK$391,779,000, or 36% of such sales. As of March 31, 2015, an additional approximately 311,000 square meters of GFA are under construction.
As of March 31, 2015, our total investments incurred for China Glorious CityHengyang and China Glorious CityZhoukou are approximately RMB929 million (US$151 million) and RMB1,285 million (US$209 million), respectively.
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All of our agricultural logistics business revenues are currently derived from our operations at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and were from sales, leases and management of trade center units. All of our rural-urban migration and city re-development business revenues are currently derived from our operations at China Glorious CityHengyang and China Glorious CityZhoukou and were from sales of trade centers as well as from assignments of development rights. China Northeast Logistics CityTieling began to generate revenue since fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. Net revenues in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 were approximately HK$581.6 million, with HK$575.6 million, HK$4.5 million and HK$1.5 million were contributed from sales of trade center units, rental income from leases of trade center units and property management fee income, respectively. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou began to contribute to our agricultural logistics business. Net revenues in fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 were approximately HK$913.8 million, with HK$758.4 million, HK$3.9 million and HK$3.6 million were contributed from sales of trade center units, rental income from leases of trade center units and property management fee income, respectively, whereas our rural-urban migration and city re-development business contributed revenue of approximately HK$147.9 million through servicing and assignments of development rights at Qiqihar City. Net revenues in fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 were approximately HK$284.8 million, with HK$273.4 million, HK$5.0 million and HK$6.4 million were contributed from sales of trade center units, rental income from leases of trade center units and property management fee income, respectively. Net revenues in fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 were approximately HK$387.0 million, with HK$205.0 million, HK$4.8 million and HK$5.4 million were contributed from sales of trade center units, rental income from leases of trade center units and property management fee income, respectively, whereas our rural-urban migration and city re-development business contributed revenue of approximately HK$171.8 million through servicing and assignments of development rights at Hengyang City. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, China Glorious CityZhoukou began to contribute to our rural-urban migration and city re-development business. Net revenues in fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 were approximately HK$1,400.7 million, with HK$1,393.9 million, HK$2.8 million, HK$2.9 million and HK$1.1 million were contributed from sales of trade center units, rental income from leases of trade center units, property management fee income and hotel income, respectively. Although we do not generate significant revenue from the agricultural logistics and other supporting services available at our trade centers, these services facilitate the operations of our trade center tenants and form an integral part of our trade center operations. In addition, the breadth of our supporting facilities and services distinguishes us from other trade centers in the PRC, and we believe they are important factors in attracting trade center tenants, farmers and customers.
Changes in fair values of our investment properties (which include investment properties under construction) were approximately HK$6.2 million, HK$18.3 million, and HK$4.2 million in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. In the fiscal years ended March 31, 2013, 2014, and 2015, changes in fair values of investment properties represented negative of 4.1%, positive of 12.7%, and 5.9% respectively, of our net profit from our continuing operation after taking into account relevant deferred income tax.
Completed Property Development
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling will cover a total planned GFA of approximately 4.1 million square meters. Construction of approximately 501,000 square meters of trade centers and residential properties was completed as of March 31, 2015.
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou will cover a total planned GFA of approximately 15.0 million square meters. Construction of approximately 236,000 square meters of trade centers was completed as of March 31, 2015.
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China Glorious CityZhoukou
China Glorious CityZhoukou will cover a total planned GFA of approximately 13.2 million square meters. Construction of approximately 250,000 square meters of trade centers was completed as of March 31, 2015.
Properties under Development
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
We are currently constructing additional trade centers and supporting facilities for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling with a planned GFA of approximately 175,000 square meters.
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
We are currently constructing additional trade centers and supporting facilities for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou with a planned GFA of approximately 225,000 square meters.
China Glorious CityHengyang
We are currently constructing trade centers and supporting facilities for China Glorious CityHengyang with a planned GFA of approximately 504,000 square meters.
China Glorious CityZhoukou
We are currently constructing trade centers and supporting facilities for China Glorious CityZhoukou with a planned GFA of approximately 311,000 square meters.
Properties Planned for Future Development
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
We plan to develop and construct additional trade centers, supporting commercial office buildings, hotels, warehouses and residential facilities on the remaining area of China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, which will be approximately 3.6 million square meters. We expect to complete construction by 2024. We have already obtained land use rights certificates for an area of approximately 2.3 million square meters.
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
We plan to develop and construct additional trade centers, supporting commercial office buildings, hotels, warehouses and residential facilities on the China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, which will have a maximum GFA of up to approximately 14.8 million square meters. We expect to complete all construction of China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou by 2021.
The total planned site area for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou will be approximately 7 million square meters according to a framework agreement that was signed in 2010. We are in the planning stage for construction of further GFA and we have already obtained land use rights certificates for an area of approximately 0.8 million square meters and are in the process of acquiring more land use rights from the local Land Bureau.
China Glorious CityHengyang
We plan to develop and construct trade centers, supporting commercial office buildings, hotels, warehouses and residential facilities on the China Glorious CityHengyang, which will have a maximum GFA of up to approximately 7.5 million square meters.
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The total planned site area for China Glorious CityHengyang will be approximately 7.5 million square meters according to a framework agreement that was signed in 2012. We are currently constructing trade centers with GFA of approximately 504,000 square meters and we have already obtained land use rights certificates for an area of approximately 0.9 million square meters and are in the process of acquiring more land use rights from the local Land Bureau. In addition to properties to be developed on our own, we also assign land to independent third parties for development.
China Glorious CityZhoukou
We plan to develop and construct trade centers, supporting commercial office buildings, hotels, warehouses and residential facilities on the China Glorious CityZhoukou, which will have a maximum GFA of up to approximately 13.2 million square meters.
The total planned site area for China Glorious CityZhoukou will be approximately 5.5 million square meters according to a framework agreement that was signed in 2012. We are currently constructing trade centers with GFA of approximately 311,000 square meters and we have already obtained land use rights certificates for an area of approximately 0.6 million square meters and are in the process of acquiring more land use rights from the local Land Bureau. In addition to properties to be developed on our own, we also planned to assign land to independent third parties for development.
Competitive Strengths
We believe that we are well-positioned to take advantage of the continued strong growth in the trade of agricultural industrial materials as a result of Chinas growing position as a global manufacturing and export center and Chinas increasing domestic consumption. We believe that we have the following competitive strengths:
Our innovative business model provides an integrated platform for our trade center tenants and their customers to receive a comprehensive range of trade, agricultural logistics and supporting services.
The scale and scope of each China Northeast Logistics City, which serves agricultural and related industries, attracts buyers and sellers seeking to take advantage of the synergies present within our integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers. Buyers are able to meet their purchasing needs for a wide range of agricultural raw materials and products as well as effectively diversify and tailor their sourcing needs. Sellers are able to streamline their business operations by taking advantage of the full range of on-site agricultural logistics and trade solutions available at our trade centers. In addition, hotel and restaurant facilities are available on-site for the convenience of trade center tenants and their customers. As our trade centers serve as a wholly integrated, single shop for both buyers and sellers, we believe this business model will continue to set us apart from our competitors and attract new tenants and customers, while allowing us to retain our current tenants and customers.
Our integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers are strategically located in fast growing agricultural, manufacturing and economic centers near well-developed transportation networks and infrastructure.
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling:
Manchuria is comprised of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces.
The great Manchurian plain (average elevation 1,000 ft/300 m), crossed by the Liao and Songhua Rivers, is the only extensively level area in that region. Fertile and densely populated, it has been a major manufacturing and agricultural center of China. As one of the few areas in the country suitable for large-scale mechanized agriculture, it has numerous collective farms. Long, severe winters limit harvests to once a year, but considerable quantities of soybeans are produced. Sweet potatoes, beans and cereals (including rice, wheat, millet and gaoliang) are also grown, and cotton, flax and sugar beets are raised as industrial crops. The processing of soybeans into oil, animal feed, and fertilizer is centered in cities in or near the plain, notably Changchun, Harbin and Shenyang. Livestock are raised in the north and the west, and fishing is important off the Yellow Sea coast.
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In addition, China Northeast Logistics CityTieling is connected to each of the major railway arteries in Northeast China as well as at least two major highways linking each of the major cities in the Manchuria region, Russia, North Korea and South Korea. Located in Bohai sea region, China Northeast Logistics CityTieling also has access to heavy port facilities in the Yellow Sea coast.
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou:
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou is strategically located in the northern of Shandong Province which has a comprehensive transportation network forming a gateway between south and north. It is only a three-hour drive from Beijing and eight-hour drive from Shanghai. The population of Dezhou City and Shandong Province are over 6.5 million and 97 million, respectively. The gross domestic product, or GDP, of Shandong Province was US$958 billion in 2014, which ranked third among Chinese provinces.
Shandong is historically well known for both agricultural and industrial outputs such as corn, cotton, fertilizers and wheat as well as rolled steel, tractors and farming machinery.
We believe the strategic location and agricultural and industrial production near China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou offers significant opportunity for us.
China Glorious CityHengyang:
China Glorious CityHengyang is strategically located in the center of Hunan Province which is considered as the gateway to Guangdong Province and Guangxi Province from the north. It is only a three-hour journey by Express Rail Link or eight-hour drive from Shenzhen. The population of Hengyang City and Hunan Province are over 7.3 million and 67 million, respectively. The gross domestic product, or GDP, of Hunan Province was US$436 billion in 2014, which ranked tenth among Chinese provinces.
Hengyang is historically well known for its nonferrous metals as well as various agricultural produce.
China Glorious CityZhoukou:
China Glorious CityZhoukou is strategically located in the center of China. It is only a eight-hour journey drive to Beijing and nine-hour drive from Shanghai. The population of Zhoukou City and Henan Province are over 8.8 million and 94 million, respectively. The gross domestic product, or GDP, of Henan Province was US$563 billion in 2014, which ranked fifth among Chinese provinces.
Zhoukou is well known for agricultural products and produce such as foodstuffs, cotton and edible oils as well as processed foods.
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We enjoy strong municipal and regional government support in the locations in which we currently plan to operate.
In selecting new sites for our projects, we strategically seek out locations in which local and regional governments have actively expressed a desire to develop integrated logistics and trade services in their long-term plans. In doing so, we are able to ensure that our business operations are closely aligned with the long-term economic development plans of the region in which we develop and operate. With respect to China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, with local administrative support, we were able to secure a plot of land in excess of one square kilometer quickly, efficiently and in accordance with relevant approval procedures. Pursuant to the terms of our mutual agreement, representatives of the municipal governments undertook or will undertake the responsibility for relocating all prior occupants of the land as well as improving roads and infrastructure within each China Northeast Logistics City and China Glorious City. In addition, as part of a broader effort to improve local transportation infrastructure, government authorities have also undertaken construction of new roads and other supporting infrastructure surrounding each China Northeast Logistics City and China Glorious City. Several PRC Government agencies also plan to have an on-site presence at each China Northeast Logistics City and China Glorious City to assist trade center tenants and other visitors. We believe each China Northeast Logistics City and China Glorious City will remain an important part of the municipal and regional governments overall strategy to develop the local economy by creating new jobs, contributing increased tax revenues and attracting new manufacturing plants and commercial development to the surrounding area.
The founding shareholders of China Metro-Rural Limited possess in-depth experience and extensive networks of contacts within their respective industries.
The two founding shareholders of China Metro-Rural Limited, each of whom are either chairmen or executive directors of leading manufacturing and industrial companies based in Hong Kong with operations in the PRC, have extensive experience and a well-developed network of contacts in their respective industries and have provided a firm foundation for our operations and future development. Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, one of the founding shareholders of China Metro-Rural Limited, is also the Chairman of Shenzhen Logistics and the Supply Chain Management Association. He is also a member of the Shenzhen Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference and a Standing member of the Guangxi Committee of Chinese Peoples Consultative Conference. Mr. Leung Moon Lam is a member of the National Committee and a member of the Liaoning Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference. He is also the Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Shenzhen Association. He is a member of the Consultative Committee on Economic and Trade Co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
We have a strong, experienced management team with a demonstrated record of success.
We consider the strength of our senior management team to be fundamental to the success of our integrated agricultural logistics and trade center development projects. We rely on our senior managements experience and insight on important factors that contribute to the success of our projects, such as careful site selection, detailed project management, stringent cost control and effective quality control. Our senior management team also has extensive experience in real estate operations and financial management, which we believe provides us with a key competitive advantage. Our financial team includes professionals with experience in financial management, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets financing and corporate restructuring. Furthermore, we have developed a strong sales team with specialized experience in each of the different trade and agricultural logistics services industries. We believe our management teams comprehensive industry background has helped us to achieve our past success and will enable us to successfully implement our growth strategies in the future.
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Strategy
Our objective is to become the leading developer and operator of large-scale, agricultural and industrial integrated logistics platforms and rural-urban migration and city re-development in the PRC. To achieve this objective, we intend to implement the following strategies:
Maximize occupancy rates, rental rates, sales prices and traffic flow in our existing and planned trade centers.
We plan on maximizing occupancy rates, rental rates, sales prices and traffic flow in our existing and planned industrial integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers by implementing the following initiatives:
| Provide preferential rental terms to maximize occupancy rates and increase rental rates and sales prices as occupancy rates increase. Our operating strategy of the integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers aims to first achieve high occupancy rates and attract a high-quality tenant base, and then increase rental rates and sales prices steadily as occupancy rates increase. We intend to attract quality tenants to our trade centers by offering preferential rental rates and other more attractive leasing terms than those offered by our competitors, such as rent free periods based on advance rental payments made by tenants. We intend to increase rental rates after the initial lease period, by which time we believe our tenants who have established their business in our trade centers and are benefiting from the full range of integrated agricultural logistics, trade and supporting facilities will have strong incentives to renew their leases. We anticipate favorable upward trends in rental rates and sales prices for our trade center units, driven by (1) continuing growth in the manufacturing and export industries in China, which we expect to generate additional demand for space in integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers, and (2) higher quality features to be developed in the trade centers, which we expect will be offered at higher rental rates and sales prices. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our overall average selling price was HK$6,582 per square meter, represented an increase of approximately 6.3% as compared with the average selling price of HK$6,189 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. |
| Continue to offer integrated agricultural logistics services to increase customers access to the global supply chain. We intend to optimize our offerings of integrated agricultural logistics services, including warehouse, liaison and on-site agricultural logistics services and transportation services, in order to facilitate individual needs and order requirements of trade center tenants and their customers. By integrating agricultural logistics and trade functions and providing ready access to necessary services for trade center tenants and their customers, we believe we will be able to outperform our competitors in advancing and expediting the business interests of trade center tenants. |
| Leverage and improve supporting infrastructure and services. We will seek to enhance the market demand for our trade center units by leveraging and improving the auxiliary services available to our trade center tenants and their customers. In developing supporting infrastructure and services at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, we have entered into strategic alliances and arrangements with a variety of third party service providers, including one of Chinas leading banks, Agricultural Credit Union, and a telecommunications company. We have also entered into a strategic alliance with Liaoning Chemical Fertilizers Co. Ltd. to build the largest fertilizer trade market in Liaoning. In addition, we will offer conference and exhibition facilities to the agricultural and related industries participants. |
| Building a strong brand by expanding into other cities and regions. We intend to expand the brand name China Northeast Logistics City as well as China Glorious City into other cities and regions in the PRC by establishing a network of China Northeast Logistics Cities and China Glorious Cities. By creating a network, we hope to create synergy between China Northeast Logistics Cities and China Glorious Cities in different regions where customers from each China Northeast Logistics City and China Glorious City will be attracted to one another, thus creating more transactions. |
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Build our market position and enhance our brand recognition.
We intend to augment our sales and marketing program to further strengthen our market position and enhance brand recognition by using a variety of promotional, advertising, public relations and customer service campaigns in China. We will emphasize the competitive strengths of our trade centers, including strategic location, integration into the global agricultural logistics supply chain, strong supporting infrastructure and services and high quality and superior management in our marketing efforts. Our marketing promotions and advertising campaigns will target domestic and multinational companies active in the industries represented at our trade centers. We believe that these marketing activities will better enable us to promote our trade centers, attract quality trade center tenants and enhance our brand recognition among domestic and international buyers and suppliers of industrial materials and finished goods, creating higher demand for our trade center units.
Achieve and maintain an optimal mix between properties for sale and investment properties for lease.
We do not have any limitations or constraints in sales or leasing. We intend to maintain an optimal mix of properties generating long-term recurring income and capital appreciation, and properties generating profit from sales. We intend to strategically balance the amount of GFA for sale and for investment in our completed projects and properties under development and planned for future development in order to enhance our working capital position and to finance a portion of our project development costs.
Achieve and maintain an optimal mix between land for self development, and servicing and assignments of development rights.
We intend to retain certain land plots to be acquired for our own development and sales of commercial and residential properties while assigning the remaining land plots to independent third party developers in return for a premium. By doing so, we hope to be able to maintain at an optimal mix in terms of cash flows from assignments of rights and sales of properties and timing of such cash flows, creating flexibility in China Metros overall development and funding requirements.
Trade Center Projects
We currently have four large-scale integrated agricultural logistics and trade center projects in various stages of development.
Our trade center projects are classified into:
| Properties under development, representing properties for which we have obtained land use rights certificates and have planned or commenced construction. |
| Investment properties, representing properties held for long-term investment and for leasing purposes. |
| Investment properties under construction, representing properties held for long-term investment and for leasing purposes upon completion. |
| Properties held for sale, representing properties for which we have completed construction and are ready to be sold and occupied by potential buyers and tenants. |
| Properties under planning, representing development activities consisting of site selection, land acquisition and project design. |
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In determining the estimated commencement and completion dates for our properties under development and planned for future development, we rely on certain assumptions, including that: (1) there will be no material changes with respect to the general economic conditions in the PRC, performance of the PRC property market or demand for agricultural materials, particularly in the regions where we plan to develop such properties; (2) there will be no material change in the regulatory regime governing the real estate market in the PRC which adversely affects our ability to develop such properties; (3) there will be no significant obstacles in obtaining necessary licenses and approvals to develop such properties; (4) we will be able to obtain adequate funding through internal financing, bank borrowings and shareholder loans, as well as expanding our sources of external financing, including access to debt and equity financing, to develop such properties; (5) we will be able to obtain sites identified for future development pursuant to the terms of the master agreements governing the construction and development of such projects; (6) we will be able to obtain land use rights and building ownership certificates necessary to commence development of such projects; (7) the services rendered by independent contractors engaged in the construction of such properties will be performed in a satisfactory manner that meets our quality requirements; (8) there will be no material increase in the costs of construction materials and labor in the PRC; and (9) we will not be involved in any material legal or other governmental proceedings arising from the transfer or development of such properties.
Land-Use Rights and Building Ownership Rights
There are two types of title registrations in the PRC: land registration and building registration. Land registration is evidenced by the issuance of a land use rights certificate by the relevant authority. A land use rights certificate is the evidentiary legal document to demonstrate that the registered land user has the lawful right to use the land during the term stated therein, including the right to assign, mortgage or lease the land. Building registration is evidenced by the issuance of a building ownership certificate. The holder of a land use rights certificate who is issued a building ownership certificate holds land use rights and owns the building erected on the land. All holders of land use rights, and other rights in respect of the land, such as the right to buildings erected on the land, must register their lawful state-owned land use rights, as well as ownership rights to the buildings. Under the PRC law, land use rights and building ownership rights which are duly registered are protected by law.
The PRC law prescribes different maximum periods for the grant of a land use right by the PRC Government to the land user, subject to the payment of the land grant fee by the land user. The maximum period depends upon the use of the land, and varies from 40 years for commercial, tourism and entertainment uses to 70 years for residential uses. The most common term is 50 years, such as for industrial, warehouse, office and other uses. For further information, please see Regulation.
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
We have received land use rights with respect to approximately 2,344,134 square meters of a total site area of approximately 4.1 million square meters planned for development for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. Other than as discussed below, we have obtained all necessary land use rights and building ownership certificates to conduct our operations at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. The land use rights are for a period ranging from 40 to 70 years commencing from the respective dates as specified in the land use rights certificates.
We have paid for and signed a land grant contract with the local government for approximately 2,344,134 square meters of land planned for use, which together representing approximately 60%, of the total site area for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. As of March 31, 2015, we received all land use rights for our development. All the land has gone through auctions.
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China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
We have received land use rights with respect to approximately 794,590 square meters of a total site area of approximately 7 million square meters planned for development for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou. We have obtained necessary land use rights certificates to conduct our current operations at China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou. The land use rights obtained are for a period of 40 years commencing from the respective dates as specified in the land use rights certificates. All the land has gone through auctions.
China Glorious CityHengyang
We have received land use rights with respect to approximately 942,918 square meters of a total site area of approximately 2.7 million square meters planned for development for China Glorious CityHengyang. We have obtained necessary land use rights certificates to conduct our operations at China Glorious CityHengyang. The land use rights obtained are for a period ranging from 40 years for commercial land to 70 years for warehousing land, commencing from the respective dates as specified in the land use rights certificates. All the land has gone through auctions.
China Glorious CityZhoukou
We have received land use rights with respect to approximately 617,045 square meters of a total site area of approximately 5.5 million square meters planned for development for China Glorious CityZhoukou. We have obtained necessary land use rights certificates to conduct our operations at China Glorious CityZhoukou. The land use rights obtained are for commercial land and are for a period of 40 years, commencing from the respective dates as specified in the land use rights certificates. All the land has gone through auctions.
Under relevant PRC laws and regulations, idle land is subject to (a) payment of idle fees equivalent to 20% of the land grant fees paid for these parcels of land, or (b) in more serious cases, potential forfeiture.
Currently, none of our land has been designated as idle land by relevant PRC authorities, and we do not believe our land is subject to payment of any idle fees or forfeiture.
Sales and Marketing
As of March 31, 2015, we had a team of approximately 21, 45, 50 and 62 sales and marketing and customer services personnel located in Tieling City, Dezhou City, Hengyang City and Zhoukou City, respectively, who are responsible for the sales, leasing and marketing of the store units in the trade centers, residential and other properties. Once a project is completed, our sales and marketing staff will also develop advertising and rental plans for the properties held for rental, and sales plans for the store units to be sold to purchasers of the properties. We will also engage other independent professionals in the PRC to prepare marketing studies to assist us in developing our advertising and sales and rental plans. This process also includes a determination of target customers, as well as strategies to maximize usage and revenues from the property.
We conduct marketing of our projects through a variety of channels, including the network of our founding shareholders, advertising media, events and exhibitions and activities of trade associations. China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou has its own website www.nlc86.com which provides a platform for promoting itself and the business carried out therein.
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Lease Agreements
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
Overview
As of March 31, 2015, we had approximately 2,700 completed trade center units for lease at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling. Leasing of trade center units and commercial facilities is conducted by our sales and marketing department. Prospective tenants complete an application containing information as to desired location of the rental units and facilities, and pay a nominal deposit. We review the application and, if appropriate, provide a detailed proposal of the rental unit, as well as deposits, rental rates, management fees and any rent abatement or rent-free periods. Once an agreement is reached with a tenant, a lease agreement is executed.
Preferential Payment Terms
In an effort to attract tenants as part of the initial leasing-out period of trade center units, we provided early tenants with preferential rental rates and rent-free periods of up to 24 months for a three-year lease, based primarily on the length of the lease agreements.
We currently offer preferential rental rates to all of our trade center tenants. The discounts offered to tenants depend on a variety of factors, including the duration of the lease, the type and location of the trade center for the unit to be leased, and the credit of the tenant. We also offer additional discounts to those tenants who make rental payments in advance. Tenants who make rental payments in advance typically receive a discount based on the length of the prepayment term. In addition, we offer incentive discounts to existing tenants who choose to enter into new lease agreements following the expiration of their initial lease terms and pay a portion of their rent in advance. As of March 31, 2015, taking into account the above preferential terms, the average effective annual rental rate for our trade center units is approximately RMB 69 per square meter (excluding management fees).
Self-Used Properties
In order for us to operate our agricultural logistics business and rural-urban migration and city re-development business more efficiently and effectively, we have constructed and occupied the following properties as at March 31, 2015:
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
| Administrative Tower, a 5-story building with a total gross floor area of approximately 10,757 square meters. The Tower is used as our headquarters of China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and is used by us for daily administrative duties. |
| Sales Center, a 2-story building with office area with a total gross floor area of approximately 2,265 square meters. The Sales Center is used as showroom at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and is used by our sales team for daily sales and administrative duties. |
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
| Administrative office, located on the 4th floor of a 4-story No. 1 Exchange Plaza at China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou with a total gross floor area of approximately 1,300 square meters. The administrative office is used as our headquarters of China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou. |
| Sales office, located on the 1st floor of a 4-story No. 1 Exchange Plaza at China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou with a total gross floor area of approximately 1,105 square meters. The sales office is used by our sales team as showroom for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and for daily sales and administrative duties. |
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| Property management office, located at China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou with a total gross floor area of approximately 718 square meters and is used by our property management team for daily property management duties. |
China Glorious CityHengyang
| Administrative office, a 1-story building located at China Glorious CityHengyang with a total gross floor area of approximately 3,286 square meters. The administrative office is used as our headquarters of China Glorious CityHengyang. |
| Sales office, a 1-story building located at China Glorious CityHengyang with a total gross floor area of approximately 1,268 square meters. The sales office is used by our sales team as showroom for China Glorious CityHengyang and for daily sales and administrative duties. |
China Glorious CityZhoukou
| Administrative office, a 1-story building located at China Northeast Logistics CityZhoukou with a total gross floor area of approximately 2,551 square meters. The administrative office is used as our headquarters of China Glorious CityZhoukou. |
| Sales office, a 1-story building located at China Northeast Logistics CityZhoukou with total gross floor area of approximately 1,100 square meters and is used by our sales team as showroom for China Northeast Logistics CityZhoukou and for daily sales and administrative duties. |
Recent Developments
China Northeast Logistics CityTieling
During the past few years we have in aggregate acquired parcels of land with a total site area of approximately 500,548 square meters for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling.
For the portion of China Northeast Logistics CityTieling that has been pre-sold/sold, average selling price decreased by approximately HK$1,599 from HK$5,273 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$3,674 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, we have pre-sold/sold total GFA of approximately 319,000 square meters.
Sales of GFA increased by 481% from approximately 2,600 square meters in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 15,100 square meters in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou
We have acquired land use rights for land plots from the local Land Bureau with site area of approximately 794,590 and commenced construction in June 2011. GFA of approximately 236,000 square meters was completed as of March 31, 2015 and GFA of approximately 225,000 square meters is still under construction.
For the GFA we have pre-sold/sold, average selling price increased by approximately 8.5% from HK$6,267 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$6,797 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, we have pre-sold/sold total GFA of approximately 195,000 square meters.
Sales of GFA decreased by 94% from approximately 31,000 square meters in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 1,800 square meters in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
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China Glorious CityHengyang
We have acquired land use rights for land plots from the local Land Bureau with site area of approximately 942,918 square meters and commenced construction in May 2013. As of March 31, 2015, GFA of approximately 504,000 square meters is under construction.
China Glorious CityZhoukou
We have acquired land use rights for land plots from the local Land Bureau with site area of approximately 617,045 square meters and commenced construction in April 2014. GFA of approximately 250,000 square meters was completed as of March 31, 2015 and GFA of approximately 311,000 square meters is still under construction.
For the GFA we have pre-sold/sold, the average selling price was approximately HK$6,806 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, we have pre-sold/sold total GFA of approximately 195,000 square meters.
Sales of GFA was approximately 195,000 square meters in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
Our Corporate Information
Our principal executive office is located at Suite 2204, 22/F, Sun Life Tower, The Gateway, 15 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, telephone: 852-2111-3815. We have designated National Registered Agents, Inc., located at 111 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10011, as our agent for service of process in the United States.
Intellectual Property Rights
Agricultural logistics
We have registered the trademark of (i) (China Northeast Logistics City) and its logo and (ii) the logo of China Metro-Rural Exchange under some additional categories with the Trade Marks Registry in Hong Kong, and we have submitted applications for registration of the trademarks , NLC, and HYC with the Trademark Office of the State Administration For Industry and Commerce of the PRC under various categories relating to metals, textiles, machines, electronics and many other categories. We are also the owner of the domain names of huayaocity.com, nlc86.com, and www.chinametrorural.com.
Provided they are still in use, we will apply to renew our trademarks prior to or upon their expiration. Currently, we do not anticipate any difficulties in renewing our trademarks. Accordingly, we do not expect any adverse effects from the upcoming expiration of any of our trademarks.
We believe that our business is not dependent, to a significant extent, on patents or licenses, industrial, commercial or financial contracts or new manufacturing process, and such factors are not material to our business or profitability.
Facilities
Our principal executive office, which is comprised of approximately 1,512 square feet pursuant to a lease that expires on March 16, 2017, and is staffed by management and office personnel.
Our China administrative office for Shenzhen head office is located 26/F, Global Logistics Center, Pinghu, Longgang District, Shenzhen, PRC, which is comprised of approximately 1,489 square meters and is staffed by management and office personnel.
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Our China administrative and sales offices for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling are located at Administrative Tower and Sales Center at China Northeast CityTieling, Zuanshi Road, Xincheng District, Tieling, Liaoning Province, PRC. Our administrative and sales offices for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, which are comprised of approximately 13,022 square meters in supporting commercial facilities located within China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, and are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights and building ownership certificates for the buildings in which our Tieling administrative office and sales offices are located.
Our China administrative and sales offices for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou are located at 4/F and 1/F of No.1 Exchange Plaza, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, 3777 Dexian Dajie, Decheng District, Dezhou, Shandong Province, PRC, which are comprised of approximately 1,300 and 1,105 square meters of gross floor area, respectively, and are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights for the building in which our Dezhou City administrative office and sales offices are located.
Our China administrative and sales offices for China Glorious CityHengyang are located at China Glorious CityHengyang, Cailun Dadao, Shigu District, Hengyang, Hunan Province, PRC, which is comprised of approximately 3,286 and 1,268 square meters of gross floor area, respectively, and are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights for the building in which our Hengyang City administrative office and sales offices are located.
Our China administrative and sales offices for China Glorious CityZhoukou are located at China Glorious CityZhoukou, 500 meters East of Intersection of Taishan Road and Zhouhuai Road, Chuanhui District, Zhoukou, Henan Province, PRC, which are comprised of approximately 2,551 and 1,100 square meters of gross floor area, respectively, and are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights for the building in which our Zhoukou City administrative office and sales offices are located.
Legal Proceedings
Our subsidiary China Tieling Northeast is involved in a PRC court case brought about by a contractor, Kaiyuan Wei Min Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. (Wei Min), regarding a disputed construction contract where Wai Min is claiming damages of approximately RMB9,882,355. The litigation is still ongoing and there has been no material progress as at date of this report. Although a judgement is yet to be issued by local PRC court, we are of the opinion that the full provision for the claim shall be made and accordingly, the amount was fully provided and has been charged to the consolidated income statement for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
Our subsidiary China Tieling Northeast is involved in a PRC court case brought about by a contractor, Tieling Xin Hai Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. (Xin Hai), regarding a disputed construction contract where Xin Hai is claiming damages of approximately RMB1,174,156. The litigation is still ongoing and there has been no material progress as at date of this report. Although a judgement is yet to be issued by local PRC court, we are of the opinion that the full provision for the claim shall be made and accordingly, the amount was fully provided and has been charged to the consolidated income statement for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
We have filed a Hong Kong court case (Action No. 755 of 2015) against Run Xing Investments Limited (Run Xing), Honour Noble Holdings Limited (Honour Noble) and Mr. Su Shaobin. In the case we are making claims for various returns and interest receivables with aggregate sum of RMB42,935,132 from Run Xing and Honour Noble while Mr. Su Shaobin is a guarantor for the aforesaid sum. A judgement from the Hong Kong Court of First Instance was issued in our favour and demanded Mr. Su Shaobin to pay the aforesaid sum. Although the judgement is already issued, we are of the opinion that the recoverability of the aforesaid sum is in doubt and full provision for the aforesaid sum and a loan receivable of RMB50,000,000 shall be made and accordingly, the amounts were fully provided and has been charged to the consolidated income statement for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
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As of March 31, 2015, except for the foregoing, we did not have any litigation, arbitration or claim of material importance, and the Directors were not aware of any pending or threatened litigation, arbitration or claim of material importance against us or any of our subsidiaries.
Insurance
We had purchased construction all-risk insurance during the construction of certain trade centers (which are now completed and the insurance has expired). With respect to our ongoing construction projects, we require our contractors to insure the construction through all-risk insurance. There are, however, certain types of risks that are not covered by our (or our contractors) insurance policies, including losses resulting from war, nuclear contamination, tsunami, pollution, earthquake and acts of terrorism. As of March 31, 2015, we have not experienced any significant loss or damage to our properties.
In addition, we maintain employers liability insurance covering bodily injury, medical treatment and litigation expenses for our employees. We also insure our automobiles through automobile insurance covering collision damage and various types of liability.
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REGULATION
The following section sets forth a summary of the most significant PRC laws and regulations that affect our businesses. For a description of the legal risks relating to government regulation of our business, and in particular the land system in China, please see Risk Factors.
In this section, we, us and our refer to the Company and its subsidiaries as the context requires.
Overview
We, through our PRC subsidiaries, China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast and Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd., are developers in the PRC of integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers and residential and commercial properties, and are subject to extensive government regulations in the PRC. In connection with our integrated agricultural logistics and trade center development and residential and commercial property development activities, we are subject to a number of PRC laws and regulations relating to the land system in the PRC, such as those related to land use rights (including how land use rights may be acquired and transferred), documents of title, property development, real estate loans, mortgages and other financing techniques, property management, leasing and property-specific taxes. Our customers and agricultural logistics providers located on-site at Tieling and Dezhou are subject to PRC laws and regulations, and licensing requirements, relating to the import/export industry and the provision of agricultural logistics services.
Our Treatment as an Integrated Logistics Enterprise and Industrial and Agricultural Exchange
We, through our PRC subsidiaries, China Tieling Northeast and China Dezhou Northeast, provide or will provide platforms for a variety of industrial and agricultural exchange, integrated agricultural logistics and trade services and facilities, including transportation services, warehouses, and other services. Because China Tieling Northeast and China Dezhou Northeast develop properties necessary for their integrated logistics and trade center operations, China Tieling Northeast and China Dezhou Northeast are subject to certain PRC laws, regulations and policies applicable to property development enterprises.
According to Regulations for Guiding the Direction of Foreign Investment ( ) issued by the State Council on February 11, 2002, foreign investment projects must be examined, approved and submitted for record by development planning authorities or foreign trade and economic cooperation authorities, depending on the nature of the projects. Our PRC subsidiary, China Tieling Northeast, was examined and approved by the Tieling Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and established on May 15, 2007, and it filed as a foreign investment real estate enterprise with the PRC Ministry of Commerce on September 1, 2009. Our PRC subsidiary, China Dezhou Northeast, was examined and approved by the Dezhou Bureau of Commerce and established on September 27, 2010, and it filed as a foreign investment real estate enterprise with the PRC Ministry of Commerce on August 11, 2011.
The Land System of the PRC
Overview
The Law of the Peoples Republic of China on the Administration of Land ( ), issued by the National Peoples Congress on June 25, 1986 and amended on August 29, 1998 and further amended on August 28, 2004, distinguishes between the ownership of land and the right to use land. All land in the PRC is either state-owned or collectively owned, depending on the location of the land. All land in the urban areas of a city or town is state-owned, and all land in the rural areas and all farmland is, unless otherwise specified by law, collectively owned. The State has the right to resume its ownership of land or the right to use land in accordance with law if required for the public interest.
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Although all land in the PRC is owned by the State or by collectives, individuals and entities may obtain land use rights and hold such land use rights for development purposes. Individuals and entities may acquire land use rights in different ways, the two most important being land grants from local land authorities and land transfers from land users who have already obtained land use rights.
Land Grants
National and Local Legislation
In April 1988, the National Peoples Congress passed an amendment to the constitution of the PRC. The amendment, which allowed for the transfer of state-owned land use rights for value, paved the way for reforms of the legal regime governing the use of state-owned land and transfer of state-owned land use rights. The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress on Amending the Law of the Peoples Republic of China on the Administration of Land ( ), adopted by the National Peoples Congress on December 29, 1988, amends the Land Administration Law of the Peoples Republic of China ( ) to permit the transfer of state-owned land use rights for value.
On May 19, 1990, the State Council issued the Regulations of Peoples Republic of China Concerning the Interim Grant and Assignment of Right to Use State Land in Urban Areas ( ), or the Urban Land Regulations. These regulations formalized the process of the grant and transfer of land use rights for consideration. Under this system, the State retains the ultimate ownership of the land. However, the right to use the land, referred to as land use rights, can be granted by the State and local governments at or above the county level for a maximum period of 70 years for specific purposes, including for residential and commercial development, pursuant to a land grant contract and upon payment to the State of a land grant fee for the grant of land use rights.
The Urban Land Regulations prescribe different maximum periods of grant for different uses of land as follows:
Use of Land |
Maximum Period (years) |
|||
Commercial, tourism, entertainment |
40 | |||
Residential |
70 | |||
Industrial |
50 | |||
Educational, scientific, technological, cultural, public health and sports |
50 | |||
Comprehensive utilization or other purposes |
50 |
Under the Urban Land Regulations, domestic and foreign enterprises are permitted to acquire land use rights unless the law provides otherwise. The State may not resume possession of lawfully granted land use rights prior to expiration of the term of grant. If the public interest requires the resumption of possession by the State under special circumstances during the term of grant, compensation must be paid by the State. Subject to compliance with the terms of the land grant contract, a holder of land use rights may exercise substantially the same rights as a land owner during the grant term, including holding, leasing, transferring, mortgaging and developing the land for sale or lease.
Upon paying in full the land grant fee pursuant to the terms of the contract, the grantee may apply to the relevant land bureau for issuance of the land use rights certificate. Upon expiration of the term of grant, renewal is possible subject to the execution of a new contract for the grant of land use rights and payment of a new land grant fee. If the term of the grant is not renewed, the land use rights and ownership of any buildings on the land will revert to the State without compensation.
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The Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Property Rights ( ), or the Property Law, adopted by the National Peoples Congress on March 16, 2007 and effective as of October 1, 2007, further clarified land use rights in the PRC with the following rules:
| land use rights for residences will be automatically renewed upon expiry; |
| car parking spaces and garages within residential buildings must be used to meet the needs of the owners who live in the building first; |
| the construction of buildings must comply with relevant laws and regulations and must not affect the ventilation of or lighting to neighboring buildings; and |
| where the state-owned land use rights for construction use are transferred, exchanged, used as a capital contribution, donated to others or mortgaged, an application for modification registration must be filed with the registration department. |
In addition to the general framework for transactions relating to land use rights set out in the Urban Land Regulations, local legislation provides for additional requirements, including those applicable to specific transactions within specific areas relating to the grant and transfer of state-owned land use rights. These local regulations are numerous and some of them are inconsistent with national legislation. Under PRC law, national laws and regulations prevail to the extent of such inconsistencies.
Methods of Land Grant
There are two methods by which state-owned land use rights may be granted, namely by private agreement or competitive processes (i.e., public tender, auction or listing for sale at a land exchange administered by the local government).
The Ministry of Land and Resources has required, since August 31, 2004, that the grant of state-owned land use rights must be made pursuant to public tenders, auctions or listings for sale on a land exchange and that no state-owned land use rights for commercial uses could be granted by way of agreement. PRC laws and regulations specifically provide that land to be used for commercial purposes must be granted by way of competitive processes. A number of measures are provided by PRC laws and regulations to ensure such grant of state-owned land use rights for commercial purposes is conducted openly and fairly. For instance, the local land bureau must take into account various social, economic and planning considerations when deciding on the use of a certain piece of land, and its decision regarding land use designation is subject to approval by the city or provincial government. In addition, the announcement of a public tender, auction or listing for sale at a land exchange must be made 20 days prior to the date of beginning such competitive processes. Further, it is also stipulated that for listing at a land exchange, the time period for accepting bids must not be less than 10 days.
When state-owned land use rights are granted by way of tender, a bid evaluation committee consisting of not less than five members (including a representative of the grantor and other experts) formed by the land bureau is responsible for evaluating the bids and the tenderee is responsible for deciding on the successful bidder. The successful bidder will then sign the land grant contract with the land bureau and pay the balance of the land-grant fee before obtaining the state-owned land use rights certificate and before the land bureau will effectuate the registration of the successful bidder as the holder of state-owned land use rights for the land. The land bureau will consider the following factors: if the invitation to tender only requires a bid from the bidder, whoever offers the highest bid will be the successful bidder; or if the invitation to tender requires the bidder to submit planning proposals in addition to the bid, then details of the proposals will be considered. If the relevant land bureau considers that none of the bids is satisfactory, the land bureau has the right to reject all the bids. Tenders for state-owned land use rights can be by way of open tenders or private tenders.
Where state-owned land use rights are granted by way of auction, a public auction will be held by the relevant local land bureau, and the land use rights are granted to the highest bidder. The successful bidder will then be asked to sign the land grant contract with the local land bureau and pay the relevant land grant fee within a prescribed period.
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Where state-owned land use rights are granted by way of listing at a land exchange administered by the local government, a public notice will be issued by the local land bureau to specify the location, area and purpose of use of land, the initial bidding price, the period for receiving bids and the terms and conditions upon which the land use rights are proposed to be granted. The state-owned land use rights are granted to the bidder with the highest bid who satisfies the terms and conditions. The successful bidder will enter into a land grant contract with the local land bureau and pay the relevant land grant fee within a prescribed period.
The state-owned land use rights obtained by China Metros PRC subsidiaries have been granted by way of listing at their respective Land Reserve Centers.
Upon signing the land grant contract, the grantee is required to pay the land grant fee pursuant to the terms of the contract and the contract is then submitted to the relevant local bureau for the issue of the state-owned land use rights certificate. Upon expiration of the term of grant, the grantee may apply for its renewal. Upon approval by the relevant local land bureau, a new contract is entered into to renew the grant, and a land grant fee is paid.
Model Land Grant Contract
To standardize land grant contracts, in 2008, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce published the model land grant contract, on the basis of which many local governments have formulated their respective local form land grant contract to suit their special local circumstances. The model land grant contract contains terms such as location of land, use of land, land grant fee and its payment schedule, conditions of land upon delivery, term of grant, land use conditions and restrictions (including GFA, plot ratio and height and density limitations), construction of public facilities, submission of building plans for approval, deadline for commencement of construction, payment of idle fees, deadline for completion of construction, application for extension of the stipulated construction period, restrictions on subsequent transfers, responsibility for obtaining supply of utilities, restrictions against alienation before payment of the land-grant fee and completion of prescribed development, application of renewal, force majeure, breach of contract and dispute resolution.
Our PRC subsidiaries, as grantees, and the respective State-owned Land and Resource Bureaus, as the PRC land authorities responsible for the grant of the state-owned land use rights, have entered into various land grant contracts. The majority of the terms of our PRC subsidiaries land grant contracts are consistent with the model land grant contract. However, certain terms have been added or amended to suit our PRC subsidiaries circumstances.
If the land user fails to develop and invest in the land within the period of time specified in the land grant contract, the land bureau has the right to impose various penalties ranging from fines to withdrawal of the grant without consideration (unless the failure is due to force majeure or the activities of a government authority).
Termination
A land use right terminates upon the expiry of the term of grant specified in the land grant contract and the resumption by the State of that right.
The State generally will not withdraw a state-owned land use right before the expiration of its term of grant and if it does so for special reasons, such as for the public interest, it must offer proper compensation to the land user, having regard to the surrounding circumstances and the period for which the state-owned land use right has been enjoyed by the user.
Upon expiry, the state-owned land use rights and ownership of the related buildings erected on the land and other attachments may be acquired by the State without compensation. The land user will take steps to surrender the state-owned land use rights certificate and cancel the registration of the certificate in accordance with relevant regulations.
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A land user may apply for renewal of the state-owned land use rights and, if the application is granted, the land user is required to enter into a new land grant contract, pay a land grant fee and effect appropriate registration for the renewed grant.
Documents of Title and Registration of Property Interests
A state-owned land use rights certificate is the evidentiary legal document to demonstrate that the registered land user has the lawful right to use the land during the term stated therein. Upon the completion of construction of a building (including passing the acceptance tests by various government departments), a building ownership certificate will be issued to the owner of the building. The holder of a state-owned land use right who is issued a building ownership certificate holds the state-owned land use rights and owns the building erected on the land. All holders of state-owned land use rights, and other rights in respect of the land, such as the right to buildings erected on the land, must register all their lawful state-owned land use rights, as well as ownership rights to the buildings. In Tieling, the state-owned land use rights certificate and the building ownership certificate are separate certificates.
Mortgage and Guarantee
Under PRC laws and regulations, when a mortgage is created on the ownership of a building on state-owned land legally obtained, a mortgage shall be simultaneously created on the state-owned land use rights of the land on which the building is erected. Pursuant to PRC laws and regulations, buildings newly erected on a piece of urban land after a mortgage contract has been entered into shall not constitute mortgaged property. If the mortgaged property is auctioned off, the new buildings added on the land may be auctioned together with the mortgaged property, but the mortgagee shall not be entitled to priority compensation from the proceeds of the auction of the new buildings.
Within 30 days after a real estate mortgage contract has been signed, the parties to the mortgage should register the mortgage with the real estate administration authority in the city where the real estate is situated. A real estate mortgage becomes effective on the date of registration of the mortgage. When carrying out mortgaged property registration, the loan contract and the mortgage contract as well as the state-owned land use rights certificate or the building ownership certificate in respect of the mortgaged property must be submitted to the mortgagee.
Under PRC laws and regulations, guarantees may be in two forms: (1) general guarantees whereby the guarantor bears the liability when the debtor fails to perform the payment obligation; and (2) guarantees with joint and several liability whereby the guarantor and debtor are jointly and severally liable for the payment obligation. A guarantee contract must be in writing and, unless agreed otherwise, the term of a guarantee shall be six months after the expiration of the term for performance of the principal obligation.
Where indebtedness is secured by both a guarantee and by mortgaged property, the guarantors liability shall be limited to the extent of the indebtedness that is not secured by the mortgaged property.
Property Development
Property development projects in the PRC are generally divided into single projects and large tract development projects. A single project refers to the construction of buildings on a plot of land and the subsequent sale of units. Large tract development projects consist of the comprehensive development of large area and the construction of necessary infrastructure such as water, electricity, road and communications facilities. The developer may either assign the state-owned land use rights of the developed area or construct buildings on the land itself and sell or lease the buildings erected on it.
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Foreign entities must establish foreign investment enterprises in the PRC as project companies to develop property. The typical scope of business of such project companies includes development, construction, sales, leasing and property management of commodity properties and ancillary facilities on the specific land as approved by the government. The term of the property development company is usually the same as the term of grant of the state-owned land use rights in question.
Establishment of a project company is subject to the approval by the relevant departments of the PRC Government in accordance with the following procedures. First, a project application report is submitted to the central or local development and reform commission for verification and approval. If the development and reform commission considers the proposed property development project to be consistent with the prevailing national and local economic plans and foreign investment regulations, it will grant an approval to the applicant in respect of the project.
Once the project application report has been verified and approved, a joint feasibility study report is prepared that reflects the investors assessment of the overall economic viability of the proposed project company. The feasibility study report and/or articles of association may then be submitted to the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterpart, as the case may be, for approval. If the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterpart finds the application documents to be in compliance with PRC law and industrial policy, it will issue an approval certificate for the establishment of the project company. With this approval certificate, the investor can apply to the local administration for industry and commerce for a foreign investment enterprise business license for the project company.
Regulations on Foreign Investment Real Estate Enterprises
Once a foreign entity developer has established a project company and secured the state-owned land use rights to a piece of land for development, it has to apply for and obtain the requisite planning permits from the planning departments and have its design plan approved by, and apply for and obtain construction permits from, the relevant construction commission for commencement of construction work on the land. When the construction work on the land is completed, the completed buildings and structures must be examined and approved by the government departments before they can be delivered to purchasers or lessors for occupancy.
Under the Administrative Measures for the Verification and Approval and the Record-filing of Foreign Investment Projects ( ) issued by the National Development and Reform Commission on May 17, 2014, real estate projects under restricted industries and other restricted projects with a total investment (including increased investment) of less than US$50 million in the Catalogue of Industries for Guiding Foreign Investment shall be subject to the verification and approval of provincial governments.
Based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, we acknowledge that China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast and China Hengyang Glorious are treated as foreign investment real estate enterprises engaged in integrated logistics projects and are subject to the requirements imposed on such enterprises.
PRC law requires that a foreign investment project be approved by government authorities at the appropriate level depending on the amount of the investment by the foreign enterprise and the industries to which the project belongs under the foreign investment catalog. China Tieling Northeast has obtained approval from the Tieling Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation as a foreign investment enterprise and have subsequently received approval on two occasions to increase the investment capital to US$35.00 million. China Dezhou Northeast has obtained approval from the Dezhou Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation as a foreign investment enterprise with investment capital of US$49.90 million. China Hengyang Glorious has obtained approval from the Hengyang Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation as a foreign investment enterprise with investment capital of US$30.00 million. China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic have obtained approvals from the Zhoukou Municipal Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation as foreign investment enterprises with investment capitals of US$20.00 million and US$10.00 million respectively.
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Circular No. 171
Issued in response to increasing foreign investment in the real estate industry in recent years, the Opinions on Regulating the Entry of Foreign Capital Into the Real Estate Market and the Administration Thereof ( ), or Circular No. 171, issued by the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Peoples Bank of China, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, on July 11, 2006, may impact foreign investment in the PRC real estate industry in the following areas:
| Circular No. 171 requires a foreign invested real estate enterprise, or FIREE, with total investments equating to or exceeding US$10 million to have a registered capital consisting of no less than 50% of its total amount of investment. FIREEs with total investments below US$10 million must have a registered capital in amounts pursuant to and consistent with existing regulations. |
| Upon payment of the state-owned land use rights grant fees, the FIREE can apply to the land administration authority for a state-owned land use rights certificate. Upon obtaining the state-owned land use rights certificate, an FIREE may then obtain a recertification of its existing foreign investment enterprise approval certificate, or FIEAC, and the business license, with the same validity period as that of such FIEAC; following which, the FIREE may apply to the tax administration for tax registration purposes. |
| When a foreign investor merges with a domestic real estate enterprise, or acquires an FIREEs equity or project, the investor is required to submit a guarantee which ensures the compliance with the provisions of the state-owned land use rights grant contract, construction site planning permit and construction work planning permit, and the state-owned land use rights certificate, and the modification certification issued by the construction authorities, and the tax payments certification issued by the relevant tax authorities. |
| Foreign investors which merge with domestic real estate development enterprises by share transfer or other methods, or which acquire the equity of a PRC party in joint venture enterprises, must allocate their employees appropriately, deal with bank debts and settle the lump sum payment of the transfer price through self-owned funds. However, a foreign investor with an unfavorable record should not be allowed to conduct any of these activities. |
| FIREEs which have not paid up their registered capital fully, or failed to obtain a state-owned land use rights certificate, or with under 35% of the total capital required for the project, may not be allowed to obtain a loan in or outside China, and foreign exchange administration departments shall not approve any settlement of foreign loans by such enterprises. Although the Ministry of Commerce has not issued any further opinions on the regulation of entry of foreign capital into the real estate market, however, based on the Capital Ratios Notice, issued by the State Council on May 25, 2009, this capital requirement may be reduced to 30% in the future. |
| Any Sino or foreign investors in an FIREE shall not guarantee fixed profit returns or provide other arrangements to the same effect for any party in any form. |
Circular No. 50
The Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Strengthening and Regulating the Examination, Approval and Oversight of Foreign Direct Investment in the Real Estate Sector ( ), or Circular No. 50, issued by the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on May 23, 2007 may impact foreign investment in the PRC real estate industry in the following areas:
| the local governments/authorities that approve FIREE establishments are now required to file such approvals with the Ministry of Commerce; |
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| prior to establishing a foreign invested real estate enterprise, foreign investors are required to obtain state-owned land use rights or the ownership of a real estate building, or the investor should have entered into an indicative land grant contract or indicative project purchase agreement with the land administrative department, developer of the land or owner of the property; |
| the practice of allowing foreign investors taking over local project companies by way of roundtrip investment is strictly controlled; and |
| a foreign investment enterprise that intends to engage in real estate development, or an existing FIREE which intends to undertake a new real estate development project, shall first apply to the relevant authorities for such business scope and scale expansion in accordance with laws and regulations on foreign investments. |
Qualifications of a Property Developer
Under the Regulations for the Administration of the Qualifications of Real Estate Development Enterprises ( ), or Qualification Certificate Regulations, issued by the Ministry of Construction on March 29, 2000, a real estate developer shall apply for registration of its qualifications according to the Qualification Certificate Regulations.
According to the Qualification Certificate Regulations, a newly established property developer must first apply for an interim qualification certificate within 30 days of obtaining its business license. The interim qualification certificate has a one-year validity and may be extended for not more than two years with the approval of the relevant real estate development administration authority. In addition, an application for a formal qualification certificate must be made one month before the expiration of the interim certificate. All qualification certificates are subject to renewal on an annual basis. Under government regulations, developers must fulfill all statutory requirements before they may obtain or renew their qualification certificates.
On December 22, 2010, China Tieling Northeast obtained from the Liaoning Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau a Qualification Certificate for Real Estate Development Enterprise in Grade III with an effective term until December 21, 2013 allowing China Tieling Northeast to undertake property development in the PRC. On April 17, 2014, this qualification certificate was renewed for a term until March 3, 2017. After the expiration of its current qualification certificate, China Tieling Northeast will need to renew this qualification certificate or apply for a qualification certificate in a higher grade.
The Dezhou Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau has granted interim qualification certificates to China Dezhou Northeast and Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. confirming that China Dezhou Northeast and Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. are allowed to undertake the development of properties in the PRC. The interim qualification certificate of China Dezhou Northeast expired on September 30, 2014, but the qualification certificate was then renewed until December 31, 2015. The interim qualification certificate of Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. expired on June 30, 2014 and currently we have no plan to further renew its qualification certificate as it is currently inactive. Upon expiration of the interim qualification certificate, China Dezhou Northeast will be required to renew its qualification certificate.
The Hunan Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau has granted an interim qualification certificate to China Hengyang Glorious confirming that China Hengyang Glorious is allowed to undertake the development of properties in the PRC. The interim qualification certificate of China Hengyang Glorious expired on January 23, 2015, but the qualification certificate was then renewed until January 23, 2016. Upon expiration of the interim qualification certificate, China Hengyang Glorious will be required to renew its qualification certificate.
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The Zhoukou Housing and Urban Rural Construction Bureau has granted interim qualification certificates to China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Strategic and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. confirming that China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Strategic and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. are allowed to undertake the development of properties in the PRC. The interim qualification certificates of China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic will expire on July 8, 2017. The interim qualification certificate of Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. expired on July 8, 2015 and the entity is in the process of renewing it. Upon expiration of the interim qualification certificates, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments and China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic will be required to renew their qualification certificates.
Each of China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic, and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. has the requisite qualification certificates for engaging in their property development activities. China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, China Hengyang Glorious, China Zhoukou Glorious Investments, China Zhoukou Glorious Strategic, and Zhoukou Huayu Industries Co., Ltd. will apply to obtain the requisite qualification certificates for their properties planned for future development in Tieling City, Dezhou City, Hengyang City and Zhoukou City as required to conduct their operations.
Property Leasing
Both the Urban Land Regulations and the Property Law permit leasing of granted state-owned land use rights and the buildings or homes constructed on the land. Leasing of properties situated in urban areas is governed by the Measures for Administration of the Lease of Commercial Premises ( ), or the Leasing Measures, issued by the Ministry of Construction on December 1, 2010. The Leasing Measures came into effect on February 2011 in accordance with Law on the Urban Real Estate Administration ( ) in order to strengthen the administration of the leasing of urban buildings. The Leasing Measures permit property owners to lease their properties to others for residential or commercial property uses except as otherwise prohibited by relevant law. The landlords and tenants who are the parties to a property lease transaction are required to enter into a written lease agreement specifying all of the terms of the lease arrangement as required by statute. Leasing of buildings and the underlying state-owned land use rights must not exceed a maximum term of 20 years. The lease agreement becomes effective upon signing; however, it must be registered with the relevant real property administration authority at the municipality or county level within 30 days after its execution for the purpose of protecting the tenants interest against claims from third parties. A tenant may, upon obtaining consent from the landlord, assign or sublease the premises to sub-tenants. Local governments may impose rent controls.
Under PRC laws and regulations, an enterprise legal person has the right to possess, use, benefit from and dispose of its immovable property and movable property in accordance with laws, administrative regulations and its articles of association. Based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, we believe that our commission lease arrangements are in compliance with and protected by the Property Law.
Since July 2009, China Tieling Northeast has been entering into unit lease contracts with third parties. Agreements with third party tenants are contracts granting the tenants the right to use the units for a set period of time. Due to the fact that the Property Law and other relevant PRC laws and regulations do not specifically define this right in relation to housing, these agreements are treated as lease agreements.
Under the Contract Law of the Peoples Republic of China ( ), or the PRC Contract Law, issued by the National Peoples Congress on March 15, 1999, a lease agreement is an agreement by which a lessor agrees to deliver a thing to a lessee for the lessee to use or collect fruits from, and for which the lessee agrees to pay rent to the lessor. Based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, our agreements with our tenants (a) comply with relevant PRC laws and regulations, and (b) are legally binding on all parties to such agreements.
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We began entering into lease agreements for certain units prior to obtaining building ownership certificates. Based on relevant PRC laws and regulations, obtaining building ownership certificates is not a prerequisite to enter into lease agreements. In addition, pursuant to the Tieling Measures for Administration of the Lease of Urban Premises ( ), within 30 days after the execution of a lease agreement or delivery of a unit, China Tieling Northeast and the tenant of such unit are required to register the lease agreement with the local authority, Tieling Real Estate Administration Bureau. Although we have not made such registrations, based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, this should not affect the effectiveness or validity of our existing lease agreements with tenants.
In addition, as a property developer, we are subject to a number of measures and regulations recently introduced by the PRC Government to tighten control of the real property market. The measures include:
| tightening lending of bank loans to property developers and purchasers of developed properties and increasing the reserve requirements for commercial banks; |
| restricting the ability of foreign invested real estate companies to raise funds offshore for the purpose of funding such companies either through capital increase or by way of shareholder loans; |
| restricting the conversion and sale of foreign exchange on the capital account for foreign invested real estate companies that have not undergone an examination by the local examination and approval authority; |
| imposing strict requirements before commencement of a real estate project can begin, including the requirement that proposed projects with a total investment value of at least RMB50 million establish administration files and receive relevant approval or permits prior to the commencement of construction; |
| prohibiting the extension of loans to real estate developers that do not satisfy certain loan conditions, such as those with a percentage of project capital of less than 35% and those that are not in possession of necessary certificates and permits; |
| requiring the payment of an idle land charge for land that is idle for one year and recovery of such land by the State without consideration if the land is idle for two years; |
| requiring property developers to pay all land grant fees prior to issuing land use rights certificates; and |
| requiring all industrial and commercial land to be granted through an invitation of bids or auction. |
Property Sales
Presale of Real Estate
Under PRC laws and regulations, real estate developers wishing to engage in the presale of real estate in the PRC must first obtain the following permits:
| Certificate of Real Estate Exploitation and Business License of the Developer; |
| State-owned Land Use Rights Certificate; |
| Construction Work Planning Permit; |
| Construction Site Planning Permit; |
| Work Commencement Permit; and |
| Commodity Premises Pre-sale Permit. |
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Under the Measures for the Administration of the Sale of Commodity Premises ( ), and the Urban Commodity Premises Pre-Sale Measures ( ) issued by the Ministry of Construction on April 4, 2001 and July 20, 2004, respectively, the sale of commodity premises, which include residential properties, commercial properties (such as China Tieling Northeasts and China Dezhou Northeasts trade center units) and other buildings that are developed by property developers can include both pre-completion and post-completion sales.
Pre-completion Sales
A developer intending to sell a commodity property before the completion of construction must attend to the necessary pre-completion sale registration with the real estate administration authority of the relevant city or county to obtain a Permit for Pre-completion Sale of Commodity Properties.
Commodity properties may only be sold before completion provided that:
| the grant premium has been paid in full for the grant of the state-owned land use rights involved and a state-owned land use rights certificate has been obtained; |
| a Construction Work Planning Permit and a Work Commencement Permit have been obtained; |
| the funds invested in the development of the commodity properties put up for pre-completion sale represent 25% or more of the total investment in the project and the progress of works and the completion and delivery dates have been ascertained; and |
| the pre-completion sale has been registered and a Commodity Premises Pre-sale Permit has been obtained. |
Post-completion Sales
In accordance with the Measures for the Administration of the Sale of Commodity Premises ( ), or Commodity Premises Sale Measures, issued by the Ministry of Construction on April 4, 2001, commodity properties may be put up for post-completion sale only when the following preconditions for such sale have been satisfied:
| the real estate developer offering to sell the post-completion properties has a valid business license and a qualification classification certificate; |
| the real estate developer has obtained a state-owned land use rights certificate or other approval documents of land use; |
| the real estate developer has the relevant Construction Work Planning Permit and the Work Commencement Permit; |
| the commodity property has been completed, inspected and accepted as qualified; |
| the original residents have been resettled; |
| the supplementary and essential facilities for supplying water, electricity, heating, gas, communication and other essentials have been made ready for use, and other supplementary facilities and public facilities have been made ready for use, or the schedule of construction and delivery date of have been specified; and |
| the property management plan has been completed. |
Prior to a post-completion sale of a commodity property, a real estate developer is also required to submit a Real Estate Development Project Manual and other documents showing that the preconditions for a post-completion sale have been fulfilled to the relevant real estate development authorities.
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Restrictions on the Sale of Commodity Properties
We (through our PRC subsidiaries China Tieling Northeast, China Dezhou Northeast, Dezhou Northeast City Property Co., Ltd. and China Hengyang Glorious) are treated by local authorities as a real estate developer focused on integrated logistics in Tieling, Dezhou and Hengyang, and, as such, is subject to certain PRC laws, regulations and policies otherwise applicable to property development enterprises, including the Commodity Premises Sale Measures.
Under the Commodity Premises Sale Measures, a real estate developer may not sell a commodity property, by means of either pre-completion or post-completion sales, through the use of cost-returned sales. In addition, a real estate developer may not sell a commodity property by means of pre-completion sales through the use of any form of after-sale lease guarantee. According to the Commodity Premises Sale Measures, a cost-returned sale refers to a situation in which a real estate enterprise sells a commercial property by means of periodically returning the price of the property to the purchaser. According to the Commodity Premises Sale Measures, an after-sales lease guarantee refers to a situation in which a real estate enterprise sells a commercial property by pledging to act as lessee or as lease agent of the property within a certain period after sale.
Based on the opinion of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, our commission lease arrangements constitute neither cost-returned sales (or any form thereof) nor after-sale lease guarantees (or any form thereof).
Under the terms of a commission lease agreement with the purchaser of a trade center unit, we maintain the right to lease and receive rental income from the trade center unit for periods of up to three years as a means of further developing the trade center market.
Based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, we believe that our commission lease agreement should not be considered a cost-returned sale (or any form thereof) and is in compliance with the Commodity Premises Sale Measures and other relevant laws and regulations because (1) the commission lease agreement is entered into separately from the purchase agreement for the property; and (2) neither the purchase agreement nor the commission lease agreement contains a provision relating to the periodic return of the price of the property to the purchaser. Based on the above factors, as well as the fact that we do not account for the lease payments under the commission lease agreements as income, Commerce & Finance Law Offices is of the opinion that the commission lease arrangement should not be viewed as a cost-return sale (or any form thereof).
Based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, we believe that our commission lease agreement should not be considered an after-sales lease guarantee (or any form thereof) and is in compliance with the Commodity Premises Sale Measures and other relevant laws and regulations because (1) we do not pay any consideration to the purchaser of a trade center unit in exchange for the right to use and derive profits from the trade center unit, and (2) we did not transfer any rental income to the purchaser of a trade center unit. In this regard, we neither pledge to act as lessee nor as lease agent of the property under the commission lease agreement.
Based on the advice of our PRC Counsel, Commerce & Finance Law Offices, we believe that the commission lease arrangements do not violate the Commodity Premises Sale Measures or other relevant PRC laws and regulations.
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In accordance with the Notice on Enhancing the Supervision of Real Estate Market and Improving the Pre-Completion Sales System of Commodity Property ( ) issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the PRC (MOHURD) on April 13, 2010, a developer is required to abide by the following regulations:
For any commodity property project without a Pre-sale Permit, a developer shall not engage in any form of pre-completion sales (including subscription, reservation, sequence, VIP card, etc.) or receive any retainer fees /security deposits or participate in any promotion affairs. For any commodity property project with a Pre-sale Permit, a developer must disclose a complete list of all available premises with the price of each premise within 10 days since the issuance date of the Pre-Sale Permit and strictly follow the disclosed price for selling such premises.
A developer shall not sell any self-reserved premises before the primary registration of property title or participate in fraudulent transactions. If a developer will engage any real estate agent for selling commodity properties, such agent shall be chosen only from those registered with the relative authorities.
A developer will be subject to severe penalty if not selling within the time limit or not selling all available premises after the issuance of the Pre-Sale Permit and if intentionally reducing the supply of such premises by overpricing or signing false purchase/sale contracts.
The pre-sale revenue must be put into an escrow account supervised by the relative authorities and be used for the purpose of project construction only.
Commodity properties shall be purchased under the true-name policy. The buyers name shall not be changed without course after the closing of purchase.
A developer shall be primarily responsible for the quality of its commodity properties. The Plan of Pre-completion Sales submitted by a developer with interim qualification shall set forth the guarantee party for property quality under the circumstances of the developers bankruptcy or dissolution. Such guarantee party who will issue a guarantee letter accordingly shall be an independent body corporate and be capable of affording relative indemnities.
In accordance with the Notice on Further Implementing Regulation and Control of Real Property Market ( ) issued by the State Council on February 26, 2013, the issuance the pre-sale certificate may be suspended if the pre-sale price is unreasonably high and the developer refuses to accept the direction of the relevant government authority, or the property project is not subject to the pre-sale revenue supervision.
Regulations on Real Estate Financing
The PRC Government has introduced a number of measures and regulations to restrict the ability of property developers to raise capital through external financing and other methods since 2003. For example, commercial banks may not grant loans to property developers for the purposes of paying for land grant fees. In addition, a developer applying for real estate development loans shall have at least 35% of capital funds required for the development. Further, commercial banks are not allowed to advance their loan facilities to developers who do not have the required 35% or more of the total capital for the construction projects. Banks shall not accept mortgages of commodity properties remaining unsold for more than three years.
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On April 17, 2010, the State Council of PRC issued the Notice on Controlling the Skyrocketing Price of Properties in Some Cities ( ) which sets forth some new regulations on real estate financing as follows:
For any family (including the borrower and the borrowers spouse and minor children) purchasing its first residential premises of 90 square meters or above, the down payment ratio shall be not less than 30%. For any family purchasing its second residential premises, the downpayment ratio shall be not less than 50% and the interest rate shall be not less than 110% of the standard interest rate. For any family purchasing its third or above residential premises, the downpayment ratio and interest rate will be substantially raised up. On June 4, 2010, MOHURD, the Peoples Bank of China and China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) promulgated the Notice on Regulating the Criterion of the Second Residential Premises for Commercial Home Loans ( ). The number of premises for commercial home loans shall be judged by the actual number of premises under the names of the borrowers family members (including the borrower, the borrowers spouse and minor children). The minimum downpayment ratio was up to 60% regulated by the Notice on the Issues Related to Further Enhancing the Regulation and Control of Real Estate Market ( ) issued by the State Council of PRC on January 26, 2011.
For certain areas with skyrocketing property prices and shortage of supply, the banks may temporarily stop making loans to one or above residential premises. For non-resident without 1 year or above tax or social insurance record, no mortgage loans shall be made by the banks. If necessary, the local governments may temporarily put limits on the number of properties purchased within a certain time period. For the purchase of properties by foreign institutions or foreign individuals, the relative policies (Circular No. 171) shall be followed strictly.
The land for welfare houses, rebuilding of shanty areas and ordinary residential premises shall be no less than 70% of the total supply of residential lands and supplied with top priority. A developer who has violated relative laws and regulations will be restricted on purchasing any new land. The shareholders of a developer shall not provide loans, entrusted loans, guarantee or other financing against applicable regulations to the developer during the biding and construction process. For any developer participating in land speculation or with idle land, the banks shall not make new development loans and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) shall temporarily reject its application for listing, rights issue and material assets restructuring.
On February 26, 2013, the State Council issued the Notice on Further Implementing Regulation and Control of Real Property Markets ( ) and required strict implementation of certain on-going restrictive measures with respect to residential properties, including that (i) the restriction area should cover the relevant cities entire administrative area; the restrictive measures should apply to all the newly established or second-hand residential properties in such cities; and the qualification review of the purchasers should be conducted before the execution of the purchase agreement or subscription agreement; (ii) the minimum down payment of the total purchase price and the minimum mortgage lending interest rate for a second residential property may be further raised in cities where the housing prices are increasing at an excessively high rate; (iii) the individual income tax rate for selling any self-owned residential properties should strictly be 20%, if the original value of such properties could be verified through taxation or real estate registration records.
On March 30, 2015, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation adjusted the tax policies on transfer of residential properties by individuals. Under the new policy, individuals who sell residential properties that have been held for less than two years shall pay business tax in full amount, instead of the five-year holding period that was previously enforced.
Regulations on Development of a Real Estate Project
Under the Urban Real Estate Law, those who have obtained state-owned land use rights through grant must develop the land in accordance with the terms of use and within the period of commencement prescribed in the contract for the state-owned land use rights grant.
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If construction work has not been commenced within one year upon the commencement date as set forth in the state-owned land use rights agreement, a surcharge on idle land equivalent to less than 20% of the land grant fees may be levied. If the construction work has not been commenced within two years, the land can be confiscated without any compensation, unless the delay is caused by force majeure, or the acts of government or acts of other relevant departments under the government, or by indispensable preliminary work.
Planning of a Real Estate Project
After signing a state-owned land use rights grant contract, a developer shall apply for an Opinion on Construction Projects Site Selection and a Construction Site Planning Permit with the city planning authority. After obtaining a Construction Site Planning Permit, a developer may commence planning and design work in accordance with the Construction Site Planning Permit requirements and proceed to apply for a Construction Work Planning Permit with the city planning authority.
Relocation
Upon obtaining approvals for a construction project, a construction site planning permit, a state-owned land use rights certificate, a relocation plan and a verification of deposit to compensate parties that are affected by the relocation payable by the developer by a bank, a developer may apply to the local real estate administration authorities where the real estate is located for a permit for housing demolition and removal.
Upon granting a demolition and removal permit, the real estate administration department must issue a demolition and removal notice to the inhabitants of the area.
Construction of a Real Estate Project
After obtaining the Construction Work Planning Permit, a developer shall apply for a Work Commencement Permit from the relevant construction authority.
Completion of a Real Estate Project
A real estate project must comply with the relevant laws and other regulations, requirements on construction quality, safety standards and technical guidance on survey, design and construction work, as well as provisions of the relevant construction contract. After the completion of works for a project, the developer shall apply for an acceptance examination to the construction authority and shall also report details of the acceptance examination to the construction authority. A real estate development project may only be delivered after passing the acceptance examination.
Regulations on Environmental Protection in Construction Projects
Under the Regulations for Administration of Environmental Protection in Construction Projects ( ), or Environmental Regulations, issued by the State Council on November 29, 1998 and effective as of the same date, each construction project is subject to an environmental impact assessment by the relevant authorities.
According to the Environmental Regulations, a developer is required to submit an environmental impact report, an environmental impact report form, or an environmental impact registration form (as the case may be) to the relevant environmental protection administration for approval during the projects feasibility analysis stage. In the meantime, if any ancillary environmental protection facilities are necessary in the construction project, such facilities are required to be designed, constructed and used in conjunction with the main project. After completion of the project, the developers are required to apply to the relevant environmental protection administrations for final acceptance examination in respect of any ancillary environmental protection facilities. Construction projects are approved for use after passing such acceptance examination.
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The Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessments ( ), adopted by the National Peoples Congress on October 28, 2002 and became effective as of September 1, 2003, provides that if the environmental impact assessment documents of a construction project have not been examined by the relevant environmental protection administrations or are not approved after examination, the authority in charge of examination and approval of the project shall not approve construction of the project, and the construction work unit may not commence work.
A notice issued by the State Environmental Protection Administration on July 6, 2006 provides for stringent examination and approval procedures for various real estate development projects. It also stipulates that no approvals may be issued for new residential projects or extensions in industry development zones, areas impacted by industrial enterprises or areas where such development poses potential harm to residents health.
Property Management
A property management enterprise shall apply for assessment of qualifications by the qualification approval authority. An enterprise which passes such a qualification assessment will be issued a qualification certificate evidencing the qualification classification by the authority. No enterprise may engage in property management without undertaking a qualification assessment and obtaining a qualification certificate. One of our subsidiaries, Tieling North Asia Property Management Co., Ltd., has obtained a property management qualification certificate under the classification grade III, which was issued by Tieling House Bureau on August 25, 2008. Another of our subsidiaries, Dezhou North Asia Property Management Co., Ltd., has obtained a property management qualification certificate under classification grade III, which was issued by Dezhou Property Management Center on January 5, 2013.
Insurance
There are no mandatory requirements under PRC laws and regulations for a property developer to obtain insurance policies for its property developments. Under standard industry practice in the real estate industry, construction companies are generally required to submit insurance proposals in the course of tendering and bidding for construction projects. Construction companies are required to pay for the insurance premium at their own costs and obtain insurance to cover their liabilities, such as a third-partys liability risk, an employers liability risk, risk of nonperformance of contract in the course of construction and risks associated with the construction and installation works during the construction period. The requirement for construction companies to obtain insurance coverage for all of these risks ceases immediately after the completion and acceptance upon inspection of construction.
Regulation of Foreign Currency Exchange and Dividend Distribution
Foreign Currency Exchange
The principal regulation governing foreign currency exchange in the PRC is the Regulations of the Peoples Republic of China for the Control of Foreign Exchange ( , or the Foreign Exchange Regulations, amended by the State Council on August 1, 2008 and effective on August 5, 2008. Under these regulations, Renminbi are freely convertible for payments of current account items, such as trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions and dividend payments, but not for expenses of capital, such as direct investment, loans or investments in securities outside the PRC unless the prior approval of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange is obtained.
Under the Foreign Exchange Regulations, foreign investment enterprises in the PRC may purchase foreign exchange for trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions without approval by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange by providing commercial documents evidencing these transactions. They may also remit foreign exchange (subject to a cap approved by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange) to satisfy foreign exchange liabilities or to pay dividends.
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Dividend Distribution and Remittance
Under PRC laws and regulations, wholly foreign owned enterprises in China may only pay dividends out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a wholly foreign owned enterprise in China may be required to set aside at least 10.0% of its after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards in accordance with its articles of incorporation and PRC law each year, if any, to PRC statutory reserve until the accumulated reserve amounts to 50.0% of its registered capital. It is also required to set aside funds for the employee bonus and welfare fund from its after-tax profits each year at percentages determined at its sole discretion. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends. If the registered capital of a foreign investment enterprise has not been fully paid in accordance with the articles of association, dividends in foreign currency may not be remitted out of the PRC.
Shareholder Loan
Shareholder loans made to foreign investment enterprises are regarded as foreign debt in China, and are therefore subject to a number of PRC laws and regulations. Under these regulations, our PRC subsidiaries can legally borrow foreign exchange loans up to their borrowing limits, which is the difference between their respective amounts of total investment and registered capital as approved by the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts. Total investment is the projected amount of funds necessary for a foreign investment enterprise to attain the production or operational capacity set out in its joint venture contract and/or articles of association, whereas registered capital refers to the equity or capital contributions to be paid in full by the foreign investors. According to the Temporary Regulations on Foreign Debt Statistics and Monitor issued by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange effective on August 27, 1987, and the Implementing Rules on Foreign Debt Statistics and Monitor issued by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange effective on January 1, 1998, such loans must be registered and recorded with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange or its local branch. Interest payments on such loans, if any, are subject to a 10% withholding tax unless otherwise exempted pursuant to applicable tax treaties or tax arrangements between the PRC Government and the government of other jurisdictions.
If the foreign exchange debts of a foreign investment enterprise exceed an enterprises statutory borrowing limits, the foreign investor is required to increase its total investment amount and registered capital as necessary to comply with these limits.
Taxation
Enterprise Income Tax
The Enterprise Income Tax Law imposes a uniform tax rate of 25% (compared to a previous top rate of 33%) for all enterprises incorporated or resident in China, including foreign investment enterprises, and eliminates many tax exemptions, reductions and preferential treatments formerly applicable to foreign investment enterprises.
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Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law that has been effective since January 1, 2008, enterprises established under the laws of foreign countries or regions whose de facto management bodies are located within the PRC territory are considered as resident enterprises and thus will normally be subject to enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on global income. In particular, non-resident enterprises with an institution or establishment in China must pay enterprise income tax at the rate of 25% on taxable income derived by such institution or establishment within China as well as on taxable income earned outside China which has a de facto connection with such institution or establishment. Non-resident enterprises without any institution or establishment within China, or non-resident enterprises whose income has no connection to its institution or establishment inside China must pay a withholding income tax at the rate of 10% on taxable income derived from inside China, unless otherwise exempted pursuant to applicable tax treaties or tax arrangements between the PRC Government and the government of other jurisdictions. Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law, dividends, bonuses and other equity investment proceeds received by an enterprise are exempted from Enterprise Income Tax if distributed between qualified resident enterprises or if obtained by a nonresident enterprise with institutions or establishments in China from a resident enterprise and having a de facto connection with such institutions or establishments. However, even if we are unable to satisfy the requirements for this exemption from withholding tax on the dividends we receive from our subsidiaries in China, we are entitled to a reduced withholding tax of 5% on dividend payments due to a tax treaty between China and Hong Kong, which became effective on December 8, 2006. The tax treaty provides that a company incorporated in Hong Kong may be subject to a withholding tax of 5% on dividends it receives from its PRC subsidiaries if it holds a 25% or more interest in the PRC company, or at the rate of 10% if it holds less than a 25% interest in the PRC company.
The regulations implementing the Enterprise Income Tax Law, or the Implementation Regulations, define the term de facto management body as the place where the exercising, in substance, of the overall management and control of the production and business operation, personnel, accounting and properties of a non-PRC company is located. The determination of tax residency in a particular situation requires a review of the surrounding facts and circumstances and the mechanism provided in the Implementation Regulations gives the relevant taxation authority discretion in applying its judgment.
Business Tax
Under the Provisional Regulations of the PRC on Business Tax issued by the State Council which took effect on January 1, 2009 and the related implementation rules, a business tax is levied on all units and individuals engaged in taxable services, the transfer of intangible assets or the sale of immovable properties within the territory of the PRC. The tax rates range from 3% to 20% depending on the type of services provided. Most of our PRC subsidiaries which engage in services pay business tax at tax rates of 5%.
The Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on Including Railway Transport and Postal Services under the Pilot Program of Replacing Business Tax with Value-Added Tax ( ) was promulgated on December 12, 2013, came into effect on January 1, 2014 and was revised on April 29, 2014. Four regulations have been published accordingly, namely, Implementing Measures for the Pilot Program of Replacing Business Tax with Value-Added Tax ( ), or the Measures for Pilot Program, Provisions on Issues concerning the Pilot Program of Replacing Business Tax with Value-Added Tax ( ), Provisions on Transitional Policies concerning the Pilot Program of Replacing Business Tax with Value-Added Tax ( ), and Provisions on the Application of Zero-Rated Value-Added Tax and Value-Added Tax Exemption Policies to Taxable Services ( ).
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Pursuant to the Measures for Pilot Program, entities and individuals engaged in the provision of transportation services, postal services and some of the modern services, or the Tax Payable Services shall be considered as value added taxpayers. The Tax Payable Services include land transport services, waterway transport services, air transport services, pipeline transport services, regular postal services, special postal services, other postal services, research and development services, information technology services, culture and creative services, logistic assistance services, rental services of movable tangible assets, assurance and consultation services, as well as radio and television services. The followings are the tax rates for value added tax: (i) 17% for taxpayers providing rental services of movable tangible assets; (ii) 11% for taxpayers providing transportation and postal services; (iii) 6% for taxpayers providing modern services (excluding the rental services of movable tangible assets); and (iv) 0% for the tax payable services clarified by the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation. Storage and other services provided by the Company may be subject to the policy of the transition from business tax to value-added tax.
Land Appreciation Tax
Under PRC laws and regulations, our PRC subsidiaries that engage in integrated logistics and trade center development activities are subject to land appreciation tax for properties sold. Land appreciation tax is levied on China Northeast by local tax authorities in accordance with the Interim Regulations on Land Appreciation Tax ( ), issued by the State Council on December 13, 1993 and as amended on January 8, 2011, which provides that all enterprises and individuals, domestic and foreign, who receive income as a result of a grant of state-owned land use rights are subject to payment of land appreciation tax. Land appreciation tax is levied upon the appreciation value of property upon sale or transfer, as defined in the relevant tax laws. All taxable gains from the sale or transfer of land use rights, buildings and related facilities in China are subject to land appreciation tax at progressive rates that range from 30% to 60%. On December 28, 2006, the State Administration of Taxation issued the LAT Notice, which came into effect on February 1, 2007. The LAT Notice sets forth, among other things, methods of calculating land appreciation tax and the time frame for settlement of land appreciation tax.
On May 19, 2010, the State Administration of Taxation issued a supplementary LAT Notice ( ) which clarifies the details of income confirmation and deduction items.
Value-Added Tax
Under PRC regulations which took effect on January 1, 2009, all units and individuals engaged in the sales of goods, provision of processing, repairs and replacement services, and the importation of goods within the territory of the PRC are taxpayers of value-added tax, and shall pay value-added tax at tax rates of between 13% and 17%, depending on the activities in which they engage. Tieling North Asia Development Co., Ltd. and China Tieling Northeast are also required to pay value-added tax under local regulations.
Dividends from Our China Operations
Under PRC tax laws, regulations and rulings applicable to years prior to 2008, dividends from our operations in China paid to us were exempt from any PRC withholding or income tax. The Enterprise Income Tax Law as currently in effect provides that a withholding tax rate of 10% will normally be applicable to dividends payable to non-PRC investors that are derived from sources within the PRC, but with a possibility of exemption or reduction. The Implementation Regulations reduce the withholding tax rate for non-PRC residents to 10%. As a result, effective from January 1, 2008, dividends paid by foreign investment enterprises to non-PRC resident shareholders are subject to withholding tax at an ordinary rate of 10%, unless otherwise exempted or reduced by PRC laws and regulations or in accordance with arrangements or treaties between the PRC Government and the government of any other jurisdiction where such non-PRC resident shareholder is registered. Currently we are entitled to a reduced withholding tax of 5% on divided payments due to a tax treaty between China and Hong Kong, which became effective on April 1, 2007.
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Dividends paid by the Company to our Overseas Investors
Prior to January 1, 2008, the distribution of dividends by a company to its overseas investors was not subject to PRC tax. However, if we are deemed as a resident enterprise under the Enterprise Income Tax Law, which has been effective since January 1, 2008, the dividends we declare and pay after January 1, 2008 to our investors, including non-PRC investors, will be subject to corporate income tax or income withholding tax unless otherwise exempted.
Transfer or Disposition of Our Shares
As we are not incorporated in the PRC, under the previous PRC law applicable prior to January 1, 2008, any transfer or disposition of shares of the Company by a non-PRC investor does not trigger PRC tax liabilities. However, if we are deemed a resident enterprise under the Enterprise Income Tax Law which took effect on January 1, 2008, any gain on transfer or disposition of shares of the Company will be subject to corporate income tax, unless otherwise exempted or reduced by PRC laws and regulations or in accordance with arrangements or treaties between the PRC Government and the government of any other jurisdiction where such non-PRC resident investor is registered.
Environmental Matters
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations set by the PRC national, provincial and municipal governments with respect to our logistics platform businesses, where our projects are normally required to undergo an environmental impact assessment by government-appointed third parties, and a report of such assessment needs to be submitted to the relevant environmental authorities in order to obtain their approval before commencing construction. Upon completion of each project, the relevant environmental authorities inspect the site to ensure the applicable environmental standards have been complied with, and the resulting report is presented together with other specified documents to the relevant construction administration authorities for their approval and recordation. Approval from the environmental authorities on such report is required before delivery of the properties. In the past, we have not experienced any difficulties in obtaining such approvals for commencement of construction and delivery of completed projects. Our operations have not been subject to payment of material fines or penalties for violations of environmental regulations.
Due to the relatively low impact of our operations on the environment, our environmental compliance costs have not been substantial. There was no environmental compliance cost incurred for both fiscal years 2015 and 2014.
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C. Organizational Structure
The following chart shows our corporate structure as of March 31, 2015, including all our significant subsidiaries, with the shareholding percentage and jurisdiction of incorporation of each company:
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D. Property, Plants and Equipment
Property
Hong Kong
Headquarters. We entered into a tenancy agreement for a property at Suite 2204, 22nd Floor, Sun Life Tower, The Gateway, 15 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, for a term of approximately three years commencing from March 17, 2014 to March 16, 2017, which comprised approximately 1,512 square feet.
Peoples Republic of China
Office and sales facilities. We own an administrative tower, a 5-story building with total gross floor area of approximately 10,757 square meters, and a sales center, a 2-story building with total gross floor area of approximately 2,265 square meters for China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and are located at China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, Zuanshi Road, Xincheng District, Tieling, Liaoning Province, PRC, which are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights and building ownership rights for the buildings in which our China Northeast Logistics CityTieling office and sales center are located. We own an administrative office with total gross floor area of approximately 1,300 square meters and a sales office with total gross floor area of approximately 1,105 square meters for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and are located on 4/F and 1/F of No. 1 Exchange Plaza, at China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, 3777 Dexian Dajie, Decheng District, Dezhou, Shandong Province, PRC, which are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights for the building in which our China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou administrative office and sales office are located. Our China administrative office for Shenzhen head office is located at 26/F, Global Logistics Center, Pinghu, Longgang District, Shenzhen, PRC, which is comprised of approximately 1,489 square meters and is staffed by management and office personnel. We own an administrative office with total gross area of approximately 3,286 and a sales office with total gross floor area of approximately 1,268 square meters for China Glorious CityHengyang and are located at China Glorious CityHengyang, Cailun Dadao, Shigu District, Hengyang, Hunan Province, PRC, and are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights for the building in which our China Glorious CityHengyang administrative office and sales office are located. We own an administrative office with total gross floor area of approximately 2,551 square meters and a sales office with total gross floor area of approximately 1,100 square meters for China Glorious CityZhoukou, and are located at China Glorious CityZhoukou, 500 meters East of Intersection of Taishan Road and Zhouhuai Road, Chuanhui District, Zhoukou, Henan Province, PRC, and are staffed by management, office and sales personnel. We have land use rights for the buildings in which our China Glorious CityZhoukou administrative office and sales office are located.
Properties for sale and lease. China Northeast Logistics CityTieling will cover a planned GFA of approximately 4.1 million square meters. As of March 31, 2015, construction of approximately 501,000 square meters of trade centers and residential properties were completed, out of which, approximately 319,000 square meters were sold; whereas among approximately 2,700 completed trade center units for lease, approximately 710 units were leased out. China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou is expected to provide GFA of approximately 15.0 million square meters. As of March 31, 2015, construction of approximately 236,000 square meters of trade centers were completed, out of which, approximately 195,000 square meters were sold. China Glorious CityZhoukou is expected to provide GFA of approximately 13.2 million square meters. As of March 31, 2015, construction of approximately 250,000 square meters of trade centers were completed, out of which, approximately 195,000 square meters were sold.
Item 4A. | Unresolved Staff Comments |
None.
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Item 5. | Operating and Financial Review and Prospects |
This report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or future strategies that are signified by the words expect, anticipate, intend, believe, the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements included in this document are based on information available to us on the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the information set forth above in Item 3. Key InformationD. Risk Factors. We caution you that our business and financial performance are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, including the factors identified in Item 3. Key InformationD. Risk Factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.
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MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis constitutes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report, particularly those under Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors.
The Company was previously a wholly-owned subsidiary of Man Sang Holdings, Inc. (MSHI), a United States domestic company incorporated in the State of Nevada whose common stocks were listed on the NYSE MKT with ticker symbol MHJ. On August 25, 2009, at a general meeting, for the purpose of the redomicile of MSHI from the United States to the British Virgin Islands, the shareholders of MSHI resolved to carry out a group reorganization (the Reorganization) whereby, inter alia, MSHI was dissolved and liquidated and the Company contractually assumed all rights, title, obligations and liabilities of MSHI pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions of the agreement and plan of the dissolution and liquidation of MSHI. As a result of the Reorganization, the Company succeeded MSHI as the holding company and its subsidiaries (the Group) on August 25, 2009 with its ordinary shares being listed on the NYSE MKT as a non-United States domestic company. From its inception in August 1995 through the effective date of the Reorganization on August 25, 2009, the Company was a wholly-owned subsidiary of MSHI.
Upon the effective date of the Reorganization, the Company and its subsidiaries continued to conduct the business previously conducted by MSHI and its subsidiaries (including the Company). Although the dissolution and liquidation of MSHI resulted in the cessation of MSHI as the holding company of the Group, the dissolution and liquidation had no material impact on our financial condition or operating results, other than the costs incurred in connection with its dissolution and liquidation. As the Company contractually assumed all rights, title, obligations and liabilities of MSHI upon the terms and subject to the conditions of the agreement and plan of the dissolution and liquidation, there was a continuation of the risks and benefits to the ultimate controlling owners that existed prior to the dissolution and liquidation of MSHI. Accordingly, the Reorganization has been accounted for as a reorganization of entities under common control in a manner similar to pooling-of-interests. On this basis, the Company has been treated as the holding company of MSHI in all periods presented in the financial statements rather than from the effective date of the Reorganization.
Subsequent to the Reorganization, pursuant to an agreement and plan of merger or the Merger Agreement, dated as of February 19, 2010, by and among the Company, China Metro-Rural Limited and Creative Gains Limited (Creative Gains) (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company), Creative Gains was merged with and into China Metro (the Merger). Immediately after the Merger, Creative Gains ceased and China Metro became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The acquisition of equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited has been accounted for as a combination of entities under common control in a manner similar to pooling of interests as both the Company and China Metro-Rural Limited were controlled by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky immediately prior to and immediately after the Merger. On this basis, the consolidated financial statements of China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited for periods prior to the Merger have been restated to include, to the extent of the equity interest of China Metro-Rural Limited held by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, the assets and liabilities and results of operations of China Metro-Rural Limited for those periods as if China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited had owned China Metro-Rural Limited at the beginning of the financial period reported in the consolidated financial statements or when MSBVI and China Metro-Rural Limited came under common control by Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, whichever is later, and all assets and liabilities of China Metro-Rural Limited have been stated at historical carrying amounts. The acquisition by the Company of interest owned by all the shareholders of China Metro, including Mr. Cheng, was treated as an equity transaction at the completion date of the Merger.
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On July 28, 2010, the Company declared a dividend to its shareholders by way of distribution in specie of the entire equity interest in MSIL held by the Company, represented by 494 million ordinary shares, or the Distribution, and was completed in August 2010. Upon the completion of the Distribution, the Group no longer held any interests in MSIL and has discontinued its pearls and real estate businesses, or Man Sang Discontinued Operations, which was previously operated through MSIL. Details of results of Man Sang Discontinued Operations is set forth above in Item 3. Key InformationA. Selected Financial Data.
On November 30, 2012, the Company disposed of its entire interest in CFC HK and, in effect, disposed of its entire interest in Qiqihar CFC, which represented Qiqihar Discontinued Operations. The Group will continue to carry out its rural-urban migration and city re-development business through other subsidiaries. Details of results of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations is set forth above in Item 3. Key InformationA. Selected Financial Date.
Unless otherwise specified, references to Notes to the audited consolidated financial statements are to the Notes to our audited consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2015 and 2014 and for the years ended March 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013.
Overview
At the end of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the Group had two main business segments, our Agricultural Logistics Operation and Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation, which are presented as the continuing operations on the consolidated income statements of the Group for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013.
As a result of the disposal of HK CFC and Qiqihar CFC, our Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development OperationsQiqihar was classified as Qiqihar Discontinued Operations, which comprised of (1) servicing and assignments of development rights and (2) development and sale of residential, commercial and other auxiliary properties in new city center district of Qiqihar City.
Our Agricultural Logistics Operations are engaged in the development and operations of large scale, integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers in Northeast China that facilitate a relationship between sellers and buyers of agricultural products and small goods, provide relevant physical platform and timely marketing information and intelligence, provide a transparent and competitive market price discovery mechanism and provide infrastructure to enhance the living standards of those from the rural area.
Our Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operations is comprised of (1) servicing and assignments of development rights and (2) development and sales of residential, commercial and other auxiliary properties in new city center districts.
The disposal of HKCFC and Qiqihar CFC resulted in Qiqihar Discontinued Operations. As a result of such discontinuation, the results of operations of Qiqihar Discontinued Operations have been presented as a single line item on the consolidated income statement of the Group for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. We are now entirely focused on being one of the leading developers and operators of large scale, integrated agricultural logistics and trade centers and rural-urban migration and city re-development business.
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Critical Accounting Policies
Managements discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial condition are based upon our consolidated financial statements. These statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB. These principles require management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported and disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and related notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Periodically, we review all significant estimates and assumptions affecting the consolidated financial statements and record the effect of any necessary adjustments.
We have identified certain accounting policies that involve subjective assumptions and estimates as well as complex judgments relating to certain accounting items. Set forth below are those accounting policies that we believe they involve the most significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial statements.
Revenue and Other Income
Revenue from sales of properties
Revenue from sales of properties is recognized when the risks and rewards related to the properties are transferred to purchasers, which is when the construction of relevant properties has been completed, title to the properties has been delivered to the purchasers and collectability of related receivables is reasonably assured. Revenue is recognized only to the extent collectability of such receivable is reasonably assured.
Revenue from servicing and assignments of development rights
In its rural-urban migration and city re-development business, the Company develops and sells residential, commercial and other auxiliary properties as well as services and assigns the development rights to independent third party developers on portions of land plots that have already been designated by the local government under the framework agreement for development by such independent third parties. In connection with servicing and providing the development rights to the independent third party developers through the Qiqihar Discontinued Operations, the Company agrees with the independent third party developers to construct certain economical housing units (i.e. housing units to be provided to the local government free of charge) on behalf of the third party developers as the local government requires all property developers to construct certain economical housing units.
In order for the independent third party developers to acquire land use rights within the land plots that have already been designated by the local government under the framework agreement, the Company is required to provide certain services by liaising between the local government and the independent third party developers to ensure the independent third party developers are able to secure the land use rights at a certain price. Once the independent third party developers have successfully secured the land use rights and the collectability of the related receivables is reasonably assured, the Company would recognize the related revenue for the services performed. With regards to the obligations of constructing the economical housing units by the Qiqihar Discontinued Operations, the Company would defer the related revenue which approximates the fair value of the economical housing units until the economical housing units are completely constructed and delivered to the local government.
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Revenue from sales of properties with operating leaseback
As part of the Companys overall strategy to develop property projects with specific themes, in relation to sales of certain properties, immediately following sale of such properties, the Company leases back the properties from purchasers for periods ranging from 3 to 5 years either for an insignificant amount of rental payments or free of charge. As lease back of the properties for an insignificant amount of rental payments or free of charge was arranged as part of the sale of these properties, the Company determined the fair value of lease payments it would ordinarily make to lease such properties from other independent owners based on factors such as expected occupancy rates, rental yields etc. and included it as part of the sales consideration received with a corresponding debit to prepaid operating lease payments. Since the fair value of lease payments the Company would ordinarily make to lease such properties was estimated to be insignificant, the Company did not separately recognize it as part of the sales consideration received with a corresponding debit to prepaid operating lease payments. Such transactions are accounted for as a sale and operating leaseback given that as part of the sale transaction, the Company disposes of substantially all risks and rewards of owning the property. In concluding that substantially all risks and rewards of owning the property have been transferred, the Company considers the short period of the lease and the expected future rentals it could earn by letting out these properties, which are insignificant relative to the value of the property.
The leaseback is considered as an operating lease due to (i) the ownership of the property will not transfer back to the Company by the end of the lease term; (ii) the Company does not have the option to purchase the property at the end of the lease term; (iii) the lease term is not the major part of the economic life of the property; (iv) at the inception of the lease, the fair value of the property is significantly higher than the present value of the minimum lease payments; and (v) any gains or losses from the fluctuation in the fair value of the property rest to purchasers. In addition, operating leases rentals paid to purchasers are recorded as an expense on a straight line basis over the period of the lease.
Revenue from leasing of investment properties
Rental income under operating leases is recognized in the period in which the properties are let out and on a straight-line basis over the term of the relevant lease, including the rent free periods.
Revenue from property management service
Revenue from property management service is recognized when services are rendered.
Others
Interest income from a financial asset is accrued on a time basis, by reference to the principal outstanding and at the effective interest rate applicable, which is the rate that discounts the estimated future cash receipts through the expected life of the financial asset to that assets net carrying amount.
Dividend income from investments is recognized when the rights to receive payments have been established.
Land Appreciation Tax
Land appreciation tax provisions represent provisions for the estimated land appreciation tax payable in relation to our properties sold during a period. We make provisions based on our own calculations in accordance with our understanding of the relevant laws and regulations. Our estimate of land appreciation tax provisions requires us to use significant judgment with respect to the appreciation of land value and the allowability of deductible items for income tax purposes. Disagreements with the tax authorities could subject us to additional taxes, and possibly, penalties.
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Valuation of Properties
We state our investment properties, investment properties under construction and leasehold land and buildings at their fair value as non-current assets on our consolidated statements of financial position on the basis of valuations supported by a qualified independent professional valuer, Savills Valuation and Professional Services Limited. We provide the independent professional valuer with various information for the valuer to use as a basis for valuation. An analysis on the sensitivity of input used for the valuation is detailed in the consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report.
We state our properties held for sale classified as current assets on our consolidated statements of financial position, at the lower of cost and net realizable value on an individual property basis. Cost includes all development expenses, applicable borrowing costs and other direct costs attributable to the development of such properties. Net realizable value is determined by reference to the prevailing market prices on an individual property basis.
We state our property, plant and equipment as non-current assets on our consolidated statements of financial position. We state our property, plant and equipment at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment losses, with the exception of leasehold land and buildings as discussed above. Cost includes the direct costs, direct costs of construction and capitalized borrowing costs on related borrowings during the period of construction. Properties under development are transferred to the appropriate category of property, plant and equipment or properties held for sale when completed and ready for use.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the amount of salaries capitalized in investment properties, investment properties under construction and properties under development were nil, nil and HK$13,569,000, respectively. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the amount of salaries capitalized in investment properties, investment properties under construction and properties under development were nil, HK$145,000 and HK$9,973,000, respectively. The amounts of external (construction costs only) and internal costs (salaries and other indirect expenses that are directly attributable to construction of properties) incurred and capitalized during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 were:
2015 | 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Investment Properties |
Investment properties under construction |
Properties under development |
Investment Properties |
Investment properties under construction |
Properties under development |
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HK$000 | HK$000 | HK$000 | HK$000 | HK$000 | HK$000 | |||||||||||||||||||
External costs |
| | 1,478,081 | | 10,165 | 347,710 | ||||||||||||||||||
Internal costs |
| | 17,672 | | 377 | 13,722 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| | 1,495,753 | | 10,542 | 361,432 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Impairment of trade receivables
The management determines the provision for impairment of trade receivables on a regular basis. This estimate is based on the credit history of its customers and prevailing market conditions. Management reassesses the provision for impairment of trade receivables at the statement of financial position date. In respect of the trade receivables past due but not impaired, all of which are related to sales of properties in mainland China, they are due to the reason that longer time is normally required for customers to apply for mortgages in the location at which the Companys subsidiaries are operated. As most of these mortgages were approved by banks and balances were settled subsequent to the date of statement of financial position and resources have been invested to monitor the progress of mortgage application, management considered that these receivables are fully recoverable.
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Recoverability of completed properties held for sale and properties under development
We perform a regular review on the carrying amounts of completed properties held for sale and properties under development as these property projects are in their early stages and we have invested significant amount of capital in them. Furthermore, all our current property projects are located in China as discussed under Business Overview where the PRC Government can exercise significant control over Chinas economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Accordingly, policies and other measures taken by the PRC Government to regulate the economy could have a significant negative impact on economic conditions in China, with a resulting negative impact on our business which is further discussed under Risk Relating to Doing Business in the PRC.
More recently, the Chinas real GDP has continued to grow even though at a slower rate resulting from a recent global economic downturn which also slowdown the economy in the PRC. Accordingly, the PRC Government has introduced certain stimulus package aimed at offsetting the slow down brought by the financial crisis. In addition, the PRC Government has introduced certain macroeconomic measures to control perceived overinvestment in the real property market. Considering the overall state of the PRCs economy, specifically the real estate market which could potentially have a negative effect on the recoverability our property projects, we will consider write-down of our property projects when the estimated net realizable value of these property projects. In determining the net realizable value, asides from the aforementioned factors, we will also consider the latest economic measures introduced by the local government, recent global and local economic developments, recent sales transactions of the Group and other similar properties in the surrounding areas, marketability of the Groups existing properties, market survey reports available from independent property valuers, internally available information and managements expectation on future sales.
Impairment of long-lived assets
We conduct impairment review of assets when events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amount may not be recoverable or annually in accordance with relevant accounting standards. An impairment loss is recognized when the carrying amount of an asset is lower than the greater of its fair value less costs to sell or the value in use. In determining the value in use, we assess the present value of the estimated future cash flows expected to arise from the continuing use of the asset and from its disposal at the end of its useful life. Estimates and judgments are applied in determining these future cash flows and the discount rate.
Compound financial instruments
Compound financial instruments issued by the Company comprise convertible bonds that can be converted to share capital at the option of the holder, and the number of shares to be issued does not vary with changes in their fair value.
The derivative component of the convertible bonds is recognized initially at the fair value. The liability component is recognized initially at the difference between the fair value of the convertible bonds as a whole and the fair value of the derivative component. Any directly attributable transaction costs are allocated to the derivative financial liability and the liability components in proportion to their initial carrying amounts.
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Derivative financial instruments
Derivative financial instruments issued by the Company comprise warrants that can be exercised to purchase share capital of the Company at the option of the holder and derivative component of convertible bonds. The number of shares to be purchased upon exercise of the warrants or conversion of convertible bonds does not vary with changes in their fair values. Derivative liabilities instruments are initially and subsequently measured at fair value through profit or loss and any gains or losses derived from its changes in fair values are recognized in the consolidated income statement unless the derivative financial liabilities are qualified for hedge accounting. Transaction costs attributable to the issue of derivative financial instruments are charged to the consolidated income statement during the period in which they are incurred. The fair values of derivative financial instruments were determined by management based in part on valuations performed by qualified independent professional valuers, APAC Asset Valuation and Consulting Limited. We provide the independent professional valuers with various information for the valuers to use as a basis for valuations. An analysis on the sensitivity of input used for the valuation is detailed in the consolidated financial statements of this Annual Report.
A. Operating Results
Consolidated Results of Operations
The following is a discussion of our consolidated results of operations for the years ended March 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013:
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||
HK$000 | HK$000 | HK$000 | ||||||||||
Continuing operations: |
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Revenue |
1,400,753 | 387,016 | 284,759 | |||||||||
Cost of sales |
(817,112 | ) | (133,105 | ) | (217,955 | ) | ||||||
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Gross profit |
583,641 | 253,911 | 66,804 | |||||||||
Other income, net |
2,888 | 16,685 | 67,535 | |||||||||
Other gains/(losses), net |
40,584 | 101,412 | (69,617 | ) | ||||||||
Selling expenses |
(35,304 | ) | (31,171 | ) | (32,254 | ) | ||||||
Administrative expenses |
(252,334 | ) | (154,948 | ) | (112,504 | ) | ||||||
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Operating profit/(loss) |
339,475 | 185,889 | (80,036 | ) | ||||||||
Finance incomenet |
7,842 | 10,492 | 4,384 | |||||||||
Share of loss of an associate |
(12,813 | ) | (2,258 | ) | (1,606 | ) | ||||||
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Profit/(loss) before income tax |
334,504 | 194,123 | (77,258 | ) | ||||||||
Income tax expenses |
(280,455 | ) | (86,839 | ) | (35,746 | ) | ||||||
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Profit/(loss) for the year from continuing operations |
54,049 | 107,284 | (113,004 | ) | ||||||||
Discontinued operations: |
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Profit for the year from discontinued operations, net of tax |
| | 17,532 | |||||||||
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Profit/(loss) for the year |
54,049 | 107,284 | (95,472 | ) | ||||||||
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Attributable to: |
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Equity holders of the Company |
61,246 | 104,331 | (101,104 | ) | ||||||||
Non-controlling interests |
(7,197 | ) | 2,953 | 5,632 | ||||||||
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54,049 | 107,284 | (95,472 | ) | |||||||||
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Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2015 Compared with Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014
Continuing Operations
Revenue
Our revenue increased by HK$1,013.8 million, or 262%, from HK$387.0 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$1,400.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
2015 | 2014 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
74.8 | 215.2 | -65.3 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
1,326.0 | 171.8 | 571.8 | |||||||||
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1,400.8 | 387.0 | 262.0 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 was approximately HK$215.2 million, which consisted primarily of sales of trade center units and supporting facilities of approximately HK$205.0 million. Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 was approximately HK$74.8 million, which consisted primarily of sales of trade center units of approximately HK$68.0 million. The change was attributable to a decrease in the sales of trade center units and supporting facilities. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, there were sales of trade center units and supporting facilities of approximately 200 units and 16,900 square meters, which represented a decrease of approximately 47.3% and 50.3% as compared with the number of units and gross floor area sold in the prior year, which were approximately 380 units and 34,000 square meters, respectively. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our average selling price was HK$4,405 per square meter, which represented a decrease of approximately 28.8% as compared with the average selling price of HK$6,189 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The remainder of revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 represented rental income from leases of trade center units of approximately HK$2.9 million, property management fee income of approximately HK$2.8 million and hotel income of approximately HK$1.1 million, while the remainder of revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 represented rental income from leases of trade center units of approximately HK$4.8 million and property management fee income of approximately HK$5.4 million.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 was approximately HK$1,326.0 million, which was attributable to sales of trade center units. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, there were sales of trade center units of approximately 2,100 units and 195,000 square meters, and our average selling price was HK$6,805 per square meter. Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 was approximately HK$171.8 million which was attributable to revenue from servicing and assignments of development rights. The increase in sales was primarily attributable to the completion of a project at China Glorious CityZhoukou.
Cost of Sales
Our cost of sales increased by HK$684.0 million or 513.9%, from HK$133.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$817.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
2015 | 2014 | Change | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation |
51.2 | 133.1 | 61.5 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
765.9 | | | |||||||||
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817.1 | 133.1 | 513.8 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our cost of sales was approximately HK$133.1 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our cost of sales was approximately HK$51.2 million. The cost of sales was based on direct and indirect costs of construction, land grant fee and capitalized expenses attributable to the area of properties that were recognized as sales as well as the costs associated with the provision of accommodation and food and beverages services at the hotel.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our cost of sales was nil as assignment of development rights did not incur any costs. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our cost of sales was approximately HK$765.9 million. The cost of sales was based on direct and indirect costs of construction, land grant fee and capitalized expenses attributable to the area of properties that were recognized as sales.
Gross Profit
Our gross profit increased by HK$329.7 million, or 29.8%, from HK$253.9 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$583.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The gross profit margin, or gross profit as a percentage of total revenue, decreased from 65.6% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 41.7% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The decrease was mainly due to no revenue was generated from assignments of development rights with gross profit margin of 100% in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2015.
Agricultural Logistics Operation
Our gross profit decreased by HK$58.5 million, or 71.3%, from HK$82.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$23.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The gross profit margin, or gross profit as a percentage of total revenue, decreased from 38.2% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 31.6% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The decrease in gross profit margin was primarily due to a decrease in the average selling price of the sales of trade center units and supporting facilities.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
Our gross profit increased by HK$388.3 million or 126.0%, from HK$171.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$560.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The gross profit margin, or gross profit as a percentage of its total revenue, decreased from 100% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 42.2% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The decrease in gross profit margin was primarily due to results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 included revenue from sales of trade centers which carry a lower gross profit margin where revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 included revenue from assignments of development rights with gross profit margin of 100%.
Other Income and Other Gains/(Losses), Net
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our other income and gains were approximately HK$118.1 million, primarily from government grants of approximately HK$16.1 million and a decrease in fair value of derivative components of convertible bonds and warrants of approximately HK$87.9 million.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our other income and gains were approximately HK$43.5 million, primarily from fair value gain on investment properties of approximately HK$4.2 million, and a decrease in fair value of derivative components of convertible bonds and warrants of approximately HK$62.0 million which was offset by the decrease in fair values of leasehold land and buildings of approximately HK$23.3 million.
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Selling Expenses
Our selling expenses increased by HK$4.1 million, or 13.1%, from HK$31.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$35.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
2015 | 2014 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
11.7 | 28.9 | -59.5 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
23.6 | 2.3 | 926.1 | |||||||||
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35.3 | 31.2 | 13.1 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
Our selling expenses decreased by HK$17.2million, or 59.5%, from HK$28.9 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$11.7 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The decrease in selling expenses was primarily due to a decrease in advertising expenses by approximately HK$16.1 million. As a percentage of revenue, selling expenses increased from 13.4% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 15.6% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The increase was primarily attributable to slow down of sales in China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou and China Northeast Logistics CityTieling.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
Our selling expenses increased by HK$21.3 million, or 926.1%, from HK$2.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$23.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The increase in selling expenses was primarily due to an increase in advertising expenses of approximately of HK$11.6 million and increase in salaries and allowances of approximately of HK$7.2 million for sales personnel. As a percentage of revenue, selling expenses increased from 1.3% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to 1.7% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The increase was due to promotion and adverting expenses incurred for sales at China Glorious CityZhoukou during the current year.
Administrative Expenses
Our administrative expenses of HK$252.3 million for the year ended March 31, 2015 was comprised of HK$192.9 million (2014: HK$128.9 million) from Agricultural Logistics Operation, HK$47.0 million (2014: HK$13.6 million) from Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation and HK$12.4 million (2014: HK$12.4 million) from corporate expenses. Administrative expenses increased by approximately HK$97.4 million, or 62.9%, from approximately HK$154.9 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to approximately HK$252.3 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The overall increase in our administrative expenses was primarily attributable to the increase in impairment for trade and other receivables from HK$43,221,000 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to HK$113,919,000 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
2015 | 2014 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
192.9 | 128.9 | 49.7 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
47.0 | 13.6 | 245.6 | |||||||||
Corporate expenses |
12.4 | 12.4 | | |||||||||
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252.3 | 154.9 | 62.9 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
Administrative expenses increased by approximately HK$64.0 million, or 125.1%, from approximately HK$128.9 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to approximately HK$192.9 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The increase in administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase in provision for impairment of trade and other receivables of HK$58.1 million resulted from the impairment of HK$102,100,000 made for receivable arising from the sale of Qiqihar CFC and increase in provision for litigation claims of HK$15.4 million and increase in salaries and allowances of HK$5.7 million due to increase in headcount, which was partly offset by a decrease in heating expense of HK$5.7 million, a decrease in consulting fee of HK$5.0 million and a general decrease in other administrative expenses.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
Administrative expenses increased by approximately HK$33.4 million, or 254.6%, from approximately HK$13.6 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 to approximately HK$47.0 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. The increase in administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase in provision for impairment of trade and other receivables of HK$12.6 million, an increase in salaries and allowances of HK$4.9 million, an increase in depreciation of approximately HK$8.0 million and increase in bank charges of approximately HK$3.6 million.
Net Finance Income/(Costs)
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we received interest income from bank deposits of approximately HK$0.7 million and interest income on other receivables of approximately HK$26.7 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, we received interest income from bank deposits of approximately HK$1.9 million and interest income on other receivables of approximately HK$12.1 million.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, we incurred interest expense of approximately HK$305.1 million, out of which HK$298.9 million was capitalized in properties under development and property, plant and equipment and the remainder of HK$6.2 million was recognized as finance costs in the consolidated income statement. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we incurred interest expense of approximately HK$212.6 million, out of which HK$195.7 million was capitalized in properties under development and investment properties under development and the rest of HK$16.9 million was recognized as finance costs in the consolidated income statement. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our weighted average borrowings and weighted average interest rate were approximately HK$1,916.8 million and 15.9% per annum (2014: approximately HK$1,304.6 million and 16.3% per annum), respectively.
Profit Before Income Tax From Continuing Operations
As a result of the foregoing, we had a profit before income tax from continuing operations of approximately HK$334.5 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015 and HK$194.1 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
Taxation
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our income tax expenses of HK$280.4 million consisted of net current income tax expenses of HK$287.7 million, deferred tax expense, arising from utilization of tax losses and fair value gain on investment properties of HK$1.2 million and HK$1.2 million respectively, and deferred tax credit, arising from tax loss for the current year, of HK$9.7 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our income tax expenses of HK$86.8 million consisted of net current income tax expenses of HK$83.3 million and deferred tax expense, arising from fair value gain on investment properties, of HK$3.5 million.
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In fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the effective tax rate was positive 83.8%. In fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the effective tax rate was positive 44.7%. The increase in effective tax rate was primarily attributable to the recognition of land appreciation tax for properties sold at China Glorious CityZhoukou and the underprovision of land appreciation tax of HK$30,300,000 for China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou arising upon completion of the land appreciation tax clearance exercise conducted by the local tax bureau.
Profit/(Loss) for the Year From Continuing Operations
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, we had a net profit from continuing operation of approximately HK$54.0 million as a result of the cumulative effect of the factors discussed above. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we generated a net profit from continuing operations of approximately HK$107.3 million.
Non-Controlling Interests
In the fiscal years ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, loss and profit from continuing operations attributable to non-controlling interests was approximately HK$7.1 million and HK$3.0 million, respectively.
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014 Compared with Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2013
Continuing Operations
Revenue
Our revenue increased by HK$102.2 million, or 35.9%, from HK$284.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to HK$387.0 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
2014 | 2013 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
215.2 | 284.8 | -24.4 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
171.8 | | 100.0 | |||||||||
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387.0 | 284.8 | 35.9 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 was approximately HK$284.8 million, which consisted primarily of sales of trade center units and supporting facilities of approximately HK$273.4 million. Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 was approximately HK$215.2 million, which consisted primarily of sales of trade center units were approximately HK$205.0 million. The change was attributable to a decrease in the sales of trade center units and supporting facilities. In fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the sales of trade center units and supporting facilities with the number of units sold and gross floor area were approximately 380 units and approximately 34,000 square meters, which represented a decrease of approximately 28% and 28% as compared with the number of units sold and gross floor area were approximately 530 units and approximately 47,000 square meters, respectively. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our average selling price was HK$6,189 per square meter, which represented an increase of approximately 8% as compared with the average selling price of HK$5,733 per square meter in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. The remainder of revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 represented rental income from leases of trade center units of approximately HK$4.8 million and property management fee income of approximately HK$5.4 million, while the remainder of revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 represented rental income from leases of trade center units of approximately HK$5.0 million and property management fee income of approximately HK$6.4 million.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
No revenue was generated in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. Revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 was approximately HK$171.8 million which was attributable to revenue from servicing and assignments of development rights.
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Cost of Sales
Our cost of sales decreased by HK$84.9 million or 38.9%, from HK$218.0 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to HK$133.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
2014 | 2013 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
133.1 | 218.0 | 38.9 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
| | 0.0 | |||||||||
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133.1 | 218.0 | 38.9 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, our cost of sales was approximately HK$218.0 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our cost of sales was approximately HK$133.1 million. The cost of sales was based on direct and indirect costs of construction, land grant fee and capitalized expenses attributable to the area of properties that were recognized as sales.
Gross Profit
Our gross profit increased by HK$187.1 million, or 280.1%, from HK$66.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to HK$253.9 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The gross profit margin, or gross profit as a percentage of total revenue, increased from 23.5% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to 65.6% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The increase was primarily due to no revenue was generated from Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, which the operation has a higher gross profit margin than Agricultural Logistics Operation.
Agricultural Logistics Operation
Our gross profit increased by HK$15.3 million, or 22.9%, from HK$66.8 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to HK$82.1 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The gross profit margin, or gross profit as a percentage of total revenue, increased from 23.5% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to 38.2% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The increase in gross profit margin was primarily due to an increase in the average selling prices of the sales of trade center units and supporting facilities.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
No gross profit was generated in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our gross profit was approximately HK$171.8 million. Gross profit margin, or gross profit as a percentage of its total revenue, was 100% in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
Other Income and Other Gains/(Losses), Net
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, our other income and losses were approximately HK$2.1 million, resulting primarily from government grants of approximately HK$66.8 million and compensation received for non-exercise of option of approximately HK$61.4 million which was offset in part by an increase in fair value of derivative components of convertible bonds and warrants of approximately HK$128.7 million.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our other income and gains were approximately HK$118.1 million, primarily from government grants of approximately HK$16.1 million and a decrease in fair value of derivative components of convertible bonds and warrants of approximately HK$87.9 million.
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Selling Expenses
Our selling expenses decreased by HK$1.0 million, or 3.1%, from HK$32.2 for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to HK$31.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
2014 | 2013 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
28.9 | 32.2 | -10.2 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
2.3 | | 100.0 | |||||||||
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31.2 | 32.2 | -3.1 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
Our selling expenses decreased by HK$3.3 million, or 10.2%, from HK$32.2 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to HK$28.9 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The decrease in selling expenses was primarily due to a decrease in advertising expenses of approximately of HK$1.1 million. As a percentage of revenue, selling expenses increased from 11.3% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to 13.4% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The increase was primarily attributable to new sales campaign initiated in China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou.
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
No selling expenses were generated in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our selling expenses were approximately HK$2.3 million. As a percentage of revenue selling expenses increased from nil for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to 1.3% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The increase was due to the commencement of China Glorious CityHengyang during the current year.
Administrative Expenses
Our administrative expenses of HK$154.9 million for the year ended March 31, 2014 was comprised of HK$128.9 million (2013: HK$102.3 million) from Agricultural Logistics Operation, HK$13.6 million (2013: Nil) from Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation and HK$12.4 million (2013: HK$10.2 million) from corporate expenses. Administrative expenses increased by approximately HK$42.4 million, or 37.7%, from approximately HK$112.5 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to approximately HK$154.9 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. The increase in our administrative expenses was a result of an increase of HK$26.6 million in Agricultural Logistics Operation, an increase of HK$13.6 million in Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation and an increase of HK$2.2 million in corporate expenses. The increase in corporate expenses was primarily due to an increase in audit and consultancy fees of approximately HK$0.9 million and an increase in directors remuneration of approximately HK$1.1 million.
2014 | 2013 | Change | ||||||||||
HK$ million | HK$ million | % | ||||||||||
Agricultural Logistics Operation |
128.9 | 102.3 | 26.0 | |||||||||
Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation |
13.6 | | 100.0 | |||||||||
Corporate expenses |
12.4 | 10.2 | 21.6 | |||||||||
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154.9 | 112.5 | 37.7 | ||||||||||
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Agricultural Logistics Operation
Administrative expenses increased by approximately HK$26.6 million, or 26.0%, from approximately HK$102.3 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 to approximately HK$128.9 million. The increase in administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase in impairment of trade and other receivables of HK$45.1 million, which was offset in part by a decrease in land use tax of approximately HK$7.5 million and a decrease in consultancy fee of approximately HK$9.0 million.
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Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation
No administrative expenses were generated in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our administrative expenses were approximately HK$13.6 million.
Net Finance Income/(Costs)
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, we received interest income from bank deposits of approximately HK$0.9 million and interest income on other receivables of approximately HK$16.1 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we received interest income from bank deposits of approximately HK$0.7 million and interest income on other receivables of approximately HK$26.7 million.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we incurred interest expense of approximately HK$212.6 million, out of which HK$195.7 million was capitalized in properties under development and investment properties under development and the rest of HK$16.9 million was recognized as finance costs in the consolidated income statement. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, we incurred interest expense of approximately HK$144.9 million, out of which HK$132.3 million was capitalized in properties under development and investment properties under development and the rest of HK$12.6 million was recognized as finance costs in the consolidated income statement. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our weighted average borrowings and weighted average interest rate were approximately HK$1,304.6 million and 16.3% per annum (2013: approximately HK$783.2 million and 18.5% per annum), respectively.
Profit Before Income Tax From Continuing Operations
As a result of the foregoing, we had a profit before income tax from continuing operations of approximately HK$194.1 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, we had a loss before income tax from continuing operations of approximately HK$77.3 million.
Taxation
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our income tax expenses of HK$86.8 million consisted of net current income tax expenses of HK$83.3 million and deferred tax expense, arising from fair value gain on investment properties, of HK$3.5 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, our income tax expense of HK$35.7 million consisted of net current income tax expenses of HK$36.4 million and deferred tax expense, arising from fair value gain on investment properties, of HK$1.5 million and over-provision for PRC land appreciation tax of HK$2.2 million.
In fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, the effective tax rate was positive 44.7%. In fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, the effective tax rate was negative 46.3%.
Profit/(Loss) for the Year From Continuing Operations
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, we generated a net profit from continuing operations of approximately HK$107.3 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, we had a net loss from continuing operations of approximately HK$113.0 million as a result of the cumulative effect of the factors discussed above.
Non-Controlling Interests
In the fiscal years ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, profit from continuing operations attributable to non-controlling interests was approximately HK$3.0 million and HK$5.6 million, respectively.
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B. Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary uses of cash are to pay for construction costs, land costs (principally the payment of land grant fees), infrastructure costs and consulting fees paid to architects and designers, as well as to service our indebtedness and fund working capital and normal recurring expenses. For the fiscal years ended March 31, 2014 and 2015, we financed our operations primarily through internally generated funds and bank and other borrowings and financing through capital markets. We expect to have sufficient sources of funds for the remainder of the year ending March 31, 2016 to support our current operations, as well as finance ongoing and future projects. These sources are expected to include: (1) rental and sales revenues; (2) debt financing arrangements with banks, including project financing and working capital facilities and (3) financing through capital markets.
As detailed in Item 7.B CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, the Company issued certain convertible bonds in 2012 where under the terms of the Bonds, the Company undertakes to comply with financial covenants as follows:
(i) | Consolidated Tangible Net Worth shall not be less than HK$1,253,000,000; |
(ii) | Consolidated EBIT shall not at any time be less than 2.50 times Consolidated Finance Charges; and |
(iii) | Consolidated Total Borrowings shall not at any time exceed 0.85 times Consolidated Tangible Net Worth. |
The financial covenants shall be: (i) calculated and interpreted on a consolidated basis in accordance with IFRS and expressed in Hong Kong dollars; and (ii) tested by reference to the latest publicly available financial statements of the Group for each period of twelve months ending on the last day of the financial year and each period of twelve months ending on the last day of the first half of the financial year.
The Company obtained waivers from the holders of the Bonds in prior years in respect of any non-compliance of the above covenants for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2013, 2014 and 2015. No waiver has been obtained for subsequent periods as of July 24, 2015 as it is uncertain as to whether a waiver is required.
The Company also issued convertible bonds in December 2013, January 2014 and March 2014 that do not include financial covenants.
Working Capital
Our current assets consist of completed properties held for sale, properties under development, trade receivables, prepayments, deposits and other receivables, restricted and pledged bank deposits and cash and cash equivalents. Our current liabilities primarily consist of trade payables, other payables, accruals and receipts in advance, interest-bearing bank and other borrowings and taxes payable.
As of March 31, 2014 and 2015, we had net current assets, representing the amount by which our current assets exceeded our current liabilities, of approximately HK$1,399.7 million and HK$981.6 million, respectively. The fluctuation in our working capital position during this period primarily reflected changes in cash provided by and used in operating, investing and financing activities when development of our industrial and agricultural trade centers, supporting commercial facilities, warehouse facilities and other facilities in China Northeast Logistics CityTieling and China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou that were completed and changes in the amount of construction fee payables and bank and other borrowings related to the development of China Northeast Logistics CityTieling, China Northeast Logistics CityDezhou, China Glorious CityHengyang and China Glorious CityZhoukou.
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Cash Flows
The following table sets forth selected cash flow data from our consolidated cash flow statements for the periods indicated:
Fiscal Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||||
2015 | 2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||
HK$ in Thousands | ||||||||||||
Net cash generated from /(used in) operating activities |
400,711 | (949,988 | ) | (27,360 | ) | |||||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(70,810 | ) | (14,972 | ) | (219,953 | ) | ||||||
Net cash (used in)/generated from financing activities |
(77,290 | ) | 746,807 | 267,495 | ||||||||
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Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents |
252,611 | (218,153 | ) | 20,182 | ||||||||
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents, net |
3,872 | (194 | ) | 779 | ||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year |
146,192 | 364,539 | 343,578 | |||||||||
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Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year |
402,675 | 146,192 | 364,539 | |||||||||
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Cash Flow Generated From /(Used in) Operating Activities
We derive cash from operating activities principally from the sale of trade center units in Agricultural Logistics Operation and revenue from servicing and assignments of development rights in our Rural-Urban Migration and City Re-development Operation.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, net cash generated from operating activities was HK$400.7 million, which consisted of operating cash inflow before changes in working capital of HK$443.9 million, cash outflow of net interest and tax of HK$236.7 million and working capital cash inflow of HK$193.5 million. Working capital changes primarily reflected a negative change resulting from additions to properties under development of HK$1,335.9 million, additions to land use rights of HK$172.2 million, an increase in trade and other receivables of HK$280.4 million, partially offset by positive changes resulting from a decrease in completed properties held for sale of HK$727.7 million, an increase in trade payables, other payables and accruals of HK$931.9 million and refund of payments from acquisition of land use rights of HK$288.1 million and an increase in receipt in advance of HK$34.3 million,. The additions in properties under development and an increase in trade payables, other payables and accruals were attributable to construction activities carried out for our properties development projects. The increase in receipts in advance was attributable to recognition of revenue on pre-sold properties upon completion of the construction of the units and the units were delivered to the purchasers.
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, net cash used in operating activities was HK$950.0 million, which consisted of operating cash inflow before changes in working capital of HK$138.6 million, cash outflow of net interest and tax of HK$149.0 million and working capital cash outflow of HK$939.6 million. Working capital changes primarily reflected a negative change resulting from additions to properties under development of HK$361.4 million, additions to land use rights of HK$885.4 million, deposits paid for acquisition of land use rights of HK$665.3 million and a decrease in receipt in advance of HK$10.0 million, partially offset by positive changes resulting from a decrease in completed properties held for sale of HK$115.2 million, a decrease in trade and other receivables of HK$98.8 million, an increase in trade payables, other payables and accruals of HK$196.7 million and refund of payments from acquisition of land use rights of HK$571.8 million. The additions in properties under development and an increase in trade payables, other payables and accruals were attributable to construction activities carried out for our properties development projects. The decrease in receipts in advance was attributable to recognition of revenue on pre-sold properties upon completion of the construction of the units and the units were delivered to the purchasers.
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In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, net cash used in operating activities was HK$27.4 million, which consisted of operating cash inflow before changes in working capital of HK$29.9 million, cash outflow of net interest and tax of HK$151.5 million and working capital cash inflow of HK$94.2 million. Working capital changes primarily reflected a negative change resulting from additions to properties under development of HK$391.6 million, additions to land use rights of HK$63.7 million and deposits paid for acquisition of land use rights of HK$143.8 million, partially offset by positive changes resulting from a decrease in completed properties held for sale of HK$195.6 million, a decrease in trade and other receivables of HK$56.2 million, an increase in trade payables, other payables and accruals of HK$63.6 million, refund of payments from acquisition of land use rights of HK$38.7 million and an increase in receipt in advance of HK$339.2 million. The additions in properties under development and an increase in trade payables, other payables and accruals were attributable to construction activities carried out for our properties development projects. The increase in receipts in advance was attributable to proceeds received from pre-sale and sale of properties.
Cash Flow Used in Investing Activities
In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, our principal investment activity is the purchase of property, plant and equipment. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, net cash used in investing activities was HK$70.8 million, which primarily consisted of cash outflow of HK$72.8 million resulting from the purchase of property, plant and equipment. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, our principal investment activity is the construction of investment properties. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, net cash used in investing activities was HK$15.0 million, which primarily consisted of cash outflow of HK$15.0 million resulting from the purchase of property, plant and equipment and additions to investment properties under construction. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, net cash used in investing activities was HK$220.0 million, which primarily consisted of cash outflow of HK$222.0 million resulting from the purchase of property, plant and equipment, additions to investment properties under construction, purchase of marketable securities and cash disposed as a result of disposal of subsidiaries.
Cash Flow (Used In)/Generated from Financing Activities
Our cash from financing activities was derived from placement of convertible bonds and bank and other borrowings. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, net cash used in financing activities was HK$77.3 million, consisted of cash outflow of HK$843.2 million resulting from repayment of bank and other borrowings and an increase in restricted and pledged bank deposits, partially offset by cash inflow of HK$765.9 million resulting from proceeds from new bank and other loans and placement of convertible bonds. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014, net cash generated from financing activities was HK$746.8 million, consisted of cash outflow of HK$375.3 million resulting from repayment of bank and other borrowings and an increase in restricted and pledged bank deposits, partially offset by cash inflow of HK$1,122.1 million resulting from proceeds from new bank and other loans and placement of convertible bonds. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, net cash generated from financing activities was HK$267.5 million, consisted of cash outflow of HK$742.0 million resulting from repayment of bank and other borrowings and an increase in restricted and pledged bank deposits, partially offset by cash inflow of HK$1,009.5 million resulting from proceeds from new bank and other loans and placement of convertible bonds.
C. Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, etc.
Not applicable.
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D. Trend Information
Other than as disclosed elsewhere in this Annual Report, we are not aware of any trends, uncertainties, demands, commitments or events for the period from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our net revenues, income, profitability, liquidity or capital resources, or that caused the disclosed financial information to be not necessarily indicative of future operating results or financial conditions.
E. Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
On August 25, 2009, at the general meeting, the shareholders of Man Sang Holdings, Inc., the former immediate holding company, resolved that Man Sang Holdings, Inc. dissolve and liquidate, whereby Man Sang Holdings, Inc. has been succeeded by the Company. From its inception in August 1995 through the completion of the dissolution and liquidation on August 25, 2009, the Company was wholly-owned subsidiary of Man Sang Holdings, Inc. The liquidation did not result in tax for Man Sang Holdings, Inc. Such result is subject to assessment by U.S. tax authority. As the Company has succeeded Man Sang Holdings, Inc. and contractually assumed all of Man Sang Holdings, Inc.s rights, obligations and liabilities, if the assessment differs from actual result, it may give rise to the possibility of outflow in settlement of tax by the Company. We are of the view that the likelihood of an indemnification liability arising from such dissolution at years ended March 31, 2014 and 2013 is remote. Accordingly, no accrual has been made.
The Group had financial guarantees as at March 31, 2015 amounting to HK$377,422,000. (2014: HK$351,382,000). The guarantees in respect of mortgage facilities granted by certain banks relating to the mortgage loans arranged for certain purchasers of the Groups properties. Pursuant to the terms of the guarantees, upon default in mortgage payments by these purchasers, the Group is responsible to repay the outstanding mortgage principals together with accrued interest and penalty owed by the defaulted purchasers to the banks and the Group is entitled to take over the legal title and possession of the related properties. Such guarantees will terminate upon the earlier of (i) issuance of the property ownership certificates which are generally available within six months to one year after the purchasers take possession of the relevant properties; and (ii) the satisfaction of mortgage loans by the purchasers of properties. The directors consider that in case of default in payments, the net realisable value of the related properties can cover the repayment of the outstanding mortgage principals together with the accrued interest and penalty and therefore no provision has been made in the consolidated financial statements for the guarantees.
Except as described above, we have not entered into any financial guarantees or other commitments to guarantee the payment obligations of any unconsolidated third parties. In addition, we have not entered into any derivative contracts that are indexed to our shares and classified as shareholders equity, or that are not reflected in our consolidated financial statements. Furthermore, we do not have any retained or contingent interest in assets transferred to an unconsolidated entity that serves as credit, liquidity or market risk support to such entity.
F. Contractual Obligations
Contractual Obligations
We are subject to various financial obligations and commitments in the normal course of operations. These contractual obligations represent known future cash payments that we are required to make and relate primarily to long-term debt, capital commitment obligations with respect to property under development, construction costs and operating leases.
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As of March 31, 2015, our contractual obligations amounted to approximately HK$5,528.2 million. The following table sets forth our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2015.
Payments Due by Period | ||||||||||||||||
Total | Within 1 year |
In the second to fifth years |
After the fifth year |
|||||||||||||
(HK$ in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||
Trade and other payables |
1,614,287 | 1,614,287 | | | ||||||||||||
Debt obligations |
1,214,754 | 621,695 | 593,059 | | ||||||||||||
Convertible bonds |
702,000 | 702,000 | | | ||||||||||||
Interest on debt obligations |
529,670 | 161,177 | 368,493 | | ||||||||||||
Capital commitment obligations (1) |
1,463,225 | 1,463,225 | | | ||||||||||||
Operating lease obligations |
4,323 | 2,020 | 2,303 | | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
Total |
5,528,259 | 4,564,404 | 963,855 | | ||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(1) | Capital commitment obligations represented capital injection in respect of investment in an associate in the PRC of approximately HK$101.5 million and capital expenditures in relation to the construction of properties and acquisition of land contracted for but not provided in the consolidated financial statements of approximately HK$1,361.7 million. |
Item 6. | Directors, Senior Management and Employees |
Information Regarding Directors
The following table sets forth our directors. The information with respect to each director is set forth in the description of business experience of such persons below.
Name |
Position(s) | |
Mr. Sio Kam Seng |
Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Acting Chief Financial Officer | |
Mr. Ho Min Sang |
Director | |
Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew |
Director | |
Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry |
Director | |
Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest |
Director |
Information Regarding Executive Officers
The following table sets forth the executive officers of the Company. The information with respect to each executive officer is set forth in the description of business experience of such persons below.
Name |
Position(s) | |
Mr. Sio Kam Seng |
Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Acting Chief Financial Officer | |
Mr. Lin Xianfu |
President of Greater China | |
Mr. Lung Hei Man, Alex |
Deputy Chief Financial Officer |
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Business Experience of Directors and Executive Officers
Mr. SIO Kam Seng has served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since August 25, 2011, and Acting Chief Financial Officer since July 19, 2013. Mr. Sio served as Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company from March 22, 2010 until August 25, 2011. Mr. Sio has served as Chairman of the board of directors of China Metro-Rural Limited and China Metro-Rural Exchange Limited (a Hong Kong company) since January 1, 2010. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management from Queens University of Brighton and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Wales. He is a member of the Institute of Public Accountants, a member of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, a member of the Chartered Institute of Building, a member of the Society of Environmental Engineers and an associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a Certified Management Accountant of Australia and is also a Chartered Builder of United Kingdom. He has over 20 years of experience in insurance and senior management. Prior to joining the China Metro Group, he served as area manager of HSBC Insurance Group from 1989 to 1992, assistant general manager of Sime Insurance Group from 1993 to 1995, director and chief executive officer of MSHI from 1995 to 1997. He also served as director and general manager of Accette Insurance Hong Kong from 1998 to June 2009 and has remained as its director since then.
Mr. HO Min Sang has served as our Director since August 25, 2011 and he was one of the initial investors in the Company and was involved in the Companys business development until the Company was publicly listed, given his insight into the Companys values, structure and goals. Mr. Ho has over 25 years experience in the fine jewelry business including retail, wholesale and manufacturing. Mr. Ho has served as the Chairman of CARINE FRANCOIS France since 1985. CARINE FRANCOIS is the second largest importer both in quantity and value of fine jewelry in France. As the Chairman of his group of companies, his investments covered France, Hong Kong and Mainland China. He is experienced in the areas of enterprise management and business development.
Mr. LAI Chau Ming, Matthew, has served as our Director since July 24, 2009. He has also served as a Director of MSHI since November 1996. Mr. Lai has been Sales Director of DBS Vickers (Hong Kong) Limited since July 1996. Prior to his joining DBS Vickers, Mr. Lai served from 1972 to 1996 as a Senior Manager of Sun Hung Kai Investment Company Limited, an investment company in Hong Kong. Mr. Lai has over 30 years experience in investment. He is experienced in the areas of financial management and planning.
Mr. WONG Gee Hang, Henry, has served as our Director since July 24, 2009. He has also served as a Director of MSHI since April 2005. Mr. Wong has over 30 years of experience in accounting, property investment and development and general management. Mr. Wong has also served as the Managing Director of Marspeed Limited, a consultancy firm of property development, investment and management. Mr. Wong had been a member of senior management in a Hong Kong property developer for more than 15 years. He is a member of the Certified Management Accountants (Australia) and a full member of The Hong Kong Management Association.
Mr. YUEN Ka Lok, Ernest, has served as our Director since September 1, 2010. Mr. Yuen has been a solicitor and a partner of Messer. Yuen & Partners since 1997. He has more than 20 years of experience in litigations and commercial works. He received his Bachelor Degree in Commerce from University of Toronto in Canada. Mr. Yuen is a member of the Law Society of Hong Kong.
Mr. LIN Xianfu has served as our President of Greater China since August 1, 2014. Before joining our Company, he was appointed as the general manager in one of the industrial and logistics real estate project development companies since 2011 and He was the executive director and general manager in one of the leading-world jewelry supplying companies from 2006 to 2011. He has almost 30 years of experience in management including jewelry industry and in other industrial and logistics real estate project development. Mr. Lin is the committee member of China Jewelry Association, Vice Chairman of Zhejiang Foreigner Investment Association and Vice Chairman of Zhejiang Pearl Association. He was graduated from Guangdong Jiesi Fengjiang Secondary School in 1984.
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Mr. LUNG Hei Man, Alex has served as our Deputy Chief Financial Officer since March 22, 2010. He has served as financial controller of China Metro-Rural Limited and China Metro-Rural Exchange Limited (a Hong Kong company) since January 1, 2010 (but has been finance manager of China Metro-Rural Exchange Limited since June 15, 2009). He graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1999 with a Bachelors degree in Accounting and Finance. He has eight years of experience in auditing in Hong Kong and China with international accounting firms. Prior to joining the China Metro Group, he spent seven years with Ernst & Young and one year with BDO in auditing.
Family Relationships
There are no family relationships among our directors and executive officers.
B. Executive Compensation
For fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the Company or its subsidiaries paid an aggregate of US$0.8 million in total compensation to its executive officers and to its directors. In addition the Company or its subsidiaries set aside or accrued US$4,000 to provide pension, retirement or similar benefits for its executive officers.
C. Board Practices
Board Composition
Our board of directors consists of five members as of July 24, 2015.
We are a controlled company as defined in Section 801 of the NYSE MKT Company Guide. As a result, we are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirement that a majority of the board of directors be independent.
We have determined that three of the members of the board of directors, Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew, Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry and Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest, are independent within the meaning of Section 803A of the NYSE MKT Company Guide and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. We are not required to have a board of directors comprising a majority of independent directors under the NYSE MKT rules applicable to us.
Committees and Attendance of the Board of Directors
Audit Committee
The audit committee is a separately-designated standing audit committee as defined in Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act. The audit committee oversees matters relating to financial reporting, internal controls, risk management and compliance and related party transactions. These responsibilities include appointing and overseeing the independent auditors, as well as reviewing their independence and evaluating their fees, reviewing financial information that is provided to our shareholders and others, reviewing with management our system of internal controls and financial reporting process and monitoring our compliance program and system. The audit committee also makes recommendations on improvements and conducts other duties as the board of directors may delegate.
The audit committee consists of Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest, as Chairman, Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry and Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew. The audit committee operates under a written charter, which sets forth the functions and responsibilities of the committee. A copy of our audit committee charter is posted on our website at www.chinametrorural.com.
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The audit committee held 2 meetings and acted by unanimous written consent on 3 occasions during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014 and 2 meetings and acted by unanimous written consent on 2 occasions during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015.
The board of directors has, in its reasonable judgment, (1) determined that all members of the audit committee are financially literate, (2) determined that Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry is qualified as an audit committee financial expert, within the meaning of SEC regulations, that he has accounting and related financial management expertise within the meaning of the listing standards of the NYSE MKT and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act, and (3) determined that all audit committee members satisfy the definition of independent as established in the NYSE MKT corporate governance listing standards.
With respect to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the audit committee has:
| reviewed and discussed with our independent registered public accounting firm and with management the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2015; |
| discussed with our independent registered public accounting firm the matters relevant with us in the Statement on Auditing Standards; |
| received the written disclosures and the letter from our independent registered public accounting firm; and |
| discussed with our independent registered public accounting firm the independence of our independent registered public accounting firm. |
Based on the audit committees review and discussions noted above, the audit committee recommended to the board of directors that audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2015 be included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2015.
Compensation Committee
The compensation committee consists of Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew, as Chairman, Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry and Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest.
The compensation committee deliberates and stipulates the compensation policy for our company. Each year the compensation committee directs our company, through an internal committee consisting of the Chief Financial Officer, the executive directors and Manager of Human Resources and Administration, to prepare a compensation philosophy and strategy statement for the compensation of the executives and a proposed executive compensation framework for the year. When establishing the proposed compensation framework, in keeping with our goal of attracting, motivating, and retaining executives who will contribute to our long-term success and an increase in the value of our shares, the internal committee undertakes the review of comparative compensation offered by peer companies that may compete with our company for executive talent. The peer group we used for compensation comparison and analysis purposes includes companies with workforce sizes, revenues, assets, and market values within a certain range above and below our levels. The internal committee periodically reviews the comparative compensation offered by the peer group and makes changes as appropriate to reflect changes in the market and our industry. The peer group is not necessarily limited to a particular industry as we believe we compete for executive talent across a wider group of entities.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the compensation committee acted by unanimous written consent on 2 occasions.
The board of directors has determined that each member of the compensation committee satisfies the definition of independent as established in the NYSE MKT corporate governance listing standards.
The compensation committee has a compensation committee charter which is posted on our website at www.chinametrorural.com.
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Nominating Committee
On August 25, 2011 the Company established a nominating committee with the approval of the Board of Directors. Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry is the Chairman of the nominating committee. Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew and Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest, are the members of the Committee.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015, the nominating committee acted by unanimous written consent on 2 occasions.
The board of directors has determined that each member of the nominating committee satisfies the definition of independent as established in the NYSE MKT corporate governance listing standards.
A current copy of our nomination charter is posted on our website at www.chinametrorural.com. The nominating committee will consider recommendations from shareholders holding more than 5% of our outstanding shares for candidates to the board of directors. The name of any recommended candidate for being director, together with a brief biographical sketch, a document indicating the candidates willingness to serve, if elected, and evidence of the nominating shareholders ownership of our shares should be sent to the attention of the Secretary of the Company not less than 120 days nor more than 180 days before August 17, 2016, the first anniversary of the mailing date of our proxy statement for our 2015 annual meeting.
Attendance of the Board of Directors
During the year ended March 31, 2015, our board of directors held 3 meetings and acted by unanimous written consent on 7 occasions.
Three of our directors attended our 2014 annual meeting of shareholders held at Suite 2204, 22/F, Sun Life Tower, The Gateway, 15 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Duties of Directors
Under British Virgin Islands law, our directors have a duty of loyalty and must act honestly and in good faith and in our best interests. Our directors also have a duty to exercise the care, diligence and skills that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances. In fulfilling their duties to our company, our directors must ensure compliance with our Memorandum and Articles of Association and the class rights vested thereunder in the holders of the shares. A shareholder may in certain circumstances have rights to damages if a duty owed by the directors is breached.
Our board of directors has all the powers necessary for managing, and for directing and supervising, our business affairs. The functions and powers of our board of directors include, among others:
| convening shareholders meetings and reporting its work to shareholders at such meetings; |
| declaring dividends and distributions; |
| appointing officers and determining the terms of office of the officers; |
| exercising the borrowing powers of our company and mortgaging the property of our company; and |
| approving the transfer of shares in our company, including the registering of such shares in our share register. |
Employment Agreements
We do not have employment agreements with any of our directors.
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D. Employees
As of March 31, 2015, the Company and all of its direct and indirect subsidiaries had a total of approximately 584 employees. The following table sets forth a breakdown of our management and employees by function as of March 31, 2015.
Hong Kong | PRC | Total | ||||||||||
Senior management |
3 | 26 | 29 | |||||||||
Marketing and sales |
| 197 | 197 | |||||||||
Purchasing |
| 7 | 7 | |||||||||
Finance and accounting |
1 | 41 | 42 | |||||||||
Legal and Compliance |
1 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
Construction |
| 87 | 87 | |||||||||
Human resources and administration |
| 110 | 110 | |||||||||
Property management |
| 95 | 95 | |||||||||
Information technology |
| 9 | 9 | |||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Total |
5 | 579 | 584 | |||||||||
|
|
|
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|
|
We believe that we maintain a good working relationship with our employees, and we have not experienced any significant labor disputes or any difficulty in recruiting staff for our operations. Our employees currently are not party to any collective bargaining agreement, and no labor union has been organized to represent our employees.
We are required under PRC law to make defined contributions to the employee benefit plans including housing funds, pension, work-related injury benefits, maternity insurance, medical and unemployment benefit plans at specified percentages of the salaries, bonuses and certain allowances of our employees, up to a maximum amount specified by the respective local government authorities where we operate our businesses from time to time. Members of the retirement plan are entitled to a pension equal to a fixed proportion of the salary prevailing at the members retirement date.
As of March 31, 2015, 5 of our management and employees were located in Hong Kong. We operate a defined contribution Mandatory Provident Fund retirement benefits scheme, or the MPF Scheme, as required under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, for our eligible employees in Hong Kong. Contributions are made based on a percentage of the employees basic salaries. The assets of the MPF Scheme are held separately from our assets in an independently administered fund, and our employer contributions vest fully with the employees when contributed into the MPF Scheme.
The total amount of contributions we made to employee benefit plans in fiscal years 2013, 2014 and 2015 was approximately US$392,000 (or HK$3,056,000) US$418,000 (or HK$3,261,000) and US$553,000 (or HK$4,311,000) respectively.
E. Share Ownership
Please see Item 7.A.
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Item 7. | Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions |
SECURITIES OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
Ordinary Shares
The following table sets forth information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, by (1) each of the Companys shareholders who is a beneficial owner of more than 5% of the Companys ordinary shares, (2) each of the Companys directors and executive officers, individually, and (3) all of the Companys executive officers and directors, as a group, as of July 1, 2015.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) |
Amount and Nature
of Beneficial Ownership (2) |
Percent of Class |
||||||
Kind United Holdings Limited (3)(4) |
37,338,104 | 50.77 | % | |||||
Willis Plus Limited (3)(4) |
61,499,028 | 45.54 | % | |||||
Ampleton Developments Limited |
5,744,323 | 7.81 | % | |||||
Luck Merit Holdings Limited |
5,744,323 | 7.81 | % | |||||
Zhong Ying Limited (5) |
5,900,000 | 8.02 | % | |||||
Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky (3) |
116,119,915 | 79.22 | % | |||||
Mr. Leung Moon Lam (4) |
37,338,104 | 50.77 | % | |||||
Mr. Lin Xianfu |
11,538,459 | 13.56 | % | |||||
Mr. Sio Kam Seng |
| | ||||||
Mr. Ho Min Sang |
5,222,661 | 7.10 | % | |||||
Mr. Su Shaobin (5) |
5,900,000 | 8.02 | % | |||||
Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew |
| | ||||||
Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry |
| | ||||||
Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest |
| | ||||||
Mr. Lung Hei Man, Alex |
| | ||||||
All executive officers and directors as a group (7 persons) |
16,761,120 | 19.70 | % |
(1) | Address for each person is c/o China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, Suite 2204, 22/F, Sun Life Tower, The Gateway, 15 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. |
(2) | Represents our ordinary shares held. As of July 1, 2015, we had 73,543,782 ordinary shares outstanding and none of these individuals or entities had the right to acquire beneficial ownership of additional securities, as defined in Rule 13d-3(a) of the Exchange Act, within sixty days except as indicated in individual footnotes. This amount does not include securities that may be acquired under options or other rights more than 60 days after July 1, 2015. This disclosure is made pursuant to certain rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC and the number of shares shown as beneficially owned by any person may not be deemed to be beneficially owned for other purposes. Unless otherwise indicated in these footnotes, each named individual has sole voting and investment power with respect to such ordinary shares, subject to community property laws, where applicable. |
(3) | Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, owns approximately 50.1% of an entity that holds approximately 72% of the outstanding shares of Kind United Holdings Limited. He also owns approximately 16.7% of an entity that holds approximately 28% of the outstanding shares of Kind United Holdings Limited. As a result, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of 37,338,104 ordinary shares of the Company issued to Kind United Holdings Limited upon completion of the Merger on March 22, 2010. Mr. Cheng owns 100% of the outstanding shares of Willis Plus Limited. As a result, Mr. Cheng may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the 61,499,028 ordinary shares of the Company beneficially owned by Willis Plus Limited which consists of 55,499,028 ordinary shares issuable pursuant to convertible bonds convertible within 60 days of July 1, 2015 and 6,000,000 ordinary shares issuable pursuant to warrants exercisable within 60 days of July 1, 2015. Mr. Cheng owns US$15 million of our 10% convertible bonds due 2016 (2016 Bonds). As a result, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of 11,538,460 ordinary shares issuable pursuant to 2016 Bonds convertible within 60 days of July 1, 2015. Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky also personally owns 5,744,323 ordinary shares since December 2013. |
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(4) | Mr. Leung Moon Lam owns approximately 61% of an entity that holds approximately 28% of the outstanding shares of Kind United Holdings Limited. As a result, Mr. Leung Moon Lam may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of 37,338,104 ordinary shares of the Company issued to Kind United Holdings Limited upon completion of the Merger on March 22, 2010. |
(5) | Zhong Ying Limited holds directly 5,900,000 ordinary shares of the Company. Mr. Su Shaobin, owns 100% of the outstanding shares of Zhong Ying Limited. As a result, Mr. Su Shaobin may be deemed to be the beneficial owners and to share the voting and dispositive power of the 5,900,000 ordinary shares of the Company beneficially owned by Zhong Ying Limited. |
Preferred Shares
The following table sets forth information with respect to beneficial ownership of our preferred shares as of July 1, 2015, by (1) each of our shareholders who is known to be a beneficial owner of more than 5% of our preferred shares, (2) each of our directors and executive officers, individually, and (3) all of our executive officers and directors as a group.
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1) |
Amount and Nature
of Beneficial Ownership (2) |
Percent of Class |
||||||
Cafoong Limited (3) |
100,000 | 100 | % | |||||
Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky (3) |
100,000 | 100 | % | |||||
Mr. Cheng Tai Po |
100,000 | 100 | % | |||||
Mr. Sio Kam Seng |
| | ||||||
Mr. Ho Min Sang |
| | ||||||
Mr. Lai Chau Ming, Matthew |
| | ||||||
Mr. Wong Gee Hang, Henry |
| | ||||||
Mr. Yuen Ka Lok, Ernest |
| | ||||||
Mr. Lin Xianfu |
| | ||||||
Mr. Lung Hei Man, Alex |
| | ||||||
All executive officers and directors as a group (7 persons) |
100,000 | 100 | % |
(1) | Address for each person is c/o China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, Suite 2204, 22/F, Sun Life Tower, The Gateway, 15 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. |
(2) | Represents our preferred shares held. As of July 1, 2015, we had 100,000 preferred shares outstanding and none of these individuals or entities had the right to acquire beneficial ownership of additional securities, as defined in Rule 13d-3(a) of the Exchange Act, within sixty days. This amount does not include securities that may be acquired under options or other rights more than 60 days after July 1, 2015. This disclosure is made pursuant to certain rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC and the number of shares shown as beneficially owned by any person may not be deemed to be beneficially owned for other purposes. Unless otherwise indicated in these footnotes, each named individual has sole voting and investment power with respect to such preferred shares, subject to community property laws, where applicable. |
(3) | Mr. Cheng Chung Hing, Ricky, and Mr. Cheng Tai Po own 60% and 40%, respectively, of all issued and outstanding shares of, and are directors of, Cafoong Limited and, accordingly, are deemed to be the beneficial owners of our preferred shares owned by Cafoong Limited. The preferred shares were issued to Cafoong Limited on August 25, 2009. |
Holders of our ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share held. The holders of the 100,000 of our preferred shares outstanding are, as a class, entitled to the number of votes as shall constitute 3,191,225 of our ordinary shares. We are not aware of any arrangement that may, at a subsequent date, result in a change of control of the Company.
Certain agreements with Cafoong Limited provide Cafoong Limited with certain pre-emptive rights to purchase, upon the issuance of our ordinary shares in certain circumstances to third parties in order to allow Cafoong Limited to maintain its percentage ownership interest of our outstanding ordinary shares.
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7.B CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Our board of directors is responsible for reviewing relationships and transactions in which we and our directors and executive officers or their immediate family members are participants to determine whether such related persons have a direct or indirect material interest. We review questionnaires provided by the directors and executive officers at the end of each fiscal year confirming the nature of their related transactions with us, if any, during the year. Our board of directors is primarily responsible for the development and implementation of processes and controls to obtain information from the directors and executive officers with respect to related person transactions and for then determining, based on the facts and circumstances, whether a related person has a direct or indirect material interest in the transaction. Our board of directors reviews and approves or ratifies any related person transaction that is required to be disclosed. In the course of its review and approval or ratification of a disclosable related person transaction, the board of directors considers:
| the nature of the related persons interest in the transaction; |
| the material terms of the transaction, including, without limitation, the amount and type of transaction; |
| the importance of the transaction to the related person; |
| the importance of the transaction to us; |
| whether the transaction would impair the judgment of a director or executive officer to act in our best interest; and |
| any other matters the board of directors deems appropriate. |
Any member of the board of directors who is a related person with respect to a transaction under review may not participate in the deliberations or vote for approval or ratification of the transaction, provided, however, that this director may be counted in determining the presence of a quorum at a meeting of the board of directors that considers the transaction.
No material related person transactions have occurred since the beginning of fiscal year 2010 up to and including the date of this Annual Report or are currently proposed, other than as set forth in the discussion of the Merger and as set forth below:
On August 15, 2012 we issued US$60,000,000 principal amount, 14 per cent. guaranteed secured convertible bonds (the Bonds) due 2017 and 6,000,000 warrants to purchase ordinary shares (the CB Warrants) in a private placement to our affiliate Willis Plus Limited (the Investor). Commencing August 15, 2013, the Bonds are convertible into our ordinary shares at an initial conversion price of US$1.0811 per share and the CB Warrants are exercisable to purchase ordinary shares at an initial exercise price of $1.2973 per share, respectively. The Investor is a special purpose entity owned by the Majority Shareholders (as defined below). The Investor borrowed the funds used to purchase the Bonds from PA Universal Opportunity VII Limited (PAG). The use of proceeds is intended for project development costs for several property development projects in mainland China. The Bonds are jointly and severally guaranteed by the non-PRC subsidiaries of the Company (the Subsidiary Guarantors) and secured by share pledges over the issued share capital of the Subsidiary Guarantors that are owned by the Company.
Prior to the issuance of the Bonds and CB Warrants, we originally sought the investment directly from PAG. In the negotiation process, PAG demanded the personal guarantee from our majority shareholders, including, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing (Mr. Cheng) and Mr. Leung Moon Lam (Mr. Leung, together with Mr. Cheng, the Majority Shareholders) and sought collateral from them. As a result of that dialogue, the Majority Shareholders sought consideration from PAG and us in connection with the guarantee and security requested by PAG. The net result was that PAG would make a US$60,000,000 loan to the Investor and the Investor would use the loan proceeds to purchase the Bonds and CB Warrants. Under this arrangement, PAG is entitled to receive 20% of any gross return realized by the Investor on the Bonds and CB Warrants, net of certain permitted expenses, that is in excess of 21% per annum internal rate of return payable on the PAG bond.
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The Investor is categorized as our affiliate since both shareholders of the Investor, Mr. Cheng and Mr. Leung are together deemed to be our largest shareholder, by their deemed beneficial ownership of over 50% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares through Kind United Holdings Limited. Accordingly, the issuance of the Bonds and CB Warrants each constitutes a transaction with our affiliate (the Affiliate Transaction) which is subject to, amongst other things, the review and approval of our board of the Company, and our Audit Committee.
Our board and our Audit Committee are of the opinion that the Affiliate Transaction is in our best interests and our shareholders as a whole and our board and our Audit Committee each approved the Affiliate Transaction on July 17, 2012.
The Company filed a Form 6-K on August 3, 2012 to report its execution of the subscription agreement and related documents in connection with the proposed issuance to the Investor of the Bonds and the CB Warrants; and the loan from PAG to the Investor.
On October 15, 2012, we, through our subsidiary, entered into an agreement for the disposition of 100% of our equity interest in China Focus City (H.K.) Holdings Limited and 75% of our equity interest in Qiqihar China Focus City Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd. (Qiqihar CFC) to Run Xing Investments Limited and Honour Noble Holdings Limited (collectively the Purchasers) (collectively the Sale). Pursuant to the agreement, we, through our subsidiaries, are to receive considerations of RMB150,000,000 plus an amount of RMB85,595,967, representing certain post-tax profits arising from Qiqihar CFC prior to the Sale, and interest on the pre-tax balance of such amount calculated from July 28, 2012 through the date of payment. In addition, the Purchasers are to enter into a legally binding guaranty with respect to our remaining 25% interest in Qiqihar CFC that we will receive (X) a pre-tax 21% fixed annual return of our remaining 25% interest in Qiqihar CFC, (equal to RMB10,500,000) beginning October 15, 2013 and (Y) RMB50,000,000 on or before October 14, 2013.
The Purchasers shall have the right to purchase the remaining 25% interest in Qiqihar CFC at any time for RMB50,000,000 (plus any amounts due and payable under (X) and (Y) above). Finally, in the event that the Purchasers intend to sell its interests in Qiqihar CFC, they must first purchase our 25% interest in Qiqihar CFC. The payments of the amounts described above shall be guaranteed by the Purchasers and Qiqihar CFC, as well as Mr. Su Shaobin, who was one of our directors. The disposition was approved by our audit committee and our board of directors on October 12, 2012. The remaining 25% interest in Qiqihar CFC has been accounted for as a loan receivable due to its nature in accordance with IFRS.
On December 20, 2013, January 27, 2014 and March 20, 2014, the Company issued an aggregate amount of US$30,000,000, 10 per cent convertible bonds (the 2016 Bonds or 2016 CBs) due 2016 convertible into ordinary shares of the Company in a private placement, where US$15,000,000 of which was issued to one of its major shareholders, Mr. Cheng Chung Hing and the remainder to certain independent third parties and an existing shareholder. Interest is payable on the principal amount of the 2016 Bonds semi-annually.
All (but not less than all) of the principal amounts of the 2016 CBs of each of the investors will be convertible into ordinary shares of the Company at an initial conversion price per Ordinary Share equal to US$1.30. The 2016 CBs are convertible during their entire tenure. Based on such initial conversion price, 23,076,919 of the Companys ordinary shares are issuable upon conversion of the 2016 CBs.
Under the terms of the 2016 CBs, the Investors has the right to put back the 2016 CBs to the Company after 18 months of the date of issue of the 2016 CBs at an amount equal to 100 percent of the principal amounts outstanding of the 2016 CBs to be repaid with accrued but unpaid interest. The 2016 CBs will have limited anti-dilution protection, which will include adjustments for consolidation, subdivision or reclassification.
The board and the Audit Committee of the Company are of the opinion that the issuance of the 2016 CBs is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole and the board and Audit Committee each approved the issuance of the 2016 CBs on December 9, 2013.
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