万达推出"轻资产"战略

Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties, China’s largest business property developer by sales, has signalled a shift in strategy a month after its $3.7bn listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

中国销售额最大的商业地产开发商——大连万达商业地产(Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties)在香港交易所(HKEx)完成37亿美元上市一个月后，发出了战略转变的信号。

The group said it had signed an agreement with four Chinese investors to finance the construction of 26 new commercial developments — the first time it has brought in outside investors.

万达集团称，其已经与4家中国投资机构签署一项协议，为26个新商业开发项目的建设筹资——这是该集团首次引入外部投资机构。

Wanda said the Rmb24bn ($3.9bn) deal marked the “official launch of an asset-lite strategy” under which it will reduce its reliance on property sales in favour of a more rental-driven model. Income from the projects will be split 60-40 between the investors and Wanda, with the company promising an annual return of at least 7 per cent over the first 10 years.

万达称，这笔240亿元人民币（合39亿美元）的交易标志着“轻资产战略的正式推出”，在这一战略下，其将减少对地产销售的依赖，转向一种在更大程度上由租赁驱动的模式。这些项目的收入将在万达和投资机构之间四六分成，万达承诺在第一个10年期间达到至少7%的年回报率。

Like most Chinese property developers, Wanda is heavily reliant on unit sales, which accounted for more than 80 per cent of its revenue in 2013. Until now, all its developments have been financed using capital generated from previous sales, or with debt.

像大多数中国地产开发商一样，万达严重依赖地产销售。2013年，地产销售占总收入的80%以上。此前其所有开发项目的资金都来自以前的销售收入或债务。

Wanda’s move to bring in outside investors makes it one of the first Chinese developers to move towards the landlord model common in Singapore and Hong Kong.

万达引入外部投资机构的做法，使其成为中国首批转向新加坡和香港常见的那种业主模式的开发商之一。

China Vanke, the country’s largest residential developer, has also taken steps to partner with financial investors. Hong Kong’s top developers — such as Sun Hung Kai, Henderson Land, and Wharf — derive less than half of their revenues from unit sales.

中国最大的住宅地产开发商万科集团(China Vanke)也已着手与金融投资机构合作。香港顶级开发商——如新鸿基(Sun Hung Kai)、恒基地产(Henderson Land)以及九龙仓(Wharf Holdings)——地产销售占总收入不到一半。

With the deal, Wanda will reduce the need for fresh borrowing to fund new projects — avoiding an increase in its leverage.

签署这项协议后，万达将减少借款资助新项目的需要，从而避免加大其杠杆率。

Fitch Ratings had warned before the group’s Hong Kong listing that its debt levels had “increased substantially” since the start of 2014.

惠誉评级(Fitch Ratings)在万达赴港上市前就警告称，其债务水平自2014年初以来已经“大幅增加”。

Wanda, founded by billionaire Wang Jianlin, also said its new strategy “caters to China’s new development model, which relies on domestic demand and consumption”. Analysts had been expecting large mainland developers to adopt a more income-focused model, and to tap Chinese investors as the domestic housing market slowed.

由亿万富翁王健林创立的万达同时也表示，其新战略“迎合了中国依靠国内需求和消费的新发展模式”。分析师此前就预期，内地大型开发商将采用一种更注重收入的模式，并且随着国内房地产市场放缓，更多地利用中国投资机构的资源。

In November, average Chinese property prices dropped 3.6 per cent, while transaction volumes sank 13 per cent.

11月，中国平均房价下跌3.6%，而成交量下降了13%。

“China’s real estate market is facing a lot of risk and uncertainty right now, and Wanda already has a lot of projects in China,” noted Chester Zhang, associate research director at Savills in Shanghai. “Bringing in financial investors makes sense. If you’re a pure developer, you have to invest a lot of money. An asset-lite strategy greatly reduces the funding pressure.”

上海第一太平戴维斯(Savills)研究副总监Chester Zhang说，“中国房地产市场现在面临许多风险和不确定性，而万达在中国已经有大量项目……引入金融投资机构是明智的。如果你是一家纯开发商，你必须投入大量资金。轻资产战略将大大减轻资金压力。”