Sun Hung Kai & Co Ltd

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Soon Hoon Kai & Co 2026 interim results presentation. This presentation will be conducted in English. I am Christian Arnell from Christiansen Advisory. The senior executives here with me on the call today are Mr. Tony Edwards, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Brendan McGraw, Group Chief Financial Officer. In today's call, we will talk you through the company's business performance in the first half of 2026 outlook and Future Plans. Following the call, we'll open the floor to questions. Before we start, I would like to take the opportunity to remind you that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements which are based on assumptions and factors that are beyond the control of the group and are not necessarily indicative or guarantees of the group's future performance. Now, I'd like to pass the call to Tony to begin the presentation. Tony, please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for joining us today. Let me begin with the key figures. Despite the challenging operating environment in the first half of 2026, the group continues to create value, staying focused on downside protection and risk-adjusted returns. Total income decreased 10.9% year-on-year to HK$2.5 billion, while EBIT declined 9.3% to HK$1.3 billion. Attributable profit was HK$688 million, down 22.4% year-on-year, primarily driven by lower net investment income against the high baseline in the first half of 2025 from a major position's IPO valuation mark-up, partially offset by an improved contribution from our credit business. On the growth side, our alternative solutions business, SHK Capital Partners, continued to expand, with total AOM rising 17.7% since the end of 2025 to US$3.7 billion. Investment assets increased 7.4% since the end of 2025 to HK$16.9 billion while the consumer finance loan book grew steadily with gross loan balance up 4.6% since the end of 2025 to HK$12.3 billion. The board declared an interim dividend of $0.13 per share, an increase of 8.3% year-on-year.

Turning to our key messages.