Wharf Real Estate Inv Co

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Wolf-Rick interim results presentation. I am Angela Ng from the IR team. You can download the PowerPoint presentation from the QR code displayed on the LED wall. And as you can see from this colorful backdrop, it is actually the first ever Hong Kong City sign at Harbor City, which is designed by a famous French artist, Camille Wallala. This captivating landmark has found a permanent home atop the ocean terminal extension. So next time when you visit, be sure to capture this check-in spot and also enjoy the stunning view as it is actually one of the best spots to view sunset and harbour view in Hong Kong. And you are also welcome to check out the dining options at the ocean terminal extension. Now, let's move back to the result presentation. So our management today include Mr. Stephen Ng, Chairman and Managing Director, and Mr. Horace Lee, Director. Before the PowerPoint presentation and the Q&A section, may I now invite Mr. Ng on the stage, please?

Thank you.

Thank you. I just wanted to say a few quick words. As we all know, Hong Kong reopened at the beginning of last year. and on a personal basis, life is back to normal. All of us can travel freely and return to Hong Kong without worrying about quarantines. And we're not required to wear masks anymore. And at a investment level, all the cooling measures vis-a-vis purchase of properties Real Estate Inv Co but the recovery has been slow and even today, 18 months later, it is still not nearly as complete as all of us would hope. In particular, a watershed happened probably around March of this year. Up to March, Hong Kong has seen 14 or 15 months of continuous year on year growth. But because March of last year, was pretty much a high point, particularly for retail consumption. Once we came to March of this year, the year-on-year comparison suddenly turned negative. And the negative year-on-year performance continued throughout the second quarter. Now we don't have July statistics yet, but it's very likely that we'll continue into July. I don't know how quickly it would turn around. We can discuss that later on. But that pretty much sets the backdrop for Hong Kong as a whole and certainly for our company in terms of its performance in the first half of this year. I'll be pleased to talk to you some more about it in the Q&A session. But first of all, I'd like to hand back to Angela to take you through the presentation. Angela.