Press Releases

• K. Wah Group’s entertainment & leisure, properties, hospitality and construction materials operations all achieved outstanding results
• Entertainment & Leisure: A year of harvest for Galaxy Entertainment Group (“GEG”), capped by substantial growth in revenue for the year
• Properties: K. Wah International Holdings Limited’s (“KWIH”) property sales in Hong Kong and Mainland China again recorded satisfactory performance
• Hospitality: InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong completed room renovation recently and, for the third consecutive year, received the top honour of “World’s Leading Luxury Business Hotel” at the World Travel Awards 2018
• Construction Materials: K. Wah Construction Materials Limited (“KWCM”) completed resurfacing the south runway of the Hong Kong International Airport last year, and supplied premium ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, and concrete pipes for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which began operation recently; while it is also the ready-mixed concrete supplier for the third runway construction project, continuing to contribute to the development of the city

(Hong Kong, 5 March 2019) – K. Wah Group (the “Group”) hosted a spring cocktail reception at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong today to celebrate the advent of the Chinese New Year, as well as the Group’s accomplishments of the past year.

The reception was graced by the presence of guests and friends from different sectors, top government officials, business leaders as well as industry luminaries, including Mr Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR; Mr He Jing, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR; Mr Sun Xiangyi, Director General of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR; Mr Guo Hengbin, Director General of the Kowloon Sub-office of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR; Mr Li Jiyi, Director General of the New Territories Sub-office of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR; Mr Joshua Law, Secretary for the Civil Service, the Government of the HKSAR; Professor Sophia Chan, Secretary for Food and Health, the Government of the HKSAR; Mr Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Education, the Government of the HKSAR; Mr Sai-hung Lam, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), the Government of the HKSAR; Ms Song Wei, the Vice-minister of the Coordination Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, Mr Wang Qi, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR as officiating guests, and joined the Chairman of K. Wah Group Dr Lui Che-woo, Mrs Lui Che-woo, and senior management of the Group to officiate the toasting ceremony. Other distinguished guests included The Hon Mr Donald Tsang; The Hon Mrs Regina Ip; The Hon Sir David Akers-Jones; Mr Gary Harilela and so on. 

Speaking at the reception, Dr Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group, said, “This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, while Hong Kong is anticipating unprecedented new opportunities after its inclusion in the grand scheme of national development. In addition to full participation in projects under the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, we are also prepared to bring our inherent strengths into full play to drive concerted development in the Greater Bay Area. Last year the commencement of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High Speed Rail (Hong Kong Section) and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge have provided a new engine to drive Hong Kong’s economic growth. In the past year, the Group was active in seizing development opportunities and greatly encouraged to see its properties, construction materials, hospitality and entertainment & leisure businesses all achieving remarkable results. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our stakeholders and partners for their support, and credit must also go to our 30,000 strong staff for their hard work. In 2019, the Group will continue to work hand-in-hand with our business partners to scale new heights. Entering its fourth year, the ‘LUI Che Woo Prize’ will continue to advocate the spirit of benevolence and peace, and encourage luminaries everywhere to contribute to the world civilisation and sustainable development.”

   

   

Dr Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group, addresses guests at the Group's Spring Cocktail Reception.

Four Major Businesses All Grow Steadily

The Group’s four business pillars all developed steadily in 2018. GEG (stock code: 00027) achieved brilliant results, capped by substantial growth in revenue for the year. Its Cotai Phases 3 and 4 projects also made good progress. The Group will press on with its development plan in Hengqin, with the hope of creating brand new entertainment and leisure resort experiences for our customers from around the world, and help reinforce Macau’s positioning as the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. In addition, GEG has also been keenly exploring opportunities in the overseas markets, and will work closely with Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer in Monaco and its business partners in Japan to realise its hope of developing a world-class integrated resort in Japan.

As for property business, KWIH (stock code: 00173) continued to report strong property sales. Sale of the new project Solaria in Pak Shek Kok, Tai Po began last year and has been well-received by market. In Mainland China, UpTown, Phase IV of J Metropolis, in Guangzhou and Windermere in Zhujiajiao, Qingpu, Shanghai recorded good sales performance after debut last year. Sales of other properties were also satisfactory. In the meantime, the Group has successfully expanded its land bank through acquisitions of sites in the Yangtze River Delta region and the Pearl River Delta region, in a further extension of K. Wah’s business footprint. Its investment properties also continued to report growth, generating satisfactory rental income for the Group. In 2019, KWIH will actively launch more quality projects to consolidate the Group’s presence in Hong Kong, the Yangtze River Delta and the Greater Bay Area.

As for hospitality business, the Group’s InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong recently completed its guestrooms’ renovation and was bestowed the title “World’s Leading Luxury Business Hotel”, the most prestigious at the “World Travel Awards” (“WTA”), for the third consecutive year. Its ballroom - “The Opera Rooms” in fresh design will be available to customers in the first quarter of this year, continuing to provide superb quality services. The Group’s serviced apartment Stanford Residences Victoria Harbour was named the “Asia’s Leading Hotel Residences”, reflecting market recognition of the quality and services of the Group’s hotel brands. 

As for KWCM, the Group’s founding business, it completed resurfacing the south runway at the Hong Kong International Airport last year and supplied premium ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, and concrete pipes to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge which began operation recently. KWCM is also the ready-mixed concrete supplier of the third runway construction project, continuing to contribute to development of the city. The company is committed to producing environmentally sustainable construction materials to achieve low carbon and energy saving goals, and is now one of the largest Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag (“GGBS”) manufacturers in China. The company also won a number of widely-recognised environmental protection awards in Hong Kong and China last year.

Promoting Peace and Benevolence Building World Civilisation

Upholding the principle of “giving back to society from which it has benefitted” while contributing to social and economic development, the Group is dedicated to giving back to the society and building an environment that supports sustainable development. Dr Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group, donated RMB200 million to Tsinghua University last year to fund the construction of two new blocks at the Tsinghua University Biomedical Sciences Building, named “Lui Che Woo Building”, which dedicated to support the research, innovation and sustainable development of the life science, medical and pharmaceutical disciplines. The LUI Che Woo Prize – Prize for World Civilisation, aiming at inspiring people to build a more harmonious and sustainable world is entering its fourth year. The Award in 2019 will not have specific areas of focus, as a move to broaden the scope of work covered in each prize category, so that more individuals and groups which have made significant contributions in different areas will have the chance to be recognised.

Marrying Culture and Innovation Showcasing Traditional and Modern Elements

The spring cocktail reception kicked off with a short video retracing the brilliant achievements of the Group and conveying its wish for brighter prospect, which was complemented by a drum performance. In addition to the special performance, the Group also showcased the honours and awards won by its four main businesses in the past year. The business segments also set up creative booths at the venue. The property business booth had a feature wall introducing K. Wah’s iconic properties around the world. GEG put up a 3D backdrop featuring Galaxy Macau™, Broadway Macau™ and StarWorld for guests to take pictures. The hospitality business booth highlighted the special dishes created by Leung Fai Hung, Executive Chef (Chinese) of Hoi King Heen at InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong, celebrating his career of 40 years. Last but not least, the KWCM booth had a 3D backdrop of the Hong Kong International Airport runway and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge demonstrating the Group’s contribution to development of the city. All the unique booths made the event fun and colourful.

   

K. Wah Group presents to the guests the luminous drum show at the Group's Spring Cocktail Reception.

The reception was graced by the presence of guests and friends from different sectors, top government officials, business leaders as well as industry luminaries, including:

   

Mr Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR

  

   

Sir David Akers-Jones, Former Chief Secretary of Hong Kong

   

Mr Gary Harilela, Director of Harilela Group

-End -

Officiating Guests

1. Mr Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Office of Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR
2. Mr He Jing, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR
3. Mr Sun Xiangyi, Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR
4. Mr Guo Hengbin, Director General of Kowloon sub-office of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR
5. Mr Li Jiyi, Director General of New Territories sub-office of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR
6. Mr Joshua Law, Secretary for the Civil Service, the Government of the HKSAR
7. Professor Sophia Chan, Secretary for Food and Health, the Government of the HKSAR
8. Mr Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Education, the Government of the HKSAR
9. Mr Sai-hung Lam, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), the Government of the HKSAR
10. Ms Song Wei, Deputy Director-General, Coordination Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR
11. Mr Wang Qi, Director-General, Department of International Organizations and Conferences, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR
12. Dr & Mrs Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group
13. Ms Paddy Lui, Executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings & Galaxy Entertainment Group
14. Mr Alexander Lui, Executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
15. Mr Joseph Chee, Executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group & Managing Director of K. Wah Construction Materials
16. Dr William Yip, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings & Galaxy Entertainment Group
17. Mr Wong Kwai Lam, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
18. Mr Au Man Chu, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
19. Dr Charles Cheung, Non-executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group
20. Professor Patrick Wong, Independent Non-executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group
21. Ms Eileen Lui, Group Director – Human Resources and Administration of Galaxy Entertainment Group
22. Dr Jorge Neto Valente, Group Advisor of Galaxy Entertainment Group
23. Mr Philip Cheng, Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group
24. Mr Robert Drake, Group Chief Financial Officer of Galaxy Entertainment Group
25. Professor Frederick Ma, Board of Governors of LUI Che Woo Prize Limited