〈Asian Post, March 17, 2018〉Seven decades after starting out by selling plastic flowers, the billionaire tycoon hands over control of a sprawling global empire to his elder son.

Li Ka-shing, whose rags-to-riches rise inspired generations of Hongkongers, announced his retirement yesterday after almost seven decades building up one of the world's largest conglomerates.

"I have decided to step down as chairman of the company and retire from the position of executive director at the forthcoming annual general meeting of the company," Li, 89, said at the results announcements for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings.The man who started out selling plastic flowers will serve as senior adviser to both companies.

"I am grateful to have been able to create value for shareholders all these years, and serve society," Li said. "This has been my greatest honour. I thank everybody for their love and support."

Widely known as "Superman", Li, who turns 90 in July, will hand over the chairmanship of his two flagship companies to elder son, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi.

Younger son Richard Li Tzar-kai will continue to run PCCW and not return to the CK group, as "he has many other businesses".

Li said he would dedicate his time to philanthropy, led by the KS-LK Foundation, especially on heath care and education issues.Raymond Cheng, a director of CIMB Securities' Hong Kong and China property equity research, was quick to pay tribute."Superman Li is an icon of the Cheung Kong group of companies," he said. "Business circles will miss his views on the prospects for Hong Kong's property market, global economic development and even politics.

"Li's succession plan has been well planned as his elder son Victor has been involved in day-to-day operations for years."CK Hutchison - with interests ranging from container ports and retail to telecommunications and power plants - announced that its net profit increased 6 per cent to HK$35.1 billion last year, matching the forecast of analysts.

Shareholders, according to Li, would have boosted their returns by 1,500 times - including dividends - if they had bought the stock for HK$3 a share in 1972 when it went public.

Had the dividends been reinvested into the company's shares, total returns would have exceeded 5,000 times.The business circle will definitely missed his views on the prospect of Hong Kong property market, global economic development and even politics Raymond Cheng, CIMB Securities As was the norm, the companies' press conference to announce their results was jam-packed, with journalists fielding a wide range questions for Li, who did not disappoint them.

〈The Standard, March 17, 2018〉Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po yesterday said he would have "no fear" of confronting private developers if he were to press ahead with a groundbreaking tax on unoccupied flats in a bid to cool the city's red-hot property market.

Chan put on the brave front at the Redefining Hong Kong debate held by the South China Morning Post, where a panel of leading economists and tax consultants exchanged views on the annual budget blueprint that Chan delivered last month.

A day earlier, he had dropped a bombshell when he said the administration was considering imposing a tax on the owners of empty flats, which would mark a radical policy U-turn and incense the city's property tycoons.

Asked yesterday if the proposed tax would only target private developers and how he would deal with the expected opposition from them, Chan paused for 10 seconds before saying, to applause: "Of course, no fear."

He said the number of vacant units completed by developers stood at 9,500 at the end of last year, a sharp rise from the some 4,000 to 5,000 vacant flats recorded at the beginning of 2017.

"If you compare to the figures before that, the level would be even lower," Chan told the panel."I can foresee, because of the hard work of the past few years and with the land supply that has been meeting the target … completion in the coming five years would be 50 per cent more than the previous five years. I do not want to see vacant units in completed developments being held up. That is the logic."

During the debate, Chan and the panellists sparred over a range of issues, such as whether the government was spending too little or too much, if it was investing wisely for the future and how much should be set aside in reserves.

〈Asian Post, March 16, 2018〉Swire Pacific, one of Asia's largest conglomerates, saw underlying profit surge 55 per cent last year as strong property income offset losses from its Cathay Pacific Airways unit and the marine services operation.

Excluding revaluation gains on investment properties, underlying profit was HK$4.74 billion in the year to December, the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.

It was lower than the HK$5.27 billion average estimate of five analysts polled by Bloomberg.The group, whose business empire spans aviation, real estate and offshore marine services, said turnover rose 29 per cent to HK$80.28 billion from 2016.

"The results of the group in 2017 were affected by difficult market conditions facing our aviation and marine services divisions," said John Slosar, the chairman of Swire Pacific and Swire Properties.

"Overcapacity in the passenger market led to intense com petition with other airlines and continued pressure on yields on many of our airlines' key routes."

Swire Pacific said the attributable loss from Cathay Pacific was HK$567 million while the marine services division accounted for a loss of HK$2.23 billion.

On Wednesday, Cathay Pacific, in which the group owns a 45 per cent stake, reported a net loss of HK$1.25 billion last year, more than double that of 2016.

〈The Standard, March 16, 2018〉A house at the ultra-exclusive Mount Nicholson Road area on The Peak has sold for HK$1.39 billion, making it the second most expensive in Asia on a per square foot basis.

The four-bedroom, 9,217 sq ft house with a 3,969 sq ft garden and a swimming pool at No 2 Mount Nicholson fetched HK$151,785 per square foot in a tender offer, according to sales agent Wheelock Properties.

The property is located near Asia's most expensive house - a 9,212 sq ft home on Gough Hill Road that was sold to a mainland businessman in 2016 for HK$182,370 per square foot.

Hong Kong is the world's most expensive urban centre among 406 cities in which to buy a home, according to the Demographia International Hous ing Affordability Survey.

At the luxury end of the market, HK$7.8 million would buy just 237 sq ft of residential space, making the city the second most expensive in the world for top-end housing.

A shortage of houses will mean prices are not expected to drop, and money is still coming in from the mainland for high-end property.

"Home prices will grow further because of limited supply," said Thomas Lam, the head of valuation and consultancy at Knight Frank.

Some estimates see overall home prices rising 10 to 20 per cent this year, exacerbating the problem of ownership for average wage earners and salaried employees.

〈China Post, March 15, 2018〉Government-owned agency fires back at critics who say it is not doing enough to help first-time homebuyers as loans increase to HK$32.3 billion

The Hong Kong Mortgage Corp fired back at critics who said it was not doing enough to help first-time buyers, yesterday revealing a 30 per cent increase in its mortgage business volume for last year, with a concentration of support to buyers of homes worth HK$6 million or less.The government-owned agency said its mortgage business volume for last year increased to HK$32.3 billion, and was up 20 per cent in the first two months of this year compared with the same period last year.

"The fact that the HKMC has seen an increasing business volume in mortgage insurance schemes shows the [programme's current terms] have not [prevented] people from applying for the scheme to buy their own homes," chief executive Raymond Li said.

The HKMC has been battling critics who said the threshold for its insurance premiums had been set too high to help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder.

The group's mortgage insurance programme allows potential homebuyers to get an 80 per cent loan-value mortgage for flats worth up to HK$6 million and a loan-value mortgage of 90 per cent on homes worth HK$4 million or less.

Some lawmakers have called for a relaxation of the value thresholds as a way to help first-time homebuyers, as there are few flats available for sale on the market for less than HK$4 million.