Nam Tai Property Inc. Reports Q2 2018 Results

SHENZHEN, July 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nam Tai Property Inc. ("Nam Tai" or the "Company") (NYSE Symbol: NTP) today announced its unaudited results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (UNAUDITED) IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2018

OPERATING RESULTS

Operating loss for the second quarter of 2018 was $4.2 million, an increase of $1.9 million, compared to operating loss of $2.3 million in the second quarter of 2017, when there was rental income derived from our land and buildings located in Gushu, Shenzhen, prior to the expiration of its lease agreement in October 2017, to offset the operating loss.

Net loss for the second quarter of 2018 was $5.8 million compared to a net income of $2.1 million in the second quarter of 2017. Net loss for the second quarter of 2018 mainly consisted of general and administrative expenses of $4.2 million and exchange loss of $3.3 million as a result of the depreciation of Renminbi against the US dollar in the second quarter of 2018; offset in part by interest income of $1.6 million earned from time deposits. Net income for the second quarter of 2017 mainly consisted of exchange gain of $2.7 million as a result of the appreciation of Renminbi against the US dollar in the second quarter of 2017, interest income of $1.8 million earned from time deposits and net operation income of $0.5 million; offset in part by general and administrative expenses of $2.9 million. Net loss per diluted share for the second quarter of 2018 was $0.15 compared to net income per diluted share of $0.06 for the second quarter of 2017.

Net loss for the first half of 2018 was $3.3 million compared to a net income of $3.9 million for the first half of 2017. Net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2018 mainly consisted of general and administrative expenses of $13.3 million; offset in part by a gain of $6.8 million from sale of an office property in Hong Kong and interest income of $3.1 million earned from time deposits. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2017 mainly consisted of interest income of $4.3 million earned from time deposits, exchange gain of $3.5 million as a result of the appreciation of Renminbi against the US dollar during the six months ended June 30, 2017 and net operation income of $1.1 million; offset in part by general and administrative expenses of $4.9 million. Net loss per diluted share for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was $0.09 compared to net income per diluted share of $0.10 for the six months ended June 30, 2017.

As the majority of our assets are denominated in Renminbi, the translation of Renminbi denominated assets to US dollars for reporting purposes has resulted in a foreign exchange loss for the second quarter of 2018. Due to the fluctuation of the exchange rate for Renminbi against the US dollar, the foreign exchange loss for the second quarter of 2018 was $3.3 million, or approximately 57% of the amount of our net loss for this period. However, since the majority of our payment obligations are also denominated in Renminbi, we do not expect the movement of US dollar against Renminbi to materially and adversely impact our business. 

Capitalization on project investment was $3.6 million for second quarter of 2018, totaling $5.6 million for the first half of 2018 and our accumulated project investment was $57.1 million up to June 30, 2018, which was recorded under the account of "real estate properties under development" in the balance sheet as at June 30, 2018.

Our business of land development is currently in the early stage where it takes time to apply for the relevant licenses and permits from the PRC government. During this early stage of the land development, our only sources of income are from limited deposit interest and rental income; therefore, we expect to continue to incur losses during this stage.

Please see page 7 of the Company's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for further details. This information has also been published on the Company's website at http://www.namtai.com/investors#investors/quarterly_earnings in the quarterly earnings report of the second quarter of 2018 on page 7, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

COMPANY OUTLOOK

The development of Nam Tai Inno Park in Guangming, Shenzhen, and Nam Tai Inno City in Gushu, Shenzhen, continues to proceed smoothly.

For Nam Tai Inno Park, as we announced on April 10, 2018, we received a RMB1.2 billion ($184 million) credit facility from China Construction Bank to support its development and construction. On May 23, 2018, we also announced our selection, through an auction process, of two main constructors, China Construction First Building (Group) Corporation Ltd., or CCFBC, and China Construction Second Engineering Bureau Ltd., or CCSEB, respectively, for the western and eastern sections of Nam Tai Inno Park. On May 18 and May 28, 2018, we also received two construction permits for the western and eastern sections of Nam Tai Inno Park, respectively. We have begun the main construction phase of Nam Tai Inno Park starting June 1, 2018.

For Phase I of Nam Tai Inno City, we completed the demolition of our old factory buildings in the second quarter of 2018. On May 24, 2018 we received the Land Use Permit for the development of the Nam Tai Inno City on the Phase I site ahead of the schedule. We currently focus our development efforts on designing this future complex in a way that would maximize its value based on the latest market outlook. We will continue to follow our plan of development and expect to receive the relevant Land Use Right Certificate in August 2018 for Phase I of Nam Tai Inno City.

For Phase II of Nam Tai Inno City, we are in the process of subdividing and renovating the existing buildings on site for short-term leases for start-up tech companies. We made this decision based on our current demolition and construction schedule, which is planned to occur in a few years, making the existing buildings less attractive to industrial tenants with scaled operations and longer time horizons. Our primary focus is not to generate significant revenue but maintaining the active operation of the facilities ahead of its redevelopment, which is currently expected to start in March 2023.

As for our Wuxi facilities, we continue to search for both potential buyers or renters, with the primary focus on rental.

Following below are summaries of our Nam Tai Inno Park and Nam Tai Inno City projects:

Part III: Budgetary Estimate for the Two Projects:

Potential Risks in Our Business

We currently derive a majority of our income from interest income. Since 2016, we have seen a stabilizing trend on the benchmark interest rates in China. However, due to the current economic conditions in China, we expect the People's Bank of China ("PBOC") to keep Renminbi-denominated official time deposit interest rates in China at a low level throughout 2018. We expect to continue to incur operating losses in the third quarter of 2018 and beyond. With this lower interest rate environment and continued decrease in our level of deposit, we expect our income offset against these operating losses will materially decrease in future periods, which will accelerate the current decline of our cash and cash equivalents and other short-term investments.

We only became a real estate developer after our electronic manufacturing businesses ceased in 2014. To ensure our successful transformation, we have engaged external advisors and sought potential strategic partners and investors, including with Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., to support our projects. We cannot assure you our efforts will be sufficient enough to carry out a transformation of this magnitude. Prior to our annual general meeting of the shareholders on June 1, 2018, our former chairman, Mr. M.K. Koo, announced his intention to retire no later than the end of 2018. At our annual general meeting, our shareholders elected a slate of directors that included certain new members and our current CEO, Mr. Ying Chi Kwok, in anticipation of the retirement of Mr. Koo. Subsequent to the annual general meeting, our board of directors elected Mr. Ying Chi Kwok, as our new chairman on June 4, 2018. At our board meeting on July 27, 2018, Mr. Koo officially vacated his seat as a director and following the recommendation of our nominating committee, our board elected Mr. Hao Xu as a director in place of Mr. Koo starting from August 1, 2018. Mr. Koo will remain as a consultant of our Company for the remainder of 2018. We cannot assure you that our full restructuring plan can be carried out smoothly, or that any successor will be able to manage our Company as effectively.

As the majority of our assets are denominated in Renminbi, the translation of Renminbi-denominated assets to US dollars for our reporting purposes has resulted in a foreign exchange loss in this quarter. As such, we do expect to see fluctuations in the reporting of foreign exchange loss/gain in the financial statements due to the movement of the US dollar against Renminbi. However, as a majority of our payments are in Renminbi, we also do not expect the movement of the US dollar against Renminbi to adversely impact our business. Nevertheless, investors should consider that the purchasing power of US dollar figures for cash and cash equivalents and other short-term investments is not identical from period to period.

In order for the projects to proceed smoothly and the transformation of our business to succeed, we will need to access additional funding. To do so, we will negotiate loans and credit lines with financial banks to source funds needed to assist in future development of our projects. These loan agreements and debt instruments often contain covenants limiting our flexibility in operating our business and can contain requirements that we meet certain milestones in our project development. While we have obtained a credit facility from China Construction Bank to support our financing of Nam Tai Inno Park in part, there can be no assurance that changes in the macroeconomic environment or government policies in China would not restrict China Construction Bank's funding ability, or that we can continue to enter into agreements and instruments with other financial institutions successfully. Furthermore, failure to comply with any terms required by the funding agreements or instruments may delay our developments as we seek alternative sources of funding or prevent us from completing the developments entirely.

As of June 30, 2018, we had a total cash balance of $160.0 million and no debt. With our current cash position and the credit line from China Construction Bank, we believe our finances remain sufficient to fund the initial stage of the Nam Tai Inno Park development as currently planned. All of our land development related applications are subject to government policies and regulations in the real estate market. As this is our first venture into the land development projects, we may encounter industry-specific difficulties that result in losses as we progress with our projects in Shenzhen. The recent trade disputes between the U.S. and China may also negatively impact the speed of Shenzhen city's development. As we are currently in the early stage of our property projects and can only generate limited interest income from cash deposits, we will continue to record operating losses. Cash on hand is expected to drop continuously, but most of the incurred expenditures related to construction will be for project development, which will be capitalized as "real estate properties under development" (non-current asset) on our balance sheet. For more information on risks in our business, please refer to the Risk Factors section of our 2017 Annual Report on Form 20-F as filed with the SEC and on our website.

According to our project development plan, project investment for the third quarter of 2018 is estimated to be $24.5 million, and project investment for the year of 2018 is estimated to be $58.0 million.

The information contained in or that can be accessed through the website mentioned in this announcement does not form part of this announcement

PAYMENT OF QUARTERLY DIVIDENDS FOR 2018

As announced on October 30, 2017, the Company set the payment schedule of quarterly dividends for 2018. The dividend for the second quarter of 2018 was paid on July 20, 2018.

The following table updates the previously announced schedule for declaration and payment of quarterly dividends in 2018.

Our decision to continue making dividend payments in 2018 as set out and confirmed in the above table does not necessarily mean that cash dividend payments will continue thereafter or at the same amount. Whether future dividends after 2018 are to be declared will depend upon our future growth and earnings at each relevant period, of which there can be no assurance, and our cash flow needs for business operations and transformation. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that cash dividends on our common shares will be declared beyond those declared for 2018, and we also cannot assure you what the amounts of such dividends will be or whether such dividends, once declared for a specific period, will continue for any future period, or at all

SCHEDULE FOR RELEASE OF QUARTERLY FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR 2018

To maintain the efficiency of delivering the Company's quarterly financial results to the market, the Company's management has decided to follow approximately the same schedule of 2017 to release the quarterly financial results for 2018. Details of the expected quarterly release dates are as follows:

Announcements of Financial Results

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND FACTORS THAT COULD CAUSE OUR SHARE PRICE TO DECLINE

Certain statements included in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "seek", "would", "believe" or "timetable". These forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activities, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, delay in the Company's ability to obtain all requisite permits and approvals from relevant government authorities in relation to the redevelopment of two parcels of properties in Guangming, Shenzhen, and Gushu, Shenzhen, respectively, and the successful redevelopment of the two parcels of properties into Nam Tai Inno Park and Nam Tai Inno City; the sufficiency of the Company's cash position and other sources of liquidity to fund its property developments; continued inflation and appreciation of the Renminbi against the US dollar; rising labor costs in China and changes in the labor supply and labor relations. In particular, you should consider the risks outlined under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and in our Current Reports filed on Form 6-K from time to time. The Company's decision to continue dividend payments in 2018 does not necessarily mean that dividend payments will continue thereafter. Whether future dividends will be declared depends upon the Company's future growth and earnings, of which there can be no assurance, as well as the Company's cash flow needs for further expansion. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that cash dividends on the Company's common shares will be declared beyond those declared for 2018, what amount those dividends may be or whether such dividends, once declared for a specific period, will continue for any future period, or at all; and whether we will purchase any of our shares in the open markets or otherwise. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. These forward-looking statements apply only as of the date of this press release; as such, they should not be unduly relied upon as circumstances change. Except as required by law, we are not obligated, and we undertake no obligation, to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements that might reflect events or circumstance occurring after the date of this release or those that might reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

ABOUT NAM TAI PROPERTY INC.

We are a real estate developer. We hold two parcels of land located in Guangming and Gushu, Shenzhen, China. We are converting these two parcels of land that formerly housed the manufacturing facilities of our prior businesses into high-tech research and development centers, Nam Tai Inno Park and Nam Tai Inno City. We expect our principal income in the future will be derived from rental income from these research and development centers. Nam Tai Property Inc. is a corporation registered in the British Virgin Islands and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol: "NTP"). Please refer to the Nam Tai website (www.namtai.com) or the SEC website (www.sec.gov) for Nam Tai press releases and financial statements.

SOURCE Nam Tai Property Inc.

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