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Aileen Chuang

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), the parent of embattled New World Development (NWD), will keep pursuing deals that create “win-win outcomes”, chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun said as he revealed the private investment holding company’s philosophy for the first time.
While all investors love to talk about mutual benefit, Cheng told the Post – in his first statement to the media in more than two years – that it was more than pretty words for CTFE. The organisation ran with the discipline of an institutional investment firm, but as a family office, it followed the “Cheng family philosophy, not a typical investment playbook”, he said.
His statement comes as CTFE faces scrutiny over its handling of NWD’s mounting debt, at a time when the property sector in Hong Kong and mainland China has yet to emerge from a years-long slump. Cheng did not comment on NWD.
“We should always invest the right way,” said Cheng, who steers the family empire founded by his late father Cheng Yu-tung. “Markets move, opportunities come and capital flows. We always trust the professional teams at our investees and focus on nurturing and compounding value over time for steady and continuous growth.”
When the company would exit a deal, “we mustn’t aim to earn every penny”, he added. Rather CTFE must ensure “some positive social impact to the investee and the community”, leaving the investment as “a better company”, and with its staff “in a better place than before”, he said.
CTFE’s strategic investments comprise companies in the energy, hospitality, healthcare and technology innovation sectors across nearly 30 countries. While it is a private investment firm, market watchers inevitably link its operations to the group’s diverse businesses, which range from real estate and hospitality to jewellery.
NWD, the cash-strapped Hong Kong-listed developer under CTFE, has gained a reputation as the city’s most indebted developer. It posted a loss of HK$16.3 billion (US$2 billion) in June 2025, widening 38 per cent from a HK$11.8 billion loss in the previous financial year.
NWD has ramped up its effort to dispose of some assets while securing debt swaps and refinancing from banks. Since the start of 2025, the firm sold more than 2,200 residential units, including parking spaces, generating more than HK$34.8 billion in proceeds – the highest cash intake in nearly five years.

“We are upbeat about the recovery in NWD’s property sales, as the firm capitalises on easing mortgage costs and attractive pricing to entice homebuyers,” said Jeff Zhang, equity analyst at Morningstar, in a note earlier this month, while raising the stock’s fair value to HK$5.80 from HK$5.50 based on lower perpetual bond and note balances.
NWD’s shares have jumped nearly 31 per cent this year, closing at HK$9.52 on Friday. Zhang said overvaluation was a risk, as investors were overly optimistic about the pace of the company’s earnings recovery.
CTFE cited its recent sale of Australian utility Alinta Energy – bought for A$4 billion (US$2.7 billion) in 2017 – as a good example of Cheng’s investment philosophy.
Last month, Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries announced it would acquire Alinta for A$6.5 billion, subject to conditions and regulatory approvals.
CTFE had already reaped a return on the investment in 2023, when it sold some Alinta assets in Western Australia to APA Group for A$1.7 billion.
The company’s first foray into Australia’s energy sector began before the country’s energy transition had really started, and later had to withstand the Covid-19 pandemic. Yet under CTFE, Alinta built a 10.4-gigawatt portfolio of renewables and firming systems, positioning it to capitalise on the energy transition.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation reached a record A$1 billion in the 2025 financial year, with stable adjusted margins of 15 per cent to 20 per cent since 2022 – higher than industry peers. High portfolio availability of 93 per cent has also helped it cover 1.1 million customers.
“Alinta’s combination of low-cost generation, efficient gas assets, a high-performing wind farm and competitively contracted renewable power purchase agreements also provides stable cash flows and the flexibility to fund its project pipeline through different market cycles,” Sembcorp said in a filing to the Singapore stock exchange. Sembcorp said its earnings per share would have increased 14 per cent in the 12 months ended June 2025 had the acquisition already taken place.
Besides a strong return for CTFE, the exit showed a potential long-term owner offering a strong price and future upside for the asset, according to the company.
In other words, a win-win.
“Sellers and buyers should get win-win outcomes,” Cheng said. “We stay patient yet resilient.”


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In a rare media interaction, the chairman of New World Development’s parent company talks about his family’s unusual investment playbook


In a rare media interaction, the chairman of New World Development’s parent company talks about his family’s unusual investment playbook.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}In a rare media interaction, the chairman of New World Development’s parent company talks about his family’s unusual investment playbook

In a rare media interaction, the chairman of New World Development’s parent company talks about his family’s unusual investment playbook