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To: TobagoJack who wrote (31272)	4/10/2003 9:23:31 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 74559

Realty jobs axed as interest wanes Wednesday, April 9, 2003 biz.scmp.com SOPHIA WONG Estate agencies are facing another round of retrenchments and cost cuts as severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) hammers property sales. Hong Kong's four largest estate agencies, which employ about 5,000 licensed agents, have reduced staff numbers and are planning further cost-cutting measures if the market continues to deteriorate. Midland Realty sales director Vincent Chan Kwan-hing said yesterday the company's overall operating revenue had plunged more than 50 per cent over the past month because fewer people were buying properties during the health crisis. The company had laid off 100 of its 2,300 agents over the past couple of weeks, he said. It was considering retrenching a further 5 per cent to 10 per cent of its workforce and pay cuts of 10 to 20 per cent. "It all depends on the future impact of the pneumonia," Mr Chan said. Hong Kong Property, a subsidiary of Midland Realty, has sacked 15 of its 450 staff this month. Midland Realty chairman Freddie Wong Kin-yip said the company was asking the landlords of all 200 of its outlets in Hong Kong to reduce the rents they charged by 30 per cent for at least a year. About 60 outlets operated at a loss last year, he said. "We may close some of them if we fail in the fight for a rental discount." Centaline Property Agency executive director Simon Cheung said the company had no plans to close any of its 165 outlets in Hong Kong and he was not too pessimistic about market prospects. 'The transaction volume in March increased," he said, adding that the war in Iraq had not significantly affected the local property market. He said the pneumonia crisis was likely to be over within a couple of months, and the market would recover quickly. Centaline has laid off 50 to 60 sales agents out of a total of about 1,600 since late March. But Mr Cheung said this was the result of "natural attrition". Centaline is seeking rent reductions of 30 to 40 per cent for four to five outlets with expiring lease contracts, according to Mr Cheung. The company would also negotiate rent cuts on another 10 lease contracts due to expire over the next few months. Ricacorp Properties, a subsidiary of Centaline, expects the number of property transactions this year to fall by 10 per cent to 64,170. It predicts flat prices will fall at least 15 per cent if the Sars crisis and the war in Iraq last another two to three months. Ricacorp executive director Willy Liu Wai-keung said Ricacorp had lost 30 agents, or about 5 per cent of its staff, through natural attrition over the past month. It has 57 outlets and about 500 agents. Mr Liu said the company was seeking rent reductions of 30 per cent for its shops but had no plans for further cost cuts.