Henderson Land Development yesterday reported a 63% plunge in underlying interim profit to HK$1.41bn and unveiled plans to sell or pre-sell as much as 5.2 million square feet of gross floor area in mainland cities this year.

The developer forecast an increase in rental income on the mainland this year, but predicted that both rental and occupancy rates for Hong Kong investment properties would be under pressure in the first half of the year due to the economic recession.

The fourth-largest developer in Hong Kong by market value said net profit after investment property revaluations fell 87% to HK$1.17bn for the six months to 31 December, compared with HK$9.19bn achieved over the same period in 2007.

South China Morning Post