New World promotes Eric Ma to CEO, replacing Adrian Cheng after reporting HK$19.7 bln loss

New World Development reported its biggest loss on record, as a loss from continuing operations devastated the balance sheet of one of Hong Kong’s largest property-linked conglomerates and upended the succession plan of the company’s third-generation scion.

Adrian Cheng Chi-kong stepped down as New World’s CEO, handing over to Eric Ma Siu-cheung the job that he had held for four years, after overseeing a loss of HK$19.7 billion (US$2.53 billion) in the financial year that ended in June. Revenue slumped by 62 per cent to HK$35.78 billion.

Cheng will take on a non-executive role as New World’s vice-chairman, after four years as the heir apparent to his father, chairman and executive director Henry Cheng Kar-shun. New World was founded in 1970 by the late Cheng Yu-tung, Hong Kong’s jewellery magnate and the clan patriarch.

“Third-generation successors of large family empires are typically under tremendous pressure, [especially] if they face economic headwinds, high expectations from family members and significant visibility in the business community”, said Marleen Dieleman, who leads family-business research at the IMD Business School in Singapore. “It is a difficult context to succeed in, no matter how talented one may be.”