COUNTRY GARDEN POSTS RECORD YEAR

Core profit soars 38pc to 34.13b yuan on robust revenue, higher margins

COUNTRY Garden Holdings Co Ltd, China’s top property developer by total sales, said its reported core profit for last year appreciated by 38 per cent to a record level, in line with forecasts of analysts, on robust revenue and higher margins.

The results confirmed the trend for the sector, with most of the major developers in the country reporting record profits.

Analysts, however, said the sector might see earnings growth slow or even profit falls from the second half as more expensive land costs eat into margins on the back of slowing national sales.

China’s property sales by floor area fell 3.6 per cent year-on-year in the first two months of the year, official data showed.

New home prices grew at the slowest pace in 10 months last month in signs of slackening demand as the economy cooled further.

Country Garden said in a statement yesterday its core profit, which was net profit excluding non-recurring income and revaluation gains, grew to 34.13 billion yuan (RM20.69 billion) last year.

That compares to the 33.81 billion yuan Refinitiv SmartEstimate. SmartEstimates improve upon the accuracy of the average estimate by placing a higher weight on recent forecasts and on top-rated analysts.

Net profit rose 33 per cent to 34.6 billion yuan, while revenue was up 67 per cent at 379.1 billion yuan.

Country Garden’s shares, which have gained 24 per cent so far this year, rose 4.4 per cent yesterday prior to the announcement of the results.

In a statement, the developer said it would adopt new technologies in its construction and modern agriculture businesses in order to raise competitiveness.