Poly Real Estate H1 profit down 10.16%

BEIJING - Poly Real Estate Group, China's second-largest property developer, said Wednesday its net profit dropped 10.16 percent year-on-year in the first half to 2.51 billion yuan ($396.22 million).

Poly said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that the decline was mainly because its partners in several real estate projects took a larger share of the profits in the first half.

Its revenue rose 32.86 percent from a year earlier to 20.18 billion yuan. Earnings per share dropped 10.16 percent to 0.35 yuan, the developer said.

Poly's home sales rose 27.47 percent year-on-year to 50.3 billion yuan in the first half due to intensified efforts in promoting the sales of small and medium-sized apartments, it said.

The Chinese government has adopted a series of tightening measures such as prohibiting purchases of third homes and raising the down payment requirement since 2010 to cool the then-runaway property market.

Senior Chinese leaders have repeatedly pledged that the country will continue its property tightening measures despite a slowdown in national economic growth.

Poly's shares dived 3.46 percent to 9.49 yuan on Wednesday.