China Vanke H1 profit rises 25.1%

BEIJING -- China Vanke Co, the country's largest property developer by market value, saw net profits increase 25.1 percent year-on-year to 3.73 billion yuan ($592 million) in the first half of the year, the latest financial results show.

Revenues jumped 53.7 percent to 30.72 billion yuan in the period, the company said in a statement filed Tuesday to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

In the first six months, it sold 6.03 million square meters of housing, with the sales value reaching 62.54 billion yuan, down 4.7 percent from the same period last year.

Tan Huajie, Vanke board secretary, attributed the decrease to the company putting fewer projects on sale in the first half.

He said he expected more projects to be put on sale in the second half, and it's highly likely that the company's sales will beat last year's, provided there are no big changes in the market environment.

With persistent government tightening efforts to cap skyrocketing property prices, the average sale price for Vanke's homes dropped to 10,380 yuan per square meter in the first half, a decrease of 10.6 percent from the same period last year.

Regarding the outlook in the second half, Tan said the company will not base its expected profitability on the presumption of big price rebounds.

Housing prices have shown signs of rebounding over the last few months, after the government eased its grip over credit control to buoy the slowing economy.

But the government has maintained its previously-adopted tightening measures such as higher down payments and property tax trials, signaling its intent to try to keep prices in check.

China Vanke's performance

China Vanke's Q1 profit up 15.8%
China Vanke sales surge in March
China Vanke sales down 39.84% in Feb
Vanke Jan home sales tumble 40%
Vanke's 2011 profits jump 32%
Vanke realizes growth in home sales