Chinese property giant Greenland Holding Group is accelerating its drive into financial services, building a network that spans brokerages, investment banking, private equity funds and insurance.
Greenland said it was confident it could break into these new areas and challenge incumbents by drawing upon support from its property business.
“Only companies with an annual revenue more than 100 billion yuan can build a financial empire that can make money from the broader market,” Geng Jing, chairman of Greenland Financial Holding Group, a subsidiary of the Greenland Group, said at the China Real Estate & Finance Forum on Thursday. “Those with revenue below 100 billion yuan could only make money from their own property business [by internal funding].”
The parent company in the first nine months of the year generated revenue of 172 billion yuan through property sales, according to China Real Estate Information Corp.
Greenland had ranked as China’s largest property developer by sales in 2014, but slipped to fourth this year.
Meanwhile, revenue was up 22 per cent from a year earlier, lifted by the property bull market, but its profit margin was eroded by soaring land prices, which explains why the company is seeking out new businesses.
