Longfor expects growing sales despite curbs
Mainland developer Longfor Properties expects contract sales to grow 20 per cent to 40 billion yuan (HK$47.53 billion) this year, despite central government austerity measures to curb soaring property prices.
'The two important policies, including the property levy and the restriction on the number of flats purchased, will certainly have an impact on the market,' chairwoman and chief executive Wu Yajun said. But she also said some measures were not as severe as expected.
Her comment came as the group announced its annual results for the year ended December 31. Its contract sales reached 33.32 billion yuan, up 81.5 per cent year on year, and far ahead of its original target of 24.8 billion yuan.
Net profit rose 86.95 per cent to 4.13 billion yuan, and its net profit margin widened to 27.4 per cent, from 19.4 per cent a year earlier.
Longfor, the largest developer in Chongqing and the second biggest in Beijing in terms of contract sales, launched properties for sale in 10 cities last year. The average selling price rose 39 per cent to 13,577 yuan per square metre.
Its turnover surged 32.7 per cent to 15.09 billion yuan for the year. Revaluation gains on investment properties totalled 2.49 billion yuan. Rental income from investment properties rose 45.1 per cent year on year to 287 million yuan.
Although the developer would be affected by the government's tightening measures, it said it was performing better than its rivals in the market.
'The government also rolled out some austerity measures last year but our contract sales in Beijing were 10 billion yuan, higher than our target of 7 billion yuan,' deputy chief executive Shao Mingxiao said.
He said that the target for Beijing was 8 billion yuan this year, and it had already sold properties worth 2.5 billion yuan.
The company has proposed a final dividend of 0.1 yuan per share.
Shares of Longfor surged 3.27 per cent to close at HK$11.98 yesterday.
