Cifi sets ambitious target for growth
With the goal of joining the ranks of country's property giants, mid-sized developer plots strategy for fast growth without adding debt
Cifi chairman Lin Zhong believes there is only one way his company can go up against the giants of the mainland property industry: get big, and soon.
The Shanghai-based developer unveiled an aggressive expansion plan that targets a fourfold increase in contracted sales to 60 billion yuan (HK$77 billion) within four years. That compares with last year's contracted sales of 15.3 billion yuan.
"Once we reach that scale, we will have the similar competitive advantages that big players have," Lin told the .
To achieve such a target, he said the company had adopted a strategy for high turnover growth and fast expansion without raising the company's debt level.
"From the day we acquire the site, to the day we pre-sell it, it takes just seven months on average. In some cities, the time we need is just four months," he said.
"We have to maintain an annual growth rate of 50 to 60 per cent in property sales, compared with 20 to 30 per cent by bigger players. That is the way we can eventually surpass them," said Lin, who has set a sales target of 22 billion yuan for this year.
There are seven mainland developers that exceeded sales of 100 billion last year. Of them, China Vanke topped the rankings, with revenue of 170.9 billion yuan.
