Higher sales drive up Agile revenue
Mainland developer aims for 20pc rise in sales this year, despite soaring land and building costs
Agile Property Holdings, a mainland developer listed in Hong Kong, yesterday reported an 18.5 per cent rise in revenue to 35.4 billion yuan (HK$44.6 billion) last year, mainly driven by a 22 per cent increase in property sales.
The Guangdong-based developer is aiming for a 20 per cent rise in contracted property sales this year to 48 billion yuan, senior executives said.
The company's gross profit rose 1.4 per cent to 12.6 billion yuan and net profit grew 13.9 per cent to 5.9 billion yuan last year. However, the gross profit margin fell to 35.6 per cent from 41.6 per cent in 2012 and net profit margin dropped to 16.5 per cent from 17.2 per cent, as the cost of land and construction soared.
Agile bought 10 million square metres of land last year, accounting for almost a quarter of its land bank, and the net debt to total equity ratio hit 72.4 per cent as of the end of 2013, up from 62.3 per cent a year earlier.
We hope to exceed our sales target, but we need to control costs
"We are not in a hurry to buy new land this year," said Chen Zhuolin, chairman and president of the company. "We need to quicken development and sales."