PROPERTY developer Yanlord Land Group posted earnings of 1.4 billion yuan (S$279.6 million) for the first half ended June, up 67.2 per cent from 823.4 million yuan in the year-ago period.

The increase came on the back of a 8.9 percentage point increase in gross profit margin to 35.6 per cent in the 6-month period, from 26.7 per cent in the previous year.

Gross profit rose 14.6 per cent to 4 billion yuan, despite a decline in revenue.

Group revenue fell 14 per cent to 11.3 billion yuan, mainly due to a decrease in gross floor area (GFA) delivered to customers in the first half.

The decline was partially mitigated by an increase in the average selling price per square metre, mainly due to a change in product-mix composition that included higher-priced projects.

In a bourse filing on Thursday (Aug 11), Yanlord Land said some of these projects included Yanlord Four Seasons New Gardens in Shenzhen, phase 1 of Riverbay Century Gardens in Nanjing and Smriti Curtilage in Suzhou.

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The projects accounted for 43.1 per cent, 15.5 per cent and 13.2 per cent respectively of the group's gross revenue from sales of properties in the first half.

The Mainboard-listed real estate developer said its cash and cash equivalents stood at 21.3 billion yuan as at end June, with a net gearing ratio of 61.9 per cent.

“The first half of 2022 was a very challenging period for the Chinese economy in general on the backdrop of the implementation of ‘static management’ policy to contain the new outbreaks of Covid-19 variants in China and the increasing numbers of debt defaults of Chinese developers,” said Yanlord Land chairman and chief executive officer Zhong Sheng Jian.

“To better mitigate potential volatilities, the group will strive to maintain a healthy cash position with prudent financial policies to support its sustainable growth and development,” he added.

Shares of Yanlord Land closed flat at S$1.04 on Thursday, before the results announcement.