Developer China Evergrande H1 core profit jumps over three-fold

[HONG KONG] China Evergrande Group, the nation's No 3 property developer by sales, said its first-half core profit surged more than three-fold due to a substantial rise in average selling prices, while early redemption of bonds also aided earnings.

Evergrande's core profit, which excludes revaluation gains, came in at 27.30 billion yuan (S$5.58 billion) over the six months ended June, versus 7.8 billion yuan a year ago. Its net profit rose nine-fold to 18.83 billion yuan, while its revenue rose about 115 per cent to 187.98 billion yuan.

However, the developer booked a net loss on the disposal of available-for-sale financial assets of 7.02 billion yuan.

Earlier this year, subsidiaries of Evergrande sold 1.55 billion A-shares in China Vanke at 18.80 yuan a share - lower than the average buying price - to state-owned Shenzhen Metro, ending a years-long struggle for boardroom control at the larger peer Vanke.

REUTERS