China developer reports good sales

Source : Business Times - 12 Feb 2009

China Overseas Land meets 2008 sales target, sees brisk take-up in Jan

China Overseas Land, the largest Hong Kong-listed mainland property developer, said it met its target for property sales in 2008, while January sales were boosted by strong demand in central and eastern China.

The property firm said late on Tuesday that it sold HK$26.61 billion (S$5.16 billion) worth of property in 2008, up 19.3 per cent from the previous year.

The total gross floor area sold amounted to 2.71 million square metres, an increase of 25.4 per cent from 2007. The company said the figure met its target of selling 2.7 million square metres for the year, and in spite of concerns about weak sentiment in China’s property market.

Strong sales in the Yangtze River Delta Region and central China boosted its January sales 60 per cent on the year to 1.202 billion yuan (S$264.1 million) with total gross floor area sold surging about 150 per cent to 160,000 square metres. It gave no further details on the rise.

The property developer said it had a land reserve of 25.27 million square metres, sufficient for its development use in the next four to five years.

Last week, China Overseas Land’s chairman Kong Qingping said the China property market had bottomed out and expected the overall property environment to improve in 2009.

Shares of the company rose 1.12 per cent to close at HK$10.86 yesterday.