Country Garden's H1 performance exceeds market expectations, with underlying net profit up 35%

          Country Garden Holdings Company Limited (stock code: 2007.HK) on August 22 disclosed its financial results for the first half of 2017. For the first half, Country Garden recorded contracted sales of RMB288.91 billion, an increase of 131% year on year. Contracted gross floor area increased 106.3%, to 32.26 million square meters. Both indicators are historical highs. During the reporting period, Country Garden achieved revenue of RMB77.74 billion, up 35.5% year on year. Gross profit was RMB17.1 billion, up 42.1%. Underlying net profit attributable to shareholders climbed to RMB7.19 billion, an increase of 34.9% year on year.

          Based on the strong performance, the company declared an interim dividend of RMB15.02 cents, significantly up 117.1% from a year earlier. At the end of the first half, Country Garden had a cash balance of RMB120.13 billion, increasing 143% from a year earlier, while operating cash flow remained positive at approximately RMB16.42 billion yuan. As at the end of the reporting period, net gearing ratio decreased 10.9 percentage points, to 37.8%. The weighted average borrowing cost fell by 34 basis points from the end of 2016, to 5.32%.