CHINA’S Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd, the developer of US$100 billion (RM430 billion) Forest City in Johor, posted a 131 per cent increase in contracted sales to US$42.5 billion in the first six months.
According to its statement yesterday, Country Garden topped the industry in terms of both contracted sales and contracted sales gross floor area. The latter rose 106 per cent to 32.26 million sq m.
The first-half sales numbers for Country Garden and the country’s two other top players, China Vanke and Evergrande Group, exceeded 200 billion yuan (US$29.4 billion).
Country Garden is currently in the lead, just 11.1 billion yuan short of the 300 billion yuan mark in six months, 11.7 billion yuan higher than Vanke and 44.8 billion yuan ahead of Evergrande.
“Country Garden achieved relatively steady and strong results in the first half, with sales ranking first among all players in China for six consecutive months and average monthly sales reaching more than 40 billion yuan.
“Undoubtedly, the company will be China’s sales champion for the full year,” according to a research report.
Country Garden said several leading banks such as Citi and Deutsche Bank had given it a “buy” rating.
Citi lifted its stock price target to HK$12 (RM6.60). Country Garden shares closed at HK$8.9 on July 7.
Deutsche Bank said Country Garden was expected to continue rolling out new projects while maintaining strong sales performance for the rest of the year.
This is based on its established market positioning not only in China’s fast-growing third- and fourth-tier cities but also in the first and second-tier cities, coupled with the strong sales team, efficient management and high product quality.
Country Garden’s share price has surged 105 per cent since the end of last year and almost seven times the growth experienced by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index.