CIFI Group Announces 2019 Annual Results

Quality Refinement, Efficiency Enhancement & Operational Upgrade

 

Core net profit of RMB6.903 billion, up 24.7% yoy

 Core net
profit margin at 12.6%  Profitability
maintains at industry’s top level

 

Proposed final dividend of HK24 cents per share and special
dividend of HK4 cents per share
2019 total dividend of HK38
cents per share, up 27% yoy

Contracted
sales target of RMB230.0 billion in 2020, up approx. 15% yoy

2019 ANNUAL
RESULTS HIGHLIGHTS：

Stable Profitability with Continuous Return

• Core net profit reached
  RMB6.903 billion, up 24.7% year-on-year. Adjusted gross profit margin and core
  net profit margin amounted to 30.0% and 12.6% respectively. Core return on
  average equity was 24.8%.
• Proposed final dividend of
  RMB21.93 cents (or equivalent to HK24 cents) per share and proposed special
  dividend of RMB3.66 cents (or equivalent to HK4 cents) per share to mark the 20^th
  anniversary of the Group and to reward our shareholders’ for their continuous
  support.
• Achieved sustainable earnings growth for 7
  consecutive years since IPO, with accumulated dividends of HKD 1.44 per share.

Quality Sales with High
Cash Collection

• In 2019, contracted sales and contracted gross
  floor area reached RMB200.6 billion and 12.036 million sq.m. respectively,
  representing strong year-on-year growth of 32.0% and 25.8%. Average selling
  price was approximately RMB16,700/sq.m. The Group completed 106% of its full-year
  2019 contracted sales target of RMB190 billion.
• Cash collection ratio achieved
  over 90%, maintaining its leading position in the industry and reflecting its
  high quality sales and strong executive power.

Abundant Saleable Resources
with Continuous Growth

• Reasonable scale of land
  bank with a total gross floor area of approximately 65.4 million sq.m., and a
  total saleable resource of over RMB980 billion, with 87% located in first-,
  second- and quasi-second-tier cities.
• With abundant saleable
  resources, national coverage will resume rapidly. Saleable resources
  exceed RMB380 billion in 2020, while the full-year 2020 contracted sales target
  is RMB230 billion.

Strong Financial Position with
Abundant Cash

• High risk resistance, abundant cash on
  hand amounted to RMB57.64 billion (2018: RMB44.62 billion).
• Prudent financial management,
  net-debt-to-equity ratio was 68.5% and weighted average cost of indebtedness
  was 6.0%, which were similar to those of last year (as at the end of 2018:
  67.2% and 5.8%).

HONG KONG,
CHINA – Media OutReach – 27 March 2020 – CIFI
Holdings (Group) Co. Ltd (“CIFI” or the “Group”, HKEx stock code: 884), a
leading real estate developer engaged in property development and investment
business mainly in the first-, second- and quasi-second-tier cities in China,
is pleased to announce its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019.

	For the year ended 31 December		Year-on-year growth
	2019	2018
Contracted sales
Contracted sales (RMB’ billion)	200.6	152.0	+32.0%
Contracted GFA (sq.m.)	12,035,500	9,569,400	+25.8%
Contracted ASP (RMB/sq.m.)	16,700	15,900	+5.0%
Selcted financial information (RMB’million)
Recognized revenue	54,766	42,368	29.3%
Profit for the year attributable to equity owners	6,437	5,409	19.0%
Core net profit attributable to equity owners	6,903	5,536	24.7%
Selected financial ratios
Gross profit margin (adjusted)	30.0%	34.7%
Core net profit margin	12.6%	13.1%
Earnings per share (basic), RMB cents	82	70
Core earnings per share (basic), RMB cents	89	72
	As at 31 Dec 2019	As at 31 Dec 2018
Selected balance sheet data (RMB’million)
Total assets	322,700	241,061
Bank balances and cash	57,642	44,618
Total indebtedness	103,699	77,865
Total equity	67,216	49,446
Net debt-to-equity ratio	68.5%	67.2%
Weighted average cost of indebtedness	6.0%	5.8%
Land bank (GFA, million sq.m.)
Land bank at the end of year
–          Total	50.7	41.2
–          Attributable	26.5	20.7

 

The Group has proactively secured land bank in
the past two years, covering 71 cities in different geographical regions to diversify
the land bank with increasing attributable interest. Total
gross floor area of newly acquired land amounted to 15.2 million sq.m. with an
attributable interest of 65% and an average land cost of RMB5,425/sq.m. The Group focuses on first- and second-tier cities
to expand land bank, with 87% of its land bank located in those cities.

 

Since
the outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020, the sales and construction of the
property market temporarily halted. With the epidemic being gradually under
control, most of the sales offices have reopened, construction rapidly resumed
in operation, and the business operation of developers has recovered steadily. Looking ahead in 2020, the real estate policy tone in
China in 2020 will still be “houses are built to be inhabited, not for
speculation”, and it is unlikely that the austerity policies such as purchase
restriction will be relaxed substantially in the near future. “One city, one
policy” will continue to be the main principle of local policy control.
However, due to the influence brought by the epidemic, local governments will implement
measures of “differentiated policies for different cities” that are conducive
to the stable development of the property market.

 

Mr. Lin Zhong, Chairman and Executive Director
of the Group said,”As a
large-scale national real estate developer, CIFI adheres to the efficient and
high asset turnover operating strategies. We stress on shortening development cycles, high cash turnover,
conservative debt positions as well as balanced profitability to maintain a
leading position in the market and continue to generate considerable returns to
our shareholders. On the other hand, supply of saleable resources of the Group
is sufficient throughout 2020. We are confident that our massive and well
diversified saleable resources acquired at reasonable land costs will be
defensive in the current uncertain real estate environment and will create
enormous value when the market recovers after the epidemic. We are confident
that we can continue to provide our customers with high-quality products and
services and achieve the contracted sales target of RMB230.0 billion for the
full-year of 2020.”

About CIFI (Group):

Headquartered
in Shanghai, CIFI is one of China’s top real estate developers. CIFI principally
focuses on developing high-quality properties in first-, second-, and quasi-second-tier
cities in China. CIFI develops various types of properties, including
residential, office and commericial complexes.

 

To
learn more about the Company, please visit CIFI’s website at: http://www.cifi.com.cn