Kaisa Group (1638.HK) Announces 2019 Annual Results

Further
Consolidated Business Presence in Greater Bay Area Successfully Entered Hong
Kong Market

Total
Revenue and Profit Attributable to Owners of the Company Notably Increased

Financing
and Capital Market Management Achieved Significant Results

2019
Annual Results Highlight:

• Total
  revenue for the year increased by 24.1% to approximately RMB48,021.7 million
  from 2018
• Gross profit
  for the year increased by 24.3% to approximately RMB13,830.1 million and gross
  profit margin for the year remained unchanged at 28.8%
• Profit for
  the year increased by 26.4% to approximately RMB4,164.0 million
• Profit for
  the year attributable to owners of the Company increased by 67.1% to approximately
  RMB4,594.3 million
• Contracted
  sales increased by 25.8% to approximately RMB88,120 million
• Cash and
  bank deposits increased by 61.3% to approximately RMB36,978.0 million as at 31
  December 2019
• The Board recommended
  payment of a final dividend of HK10 cents per share
• Obtained
  approvals from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to issue more than RMB11 billion
  worth of asset-backed securities (“ABS”)
• Granted
  “B1”, “B” and “B” issuer rating with a “Stable” outlook by Moody’s Investor
  Services, Standard and Poor’s Rating Services and Fitch Ratings, respectively
• The
  transaction of the Group’s US$400 million senior notes due 2022 issued in
  October 2019 under Securities Act Rule 144A was awarded “Best High-Yield Bond
  in 2019” by The Asset, an internationally renowned magazine
• Won
  the bid for a parcel of land for residential use in Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun,
  Hong Kong at the beginning of this year, making the Group’s first venture into
  Hong Kong’s residential market

HONG
KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach – 31 March 2020 – Kaisa Group Holdings
Ltd. (“Kaisa” or the “Company”, SEHK stock code: 1638, together with its
subsidiaries, the “Group”), a property developer established in Shenzhen with a
countrywide foothold in China, is pleased to announce its annual results for year (The Year) ended 31 December 2019.

 

Mr KWOK Ying Shing (middle), Chairman; Mr LL TAM, Senior Advisor (right); and Mr Edward LAU (left), Chief Financial Officer, attending the webcast briefing of Kaisa Group’s Annual Results 2019.

As of 31 December 2019, the Group’s turnover rose by
approximately 24.1% year on year to approximately RMB48,021.7 million and gross
profit increased by 24.3% to approximately RMB 13,830.1 million whereas the gross profit margin
for the year remained unchanged at 28.8%. Profit for the year attributable to
equity holders of the Company was approximately RMB4,594.3 million and basic
earnings per share was RMB 75.6 cents, representing an increase of 67.1%
and 66.9%, respectively. The Board recommended payment of a final
dividend of 10 HK cents per share.

 

During the Year, contracted sales attributable to the Group
was approximately RMB88.120 billion, representing an increase of 25.8% year on
year, which met the annual sales target and hit the record high. Aggregated GFA
sold for the year was 4,642,075 sq.m., representing an increase of 21.0% from
2018. The average selling price increased by 4.0% year-on-year to RMB 18,983.

 

Benefiting from the central government’s policies in
respect of the Guangdong-Hong Kong- Macao Greater Bay Area (the “Greater Bay
Area”) and the pilot demonstration area of Shenzhen, the Greater Bay Area
market remained as the major contributor to the Group’s sales during the Year,
accounting for more than 60% of contracted sales. As a leading enterprise in
the urban renewal market in the Greater Bay Area, Kaisa capitalised on its
premium resources in urban renewal and supplied the Group with quality urban
renewal projects, which has laid a solid foundation for the growth of its sales
volume. During the Year, Kaisa’s urban renewal projects such as Shenzhen
Yantian City Plaza, Shenzhen Pinghu Kaisa Plaza, Shenzhen Kaisa Future City, Shenzhen
Kaisa Dongmen New World and Shenzhen Bantian Kaisa City Plaza achieved
satisfactory sales performance.

As of 31 December 2019, the Group had 176 real estate
projects in 48 cities nationwide. The Group’s land bank totaled 26.8 million
sq.m., of which 13.6 million sq.m are in the Greater Bay Area, accounting for
51% of the Group’s overall land bank. The Group’s land bank in Shenzhen and
Guangzhou, which are the core markets that the Group has intensively developed
over the years, accounted for 35% of its land bank in the Greater Bay Area.

 

It is worth noting that the Group won the bid for a parcel
of land for residential use in Castle Peak Bay, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong at the
beginning of this year, making the Group’s first venture into Hong Kong’s
residential market. The land, adjacent to Hong Kong Gold Coast and Harrow
International School Hong Kong with bright development prospect of
infrastructure, is the first land sale launched by the HKSAR Government in
2020. The project occupied a site area of approximately 146,000 sq.ft., with a
maximum permissible gross floor area of approximately 583,000 sq.ft.,
Currently, it takes a 20-minute drive from the project site to Shenzhen Bay, and
a 30-minute drive to Central. After the opening of the Tuen Mun- Chek Lap Kok
Link, driving from the project site to Hong Kong Airport and Hong Kong-
Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will only take 15 minutes. Upgrading of transportation
infrastructure in the region will enhance the interactions and synergies
between the Group’s businesses in different cities, further fortifying the
Group’s foothold in the Greater Bay Area.

 

With regards to urban renewal, Kaisa achieved great
progress in converting urban renewal projects into land supply during the Year,
including 6 projects in Shenzhen, 1 project in Shanghai and 1 project in
Huizhou into the Group’s land bank. Urban renewal has become an important means
of the Group to secure quality land resources in the first-tier and major
second-tier cities. In appreciation of Kaisa’s efforts and contributions in the
urban renewal sector over the years, the Group was granted “1st of TOP 10
Leading Brands of Chinese Comprehensive Real Estate Companies — Urban Renewal”
by the Development Research Center of the State Council, Real Estate Research
Institute of Tsinghua University and China Index Academy. The award is also a
recognition to Kaisa’s active participation in China’s urbanisation through
urban renewal business as well as its efforts in promoting urban industrial
upgrading and enhancing the urban value.

 

The Group continued to replenish its land bank through
diversified channels. During the Year, the Group acquired a total of 30 parcels
of land, with approximately 4,117,680 sq.m. of attributable gross floor area to
the Group, for an aggregate consideration of approximately RMB27,214 million. In
terms of the attributable gross floor area of such newly acquired lands, those
in the Greater Bay Area, Central China and Yangtze River Delta accounted for
53%, 22% and 13% of the total newly acquired land bank of the Group,
respectively. Of the newly acquired lands, those in first-tier cities accounted
for 41% in terms of attributable consideration.

 

In view of the initially loosened but subsequently
tightened financing environment in 2019, the Group on one hand accelerated the
collection of sales proceeds from property sales, and on the other hand,
remained committed to its goal of lowering leverage that set at the beginning of
the year.

 

In terms of onshore financing, the Group continued to
expand the cooperation with regionally renowned joint-stock banks while
deepening the cooperation with the existing banking partners. It also continued
to explore new financing channels to improve debt structure, lower financing cost
and reinforce its cashflow management. During the Year, the Group obtained
approvals from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to issue more than RMB11 billion
worth of asset-backed securities (“ABS”) and successfully issued ABS backed by
income of shipping business, ABS secured by mortgage balloon payments and ABS
linked to supply chain financing in an aggregate amount of RMB2.6 billion. The
coupon rate of the aforesaid products ranged from 5.4% to 7.5% with a maturity
of 1 to 4 years.

Regarding offshore financing, the Group was granted “B1”,
“B” and “B” issuer rating with a “Stable” outlook by Moody’s Investor Services,
Standard and Poor’s Rating Services and Fitch Ratings, respectively. With its
international credit ratings, the Group took advantage of the market conditions
by swapping short-term bonds for long-term bonds in order to reduce its
exposure to risks associated with short-term debts, rendering support to the rapid
development of the Group. In particular, the transaction of the Group’s US$400
million senior notes due 2022 issued in October 2019 under Securities Act Rule
144A was awarded “Best High-Yield Bond in 2019” by The Asset, an
internationally renowned magazine. This issuance is not only the Group’s first
issuance of senior notes under Rule 144A since 2014, but also the first
issuance of senior notes by a Chinese real estate enterprise under Rule 144A
since 2015. The overwhelming response of this issuance also reflected the
market’s strong confidence in Kaisa.

 

In February 2020, leveraging on the Group’s prudential
financial management and determination in reducing its financing cost, the
Company successfully issued US$400 million 6.75% senior notes due 2021 to
strengthen its capability to withstand adversity. Other than this, the Group has
also established good business relations with offshore commercial banks. The
Group successfully obtained financial support for its newly acquired project in
Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, which further strengthened the foundation for its offshore
funding channels. During the Year, the Group repurchased short-term senior
notes in an aggregate amount of US$736 million through tender offer and buy
back, in order to manage its debts in a proactive manner.

 

Looking ahead, Mr. Kwok Ying Shing,
Chairman and Executive Director of Kaisa Group, said, “While the impacts
brought by the coronavirus epidemic and volatile US-China trade relations could
undermine the steady growth of China’s economy, it is believed that the Chinese
government will overcome the challenges facing society through a series of systematic
reform as well as financial and monetary policies in the long run, and
ultimately, will stabilise employment, finance, foreign trade, foreign capital,
investment and expectations. At the same time, local governments will optimise
their regulatory policies on certain districts, in order to stabilise the local
economy and boost market confidence.

 

The outbreak of novel coronavirus is
expected to exert pressure on the growth of the real estate market in the short
run, the Group has made proactive preparations for adversity in light of the
current conditions. Pursuant to the government policy, the Group has adjusted
its project launch strategy, shifting away from centralized sales launch model. At the same time,
the Group organized multiple forms of online marketing,
including live streaming, proprietary sales platform wechat mini program,
mobile app, and major third-party platforms to facilitate its consumers’ online
purchasing.”

 

“In view of the current market
conditions, the Group will capture opportunities in land replenishment by
prudently participating in bidding, auction and listing as well as acquisition
and merger, in order to maintain solid cash flow. In the meantime, the Group will
continue to strengthen its capital and budget management, optimise cost and
expense management, and explore low-cost and diversified financing channels.”

About Kaisa Group

Established in 1999, Kaisa
is a large-scale integrated property developer. As a pioneer in the property market of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the “Greater Bay Area”), Kaisa has
anticipated China’s national development strategy and proactively undertaken
comprehensive property development, urban redevelopment, operation of
commercial properties, hotel management and property management. Its products
comprise of residential properties, villas, offices, serviced apartments,
integrated commercial buildings and mega urban complexes.

Having established its home
base in Shenzhen, Kaisa has been expanding its presence in the Greater Bay Area
over the years. With footholds in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Huizhou,
Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan, the Group’s businesses also cover the
economically vibrant cities in such regions as the Yangtze River Delta, western
and central parts of China and the pan-Bohai Rim. As at 31 December 2019, the
Group’s land reserves in the Greater Bay Area accounted for 51% of its nearly 26.8
million sq. m. land bank. By virtue of its rich experience in urban
redevelopment, the Group has secured many high-quality urban redevelopment
projects in the Greater Bay Area, mainly in such cities as Shenzhen, Guangzhou,
and Zhongshan, which will lay a solid foundation for the Group’s future
development.