Zhenro Properties Announces Interim Results 2020

• Focus on
  High-Quality Growth
• Core Profit up 8.3% y-o-y
• Optimized Financial
  Position
• Enhancement
  of Operation Effectiveness and Efficiency

Financial
Highlights:

RMB mn �	For the six months ended 30 June		Changes
	2020	2019
Revenue	14,542	13,648	+6.5%
Profit for the Period	1,275	1,179	+8.1%
Core profit 1	1,243	1,148	+8.3%
	2020.06.30	2019.12.31	Changes
Cash on hand	39,810	35,307	+12.8%
Net debt to total equity ratio	71.4%	75.2%	-3.8pts
Short-term debt to total debt ratio	30.0%	34.2%	-4.2pts
Cash to short-term debt ratio	209%	176%	+33pts
Onshore other borrowings to total borrowing ratio	8.7%	20.4%	-11.7pts
Weighted average cost of borrowing	7.0%	7.5%	-0.5pts

 

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media
OutReach - 24 August 2020
- Zhenro Properties Group Limited (“Zhenro Properties” or “the Group”; stock
code: 6158), a leading PRC property developer, announced its unaudited interim
results for the six months ended 30 June 2020 (the “Period”).

 

Results

During the Period, the Group achieved stable earnings growth. Its revenue increased by 6.5% yoy to RMB14,542 million. Profit for the Period
was RMB1,275 million, representing a yoy increase of 8.1%. The core profit¹
was RMB1,243 million, representing a yoy increase of 8.3%, core profit margin was 8.5%

 

Innovative Targeted Marketing in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the first half of
2020, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Group coped with the situation and
established a “Pofeng Action (????)”
team which was responsible for the smooth resumption of construction projects, punctual
supply of units and minimization of risks associated with units delivery, and attained
project resumption rate of 100% within 45 days of the shutdowns. In addition,
the Group dynamically adjusted its business strategies. It quickly carried out
online-to-offline marketing, including the launch of an online sales app of
“Zhenro Home (????)” to provide a new experience
of virtual reality online tour of residential units. The Group also launched a
series of innovative and targeted online live marketing activities to draw more
attention in the market. These measures have thus led to a continued recovery
in sales since March. In the first half of the year, the Group recorded
aggregated contracted sales of RMB55.993 billion, which was equivalent to about
40% of the annual contracted sales target of RMB140 billion.

Regional Penetration with Equal Emphasis on Quality and
Equity Interests of Investment

The Group pursues the strategy
of “regional penetration” by expanding its business presence in the metropolis
and their surrounding areas. In the first half of 2020, the Group acquired 19
parcels of land with total estimated GFA of 3.02 million sq.m. in 12 cities. Of
the Group’s newly acquired land bank, 52% and 26% are located respectively in
the Yangtze River Delta region and the Western Taiwan Straits region, which are
two core areas where the Group has considerable advantages. In terms of the
tiers of cities, 65% of the Group’s newly acquired land bank is located in
first- and second-tier cities with good economic fundamentals. Besides, the
Group’s overall equity interest in the newly acquired land bank increased to
73% in the first half of the year. As at 30 June 2020, the Group had a land
bank with GFA of 27.4 million sq.m. in 32 cities in the PRC, 76% of the land
bank is located in first- and second-tier cities. The Group’s equity interest
in the land bank as at 30 June 2020 increased to 58% from 55% as at the end of
2019.The average land cost was RMB4,919 per sq.m..

 

Improvement and Upgrade of Products, Enhancement of Operation
Effectiveness and Efficiency

In the first half of 2020, the
Group strived to improvement and upgrade of products, as well as enhancement of
operation effectiveness and efficiency, so as to achieve a sustainable “high-quality
growth”. Having positioned itself as “Home Upgrade Master”, the Group launched the “Zhenro Oasis Community Plan (????????)” for building an ideal and
modern community to live in. The plan is aimed at comprehensively upgrading
the system of common spaces in communities, the system of access to home and the system of
furnishings and appliances for a home by considering such dimensions as “Truth”,
“Arts”, “Nurture” and “Return”. The Group has been recognized by professional
organizations in the industry for its high-quality products. In addition, the
Group strives to improve its operation efficiency throughout the whole
development cycle. By improving the efficiency of the design and accelerating
the standardization of products, the Group increased both the rate of project
standardization and the rate of replication of furnished projects to 100%
during the Period. The average period for a project to confirm its positioning
after land acquisition is 0.9 month and the average initial sale period of a
project is approximately 7 months. The Group has also enhanced its commercial
property operation capability, setting benchmarks in terms of such performance
indicators as occupancy rate, rental collection rate, operating revenue and
quality in the region of its operations.

 

Optimized Financial Structure and Decreased Financing Cost

In the first half of the year,
the Group succeeded in raising funds despite the significant fluctuations in
the global capital markets. Besides, the Group has managed to secure a total of
approximately US$161 million bank loan facilities offshore in July, reflecting
the banks’ confidence in the Group’s prospect. In the domestic market, the
Group also continued to deepen its cooperation with various financial
institutions in traditional financing, while appropriately reducing its
reliance on higher-cost non-traditional financing channels, so as to optimize
its debt structure.

 

Due to its optimized debt
structure, cash collection and cash flow management, the Group’s major financial
ratios and credit ratio were further improved. As of 30 June 2020, the Group’s
net debt-to-total equity ratio was 71.4%, and its cash-to-short term borrowing
ratio was improved to approximately 2.1 times with the proportion of short-term
debts decreasing to 30.0%. The onshore other borrowings to total borrowing
ratios fell significantly to 9%. The Group also recorded a decrease in the cost
of its newly raised financing in both the domestic and offshore capital
markets. As at the end of the Period, the weighted average cost of borrowings
further decreased to 7.0%.

 

The Group has been recognized
by credit rating agencies for its prudent financial management and overall
strength. In the first half of the year, Zhenro Property Holdings Company
Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, was assigned “AAA” corporate
credit rating (which is the highest rating) with a stable outlook by China
Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd. (???????????????) and Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., Ltd. (????????????). Despite the increasingly complicated global
situation, Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s maintained the
credit ratings of B1 (stable), B+ (stable) and B (positive) respectively for
the Company.

 

Looking ahead, Mr. Huang Xianzhi, Chairman
of the Group said, “In the second half of this year, the PRC government is expected to press on with
the policy of ‘stabilizing the prices of land and housing while managing market
expectations’ under the principle that ‘houses are for living in, not for
speculation’. Meanwhile, its city-specific policies on the regulation of the
property market will continue to play an important role in flexibly striking a
balance between the housing prices on one hand and the new type of
urbanization, the absorption of immigrants as talent and the comprehensive
development of urban clusters on the other hand. There is limited room for
relaxation on the financing channels of real estate enterprises in the
foreseeable future but the real estate sector’s role in stabilizing the overall
economy cannot be downplayed, especially in the light of the current downward
pressure on the macro-economy. The reasonable needs of individuals and
enterprises for capital will still be met. As the property sector takes its
development to the next level, the industry players will increasingly enhance their
core competitiveness by giving full play to their own strengths. To capitalize
on the rapid consolidation of the industry and the more segmented market, the
Group will seize opportunities for investment opportunity and improve both the
quality and efficiency of its operation. All these will enable the Group to
achieve ‘high-quality growth’.”

About Zhenro Properties Group Limited

Zhenro Properties Group
Limited is a leading property developer in the PRC with nationwide business
presence in six key economic regions. The Group achieved contracted sales of
RMB130.7 billion in 2019 and was ranked 17th in the Best 200 China Property
Developers by Comprehensive Strength in 2019. Upholding its brand position of
“Home Upgrade Master”, the Group focuses on bringing quality residences to middle
class and affluent home upgraders. Zhenro Properties was listed on the Main
Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018. It is a constituent stock in the
Hang Seng Composite LargeCap/MidCap Index, Hang Seng Large-Mid Cap Value Tilt Index and the MSCI China Index and is included in the list of eligible stocks
for southbound trading of the Shenzhen/ Shanghai – Hong Kong Stock Connect.