FOSHAN, China, May 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Country Garden Holdings (02007.HK), a leading Chinese property development company, was honored with the title as one of the Top 100 Hong Kong-listed Companies and garnered the Real Estate Industry Excellence award at the Financial Technology Development Forum for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the seventh Top 100HK award ceremony held in Shenzhen on May 24, 2019.
The award ceremony for the Top 100 Hong Kong-listed Companies list, a well-established and authoritative ranking, has become a major annual event in the Hong Kong capital market since its launch in 2012. With the support of local universities, the annual ranking aims to recognize outstanding companies listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as the result of a selection process by an expert judge committee of professionals in finance, accounting and law from both mainland China and Hong Kong. The award helps to promote the healthy development and prosperity of the local capital market by establishing a trusted criterion for investors.
Notably, with HK$181.787 billion (approx. US$23.1 billion) in total assets and HKS$258.235 billion (approx. US$32.8 billion) in turnover, Country Garden was ranked 37th on the Top 100 Hong Kong-listed Companies list this year, the seventh consecutive year that the Chinese property developer has made the grade, a testament to investors' recognition of the large real estate developer and their confidence in the company's growth prospects.
In 2018, Country Garden delivered strong performance in terms of revenue and profitability. During the reporting period, the developer posted revenue of 379.08 billion yuan (approx. US$54.9 billion), representing a year on year rise of 67.1 percent. Gross profit stood at 102.48 billion yuan (approx. US$14.8 billion), up 74.3 percent, while net profit clocked in at 48.54 billion yuan (approx. US$7.0 billion), up 68.8 percent. In addition, profit attributable to its shareholders jumped 32.8 percent to some 34.62 billion yuan (approx. US$5.0 billion).
Country Garden attributed the steady growth to its precision development strategy, a brainchild of the company's management. Since the second half of last year, the developer has been focusing on the enhancement of the quality of operations while steadying the pace of expansion as part of its long-term strategy to maintain operational consistency. Country Garden founder Yang Guoqiang said in an open letter that the key to the company's success lies in providing high quality and valuable products at affordable costs through planning investment and outcomes in a scientific manner while ensuring and enhancing the quality of operations.
Country Garden has also put steadiness first when it comes to financial management. In 2018, the company's combined sales brought in a cash influx of some 541.29 billion yuan (approx. US$78.4 billion), making it the third consecutive year that the company has recorded positive net operating cash flow. Contract sales grew 31.25 percent year on year, while the net loan ratio dropped 7.3 percentage points to 49.6 percent.
The company has been recognized and supported by rating firms and major financial institutions for its ample working capital with cash reserves of 242.54 billion yuan (approx. US$35.1 billion) and a back-up 301.7 billion yuan (approx. US$43.7 billion) in unused bank facilities as of December 31, 2018. Thanks to its focus on the enhancement of quality of operations while steadying the pace of expansion as part of its long-term strategy, the developer is expected to continue the high quality of its growth path.
