Zhongliang Holdings Group First Eight Months Contracted Sales Increased by 12% to RMB 96.5 billion

HONG KONG, Sept. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Zhongliang Holdings Group Company Limited (“Zhongliang Holdings”, or the “Group”, stock code: 2772) is pleased to announce that first eight months contracted sales increased by 12% to RMB 96.5 billion while contracted ASP increased by 21% to RMB 12,500 per sq.m..

• From January to August 2020, the Group recorded contracted sales (including those from joint ventures and associated companies) of approximately RMB 96.5 billion, representing a YoY increase of 12% and contracted GFA amounted to approximately 7,716,960 sq.m., representing a YoY drop of 7%. Contracted ASP was increased by 21% to RMB 12,500 per sq.m. The Group’s steadily increasing ASP reflected the fruitful impact from the Group’s operating strategy of shifting to the second-tier and strong third-tier cities in recent years.
• First 8 months contracted sales ranked 19th in CRIC’s Top 100 Chinese Real Estate Enterprises by Sales, firmly retaining a position among Top 20
• In August 2020, the Group achieved contracted sales of approximately RMB 16.9 billion, representing a YoY increase of 53%. Contracted GFA increased by 23% to approximately 1,373,310 sq.m with contracted ASP increased by 25% to approximately RMB 12,300 per sq.m.

News Updates

• On August 5 , Huatai Hong Kong initiated coverage of Zhongliang Holdings with a BUY rating and target price of HK$7.9, representing a potential upside of 45%. Huatai Hong Kong stated that Zhongliang Holdings achieved rapid contracted sales CAGR of 53% over 2017 to 2019, which enables it to enjoy high earnings visibility, and they expect Zhongliang will distribute 40% of core earnings in 2020E, leading to an attractive dividend yield of 9.5%. Also, they expect further financing costs optimization to a range of 8.5% and 8.8% in 2020E, providing a positive share-price catalyst. They expect Zhongliang to reap the benefits of years of expanding footprints in the Yangtze River Delta which allow them to project rising earnings and valuation multiples. In addition, the report highlighted that Zhongliang Holdings has a distinctive corporate management structure (Amoeba Ecosystem) and has implemented employee co-investment schemes to motivate sales personnel and on-the-ground execution.
• The Group was initiated by several international and well-known securities analysts after its listing. Since 2020, four international securities houses, namely CGS-CIMB, CITIC CLSA, Jefferies and Huatai Hong Kong have initiated coverage of Zhongliang Holdings.
• On August 16, the opening ceremony of ZHONGLIANG GBA DEVELOPMENT GROUP (GBA) was successfully held. GBA was an upgrade of the Southern Regional Group to further penetration based on existing districts, while take response to major national strategic decisions, and to better service the development in GBA.
• On August 18, Zhongliang Holdings was awarded the 8th place in the ‘2020 Shanghai Top 100 Private Enterprises’, the 31st place in the ‘2020 Shanghai Top 100 Enterprises’, the 7th place in the ‘2020 Shanghai Top 100 Private Service Enterprises’, the 19th place in the ‘2020 Shanghai Top 100 Service Enterprises’, and the 7th place in the ‘Shanghai Top 50 Growth Enterprises. Being on the list of Shanghai Top 100 Enterprises for many years is the affirmation and recognition of the development of Zhongliang Holdings from all walks of life.
• On August 25, Zhongliang Holdings held an online interim results briefings. Amid the severe challenge from the coronavirus pandemic, the Group achieved steady growth for its interim results, and recorded a total revenue of RMB23.76 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 16%; core net profits attributable to owners of the Company amounted to RMB1.31 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 6%; an interim dividend of HK$ 16.3 cents per share was distributed by the Group, with the dividend payout ratio accounting for 40% of core net profit attributable to the owners of the Company. In the first seven months of the year, the contracted sales amounted to approximately RMB79.6 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 6% and achieved near half of the full year sales target. With stable supply of saleable resources and demand, the Group is confident in achieving the full year contracted sales target of RMB168 billion. The Group’s debt structure continued to be optimized, and financing costs continued to decrease with a net gearing ratio of 69.9%, maintaining a healthy level.
• On August 26, Zhongliang Holdings was listed on the “2020 China’s Listed Real Estate Enterprise with Growing Potential” led by China Real Estate Association and rated by Le Ju Finance News. The award was assessed on the basis of comprehensive measurement covering contracted sales, sales growth, land acquisition amount, product innovation, development mode, earnings, and a comprehensive evaluation at gross profit margin, net profit margin, gearing ratio and other indicators.

Land Acquisition

From January to August in 2020, the Group added a total of 83 land parcels, with an aggregate land premium of approximately RMB 53 billion.

About Zhongliang Holdings Group Company Limited

Headquartered in Shanghai, Zhongliang Holdings is a fast-growing real estate developer with RMB100 billion’s worth of annual contracted sales. We are rooted in the Yangtze River Delta with a national coverage. In 2019 and 2020, we were named as TOP 20 Real Estate Developer in China and ranked TOP 1 in terms of development potential by China Real Estate Association and E-house China R&D Institute China Real Estate Appraisal Center.

We focus on developing residential housing and in recent years have expanded our scope of business to commercial property development, operations, and management. We offer three standardised product series, targeting first-time home buyers, second-time home buyers and recurrent home buyers. With approximately 20 years of experience in China’s real estate industry and a regional expansion strategy, we had total attributable land bank of about 63 million sq.m. as at 30 June 2020. We have 504 property projects across five core economic zones in China, namely, the Yangtze River Delta, the Midwest China, the Pan-Bohai Rim, the Western Taiwan Straits and the Pearl River Delta, covering 149 cities of 23 provinces and municipalities.

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