Financial Review

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 26 August 2021 - Chinese property developer ─ Datang Group Holdings Limited ("Datang" or the "Company"; together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; HKEx stock code: 2117) has announced the unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2021 (the "Period") today.

During the Period, the Group achieved encouraging results with a stable growth in revenue. Revenue increased by 85.2% year on year to RMB 3.307 billion; gross profit amounted to RMB 1.024 billion, representing an increase of 145.9% year on year. The increase in gross profit was mainly attributable to the increased number of projects delivered during the Period, which included several projects with higher gross profit. The projects have increased the gross profit margin to 31.0%, which is a 7.7 percentage points higher than the same period last year. Net profit amounted to RMB 217 million with a year-on-year growth rate of 141.2%. Profit attributable to owners of the Company increased significantly by 234.8% to approximately RMB 244 million. Basic earnings per share were RMB 0.18. The board of directors of the Company has resolved not to declare an interim dividend for the Period (2020: Nil).

In the first half of 2021, the Group followed the geographical layout of "2+1+X", which focused on the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, consolidated the existing layout in the urban agglomerations of the Western Taiwan Strait Economic Zone, and established a relatively stable economies of scale. Meanwhile, the Group seized the opportunity of relocating the headquarters to Shanghai, by expanding quickly in the Yangtze River Delta region, as well as successively entered core cities with economic vitality. The Group has strengthened strategic cooperation with leading companies in the industry, all of which will lay a solid foundation for the Group to become a national comprehensive real estate corporation. During the Period, the Group's contract sales amounted to approximately RMB25.51 billion, and the contracted sales area was approximately 2.491 million sq.m..

The Group prudently adopted land acquisition methods such as public bidding, auction and listing, and by forming joint ventures, the Group obtained a total of 19 high-quality land parcels with a total planned gross floor area ("GFA") of 2.93 million square metres ("sq.m."), the total land reserve maintained a steady growth. As of 30 June 2021, the total GFA of the Group's land reserve was approximately 22.00 million sq.m., among which the GFA of properties under development was approximately 20.99 million sq.m., the GFA of completed but undelivered properties was approximately 0.85 million sq.m., and the rentable GFA for property investment was approximately 0.16 million, providing sufficient support for future development. 

Besides property development business, the Group has businesses in investment and operation of commercial properties and hotel operation, thus diversifying the Group's businesses. For the six months ended 30 June 2021, the Group achieved a rental income of approximately RMB 56.1 million, representing an increase of 157.8% compared to the same period of 2020. The increase was mainly attributable to the improvement of the performance of the commercial operations. Also, the Group achieved revenue from hotel operation of approximately RMB30.1 million, representing an increase of 158.4% compared to the same period of last year. The increase was mainly attributable to the improvement in business performance of hotel.

While the performance has grown steadily in the first half of 2021, the Group's capital structure has also been significantly optimized. As of 30 June 2021, the net gearing ratio was 47.7%, and the cash to short-term debts ratio was 1.2 times, maintaining at a stable level. The Group had sufficient cash of approximately RMB7.98 billion cash and bank balances, reflecting that the Group has sufficient working capital and is in a healthy financial position.

In view of the steady operating and financial performance, the Group obtained long-term credit ratings from various credit rating agencies for the first time. Moody's has assigned the Group a "B2" credit rating with a stable outlook while Standard & Poor has assigned the Group a credit rating of "B" with a stable outlook.

Looking ahead to the second half of 2021, Mr. Wu Di, the chairman of the Group concluded, "the Group expects that the land market will cool down under the implementation of various policies. With the continuous strengthening of financial supervision in the real estate market, the amount of new loan facilities may be limited in the second half of the year, and mortgage interest rates in some cities will rise. The tightening of the overall credit environment may affect the sentiment of the property purchases to a certain extent. The Group will continue to uphold the principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, maintain bottom-line thinking, and balance and predict development and risks. On one hand, we will adhere to the strategy of deploying urban agglomerations and cultivating metropolitan areas. We will remain cautious with a positive attitude, and adhere to diversified land acquisition methods. On the other hand, we will continue to focus on customers, continue to improve the quality of service and customer satisfaction. We will continue to improve the level of financial and cost management in accordance with the requirements of the capital market, while maintaining high transparency and good corporate governance, and continuously improving the operating capabilities of the Group. In addition, the Group will continue to adopt the friendly platform strategy, explore opportunities to provide equity interests to attract strategic investors, platform resources, and other ways, to promote the Company's steady development and strengthen its core competitiveness. Finally, the Group will strive to become a high-quality listed company with sustainable development capabilities through continuous improvement of overall performance, so as to achieve a win-win situation for customers, employees, society, and shareholders.

About Datang Group Holdings Limited

Datang Group Holdings Limited is a property developer in China focused on the development of residential and commercial properties in selected economic regions. Headquartered in Shanghai, the Group has expanded its business into major regions in China, including Haixi Economic Region, Beibu Gulf Economic Zone and Yangtze River Delta Region and neighboring cities, etc. As of 30 June 2021, the Group has 142 major projects in various stages of development in major cities of The People's Republic of China ("PRC") and was ranked 71st among the Top 200 Real Estate Property Developers in PRC in the first half of 2021 in terms of contracted sales by CRIC, a real estate research institute in PRC. The Group's shares were listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 11 December 2020 and were included in the MSCI China Small Cap Index on 27 May 2021.

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