China Vanke 2008 sales drop 8.6%

Jan. 6, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China Vanke Co Ltd<000002><200002>, the largest publicly traded residential properties developer in the country, saw its property sales drop around 8.6% to RMB 47.87 billion in 2008 amid an ailing property market.

According to China Vanke's statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the company sold 5.57 million square meters of property last year, down 9.2% year on year.

In December alone, property sales fell 14% from a year earlier to RMB 5.34 billion.

China Vanke's market share grew to 2.6% as of the end of December, compared with 2% at the beginning of last year despite the negative sales figure, said Xiao Li, the executive vice president of China Vanke.

The company will further adapt to the market conditions and boost sales in the future, said Xiao, adding that China Vanke will strive to optimize its product structure and enhance the quality of its products and services. 

A-shares of China Vanke rose 3.88% to close at RMB 6.70 on Monday.