China Vanke May property sales rise 20 pct yr/yr

SHANGHAI, June 8 - China Vanke Co, the country's biggest-listed property developer, said on Monday its May property sales rose 19.7 percent from a year earlier to 6.41 billion yuan ($938.2 million).

The volume of space sold during the month, at 697,000 square metres, was up 19.3 percent from a year earlier.

The increase followed a 22 percent year-on-year rise in sales in April. Vanke had said in its first-quarter earnings report that government policies were restoring market confidence after a slump in 2008.

For the first five months, the developer's sales were up 20.9 percent year-on-year at 23.89 billion yuan, while the volume of space sold rose 27.4 percent to 2.82 million square metres.

It also said it had acquired six projects worth 2.3 billion yuan since its April sales report.

Vanke's shares rose 1 percent in early trade to 10.80 yuan, compared with a 0.7 percent drop in the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index. ($1=6.832 Yuan)