Shanghai Forte earnings fall on impairment losses

HONG KONG: Shanghai Forte Land yesterday said its 2008 full year earnings fell 85.7 percent over previous year to 101 million yuan due to impairment losses of certain projects, but forecast strong sales for this year.

Shanghai Forte President Fan Wei said strong sales in January and February indicate a good year for the company. He said it has set a sales target of 625,000 sq m of pre-completion gross floor area (GFA) this year with an estimated value of 5.5 billion yuan.

Fan shrugged off the skepticism, and said: "Sales response in January and February was positive. Plus, the saleable areas for this year are larger than last year's. I don't think the sales target is over-optimistic."