Mainland developer Agile Property Holdings said it sold 570,000 sq m of property through May of this year - a 10 percent year-on-year growth.

Agile Chairman Chen Zhuolin attributed the growth primarily to a rise in land sales between January and the May Golden Week, during which the sales turnover hit 33 percent of the full-year target.

The company's sales-revenue target this year is 15 billion yuan.

"We are satisfied with the progress so far," Chen said. "Given that most of our projects will be rolled out in the second half, we believe the company can accomplish its goal."

Commenting on the property market, Chen pointed out that the market suffered a downturn earlier this year from the impact of the austerity measures by the central government.

But he noted that the market bottomed out in April in his predicting that the market fundamentals remain strong in light of the rising demand.

As for the central government stipulating that developers must complete every project within four years, Chen said that the new mandate does not clash with the company's plans for the future.

Furthermore, Chen hopes the company can lower its gearing ratio from 60.5 percent to 50 percent via increasing sales, and also put less resources into land bidding.

But the company's vice president, Alex Liu, said it has no intention of leveraging the market in the short run, saying the company's 4 billion yuan in available cash is sufficient.

Separately, Shui On Land Chairman and CEO Vincent Lo believes the profits margin will drop slightly as a result of the release of new lower-profit projects.

"The projects are located in Chongqing and Wuhan, of which the profits margin is lower than those in Shanghai," he said, adding that he believes their profitability will soon return to a normal level.

Concerning the company's earlier sale of its 25 percent stake in Shanghai Rainbow City to Winnington Capital, Lo said that the two parties are in talks regarding another deal.

"The two parties might reach an agreement in the short run," Lo said.

(HK Edition 06/06/2008 page2)