China’s largest real estate developer for six straight years, Country Garden faced a sharp hit in the first half of 2023, reporting losses amounting to 48,932 million yuan. The announcement underscored growing challenges for the sector as liquidity pressures and a cautious investment climate weighed on performance in a market that remains sensitive to policy shifts and capital access.
Earlier in the month, the company had warned that losses could rise to about 55 billion yuan in the first six months, signaling a deterioration in earnings that contrasted with a year ago when similar comparisons showed a different trajectory. In the interim results, the group disclosed a net loss of 612 million yuan, reflecting continuing headwinds against a backdrop of slowed demand and ongoing pricing pressures in the property market.
In the earnings statement released on Wednesday, Country Garden, listed in Hong Kong, attributed the loss to a prolonged downturn in the real estate sector and a lack of renewed confidence in capital markets. Executives noted that tightened financing conditions and cautious investor sentiment had created additional hurdles for business activities, even as the company pursued strategies to conserve cash, restructure debt, and stabilize operations in a challenging macro environment. This pattern aligns with broader sector concerns in China, where developers face tighter credit conditions, higher funding costs, and policy uncertainty that affect project execution and sales velocity. [Attribution: Country Garden interim report, market disclosures, and subsequent analyses]