HONG KONG (Reuters) -Shares of China Vanke fell on Wednesday after the state-backed property developer posted steeper losses in the first quarter and approved a plan to sell A-shares representing 0.61% of its total share capital.
Vanke’s Hong Kong-listed shares dropped as much as 2.9% in early trading, while shares listed in Shenzhen eased 2.6%.
Vanke, one of China’s leading property developers, launched a senior management reshuffle in January that increased state oversight and intervention to contain any non-repayment risks amid a prolonged market slump.
The company’s net loss in January-March came in at 6.2 billion yuan ($852.26 million), compared with a loss of 362 million yuan a year ago, according to filings late on Tuesday. Its core loss, which excludes fair value changes, deteriorated to 6 billion yuan from 1.7 billion yuan.
Vanke attributed its quarterly net loss — which came on the heels of a record full-year loss of 49.5 billion yuan in 2024 — to a decline in property delivery volumes and a narrowing gross margin.
During the reported period, Vanke secured 13.9 billion yuan in new financing and refinancing, with its average financing cost falling by 21 basis points year-on-year to 3.39%.
In a separate filing, Vanke said its major shareholder, state-owned Shenzhen Metro, will extend a 3.3 billion yuan loan to the company to repay public bonds.
The new shareholder loan follows a 2.8 billion yuan lending in February, showing another sign of intensified efforts by the government to stabilise the property developer.
Vanke said it will switch its auditor to Deloitte from KPMG, ending a relationship of more than 20 years with the latter firm.
($1 = 7.2748 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
