Amid the real estate market adjustment, CHINA JINMAO has emerged with an independent trajectory.

In the first half of 2025, the company achieved dual growth in revenue and profit, realizing contracted sales of RMB 53.4 billion and successfully entering the industry's TOP10. The company maintained a 20% sales growth rate, ranking first among TOP10 developers in terms of growth.

On August 26, CHINA JINMAO released its 2025 interim results report. In the first half of the year, the company achieved operating revenue of RMB 25.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.34%; and realized net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 1.09 billion (RMB 1.123 billion after excluding fair value gains/losses on investment properties), a year-on-year increase of 7.93%.

Currently, CHINA JINMAO is experiencing comprehensive competitiveness enhancement. Under the influence of brand competitiveness and its strategy of focusing on core cities, the company's growth cycle has already begun.

CHINA JINMAO Enters Harvest Period

According to Wind data, among the 104 mainland property companies that have disclosed half-year performance data, only 20 companies maintained growth in both revenue and net profit, with only 3 large-scale developers having revenue exceeding RMB 10 billion. As the industry faces adjustment, CHINA JINMAO has taken the lead in emerging with an independent trajectory.

From the sales perspective, the real estate industry as a whole remained in an adjustment phase in the first half of the year, with new commercial housing sales falling 5.5% year-on-year, and TOP10 developers' scale declining by approximately 14%. CHINA JINMAO bucked the trend with 20% growth, successfully entering the industry's TOP10, with the highest growth rate among TOP10 developers.

Notably, CHINA JINMAO's overall gross profit margin reached 16.2% in the first half, an improvement of 1.6 percentage points compared to 2024. Although still some distance from historical highs, the trend of improving profitability has begun to emerge.

On one hand, with the continued destocking of existing projects, CHINA JINMAO's gross profit pressure will gradually ease; on the other hand, the company's operational efficiency has significantly improved, combined with stringent cost control, making the continuous improvement of net profit margin just a matter of time.

According to management disclosure, the company established a cost control task force. After two years of organizational restructuring, management units decreased from 43 to 20. Management expenses fell 15.9% year-on-year in 2024, and were further reduced by 5% in 2025 compared to the previous year. Sales expenses declined 15% year-on-year in the first half, and financial costs were also decreasing.

CHINA JINMAO already had advantages in financing. In recent years, it has continuously optimized its debt structure, reducing short-term and overseas debt while increasing the proportion of long-term and domestic debt. The financing cost for new funding in the first half has dropped to 2.7%. The decline in financing costs has also helped boost net profit margins to some extent.

Why Can CHINA JINMAO Navigate Through Cycles?

The direct reason why CHINA JINMAO can navigate through cycles is the company's focus on core regions in its investments.

Since 2022, CHINA JINMAO has returned to focusing on first and second-tier cities in land acquisition, clearly defining core cities and prime locations as its main investment theme. After the real estate market entered a deep adjustment cycle, regional differentiation intensified. First and second-tier cities, with their economic resilience, continuous population inflow, and more comprehensive policy toolkits, have become regions with stronger counter-cyclical attributes.

In 2024, CHINA JINMAO mainly concentrated on replenishing inventory in first and second-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin. In the first half of this year, it acquired 16 projects, all located in core cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chengdu.

CHINA JINMAO's selective investment strategy is yielding rich returns. Management disclosed that land parcels acquired from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025 have significant advantages in profit margins. Compared to feasibility study indicators at the investment stage, the first half saw a sales volume realization rate of 132% and sales prices reaching 104%, with new projects achieving an average gross profit margin close to 20%. It is evident that CHINA JINMAO's overall operations and profitability are achieving structural improvements.

Management revealed that the second half target is to shorten the operating cash flow positive cycle to 10 months, achieving faster capital reinvestment and reproduction, realizing self-generated cash flow, and thereby continuing to improve profitability.

With quality projects coming to market, the company is gradually entering a positive cycle of high turnover rates and high premiums - shortened cash flow positive cycles - newly acquired quality projects - improved profitability.

The core reason CHINA JINMAO can complete the above layout and transformation lies in its brand competitiveness and premium product genes.

In the real estate industry, Jinmao Mansion has always been synonymous with high-end technology residences and premium communities. This product line, refined over more than a decade, has evolved from Jinmao Mansion 1.0 to Jinmao Mansion 3.0, establishing a solid brand image in consumers' minds. In 2024, the company upgraded its entire residential product line, launching the "Golden Jade Full Hall" product line. New projects acquired since 2024 achieved an average opening sales rate of 81%, with many projects creating phenomenal hot-selling events in their respective cities.

To some extent, premium product lines complement core cities and core regions. Premium product reserves and brand power enable CHINA JINMAO to implement its development strategy focused on core cities, while focusing on core cities allows the company to optimize its asset structure, improve profitability, and further concentrate on product quality and enhance corporate brand image.

Market Differentiation Intensifies, Leading Developers Welcome Opportunities

The real estate industry is experiencing profound structural reshaping, with continuous intensification of differentiation between cities and developers, making concentration improvement an inevitable trend.

According to public data, TOP10 developers' sales accounted for 48.7% in the first half of 2025, an increase of 0.5 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024; TOP20 and TOP50 developers' sales shares were 64.8% and 85.5% respectively, increasing by 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

From a city dimension, core city land markets remain hot, while third and fourth-tier cities face difficult destocking. From a corporate dimension, leading developers hold advantages in both land acquisition and sales.

More importantly, differentiation between city projects and developers continues to intensify. Even in the same city and location, different products show significant performance differences, placing high demands on developers' operational capabilities. Meanwhile, consumers' pursuit of delivery security and quality further drives resource concentration toward quality projects in high-tier cities, accelerating industry consolidation.

In this process, leading developers with competitive advantages are emerging as beneficiaries of this round of consolidation.

From CHINA JINMAO's perspective, as of the end of June 2025, the company's total land bank was 27 million square meters, sufficient to support development for approximately the next two years. From the land bank structure, first and second-tier cities account for 88%, providing adequate support for short-term performance.

Comprehensively measuring from aspects including turnover speed, cash flow positive cycles, gross profit margins of newly added land parcels, and cost control, CHINA JINMAO is experiencing enhanced competitiveness.

In fact, 2025 is a key turning point for CHINA JINMAO's transformation from "surviving" to "thriving." Management mentioned at the earnings briefing that the company will use the next two to three years to fundamentally improve report quality, with the company's overall performance expected to maintain steady growth. Citibank also believes in its report that CHINA JINMAO will enter a growth cycle from 2025 to 2027.