BEIJING, Feb. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan" or the "Company") (NYSE: XIN), an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager operating primarily in China and also in other countries, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2017.

Fourth Quarter 2017 Highlights

• Contract sales increased 72.4% to US$802.4 million from US$465.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and increased 32.7% from US$604.5 million in the third quarter of 2017.
• Total revenue increased 44.3% to US$729.0 million from US$505.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and increased 51.1% from US$482.4 million in the third quarter of 2017.
• Gross profit increased 40.3% to US$177.9 million, or 24.4% of total revenue, from US$126.8 million, or 25.1% of total revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2016 and increased 63.5% from US$108.8 million, or 22.6% of total revenue, in the third quarter of 2017.
• Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") expenses as a percentage of total revenue increased to 10.6% from 10.4% in the fourth quarter of 2016 and is the same with 10.6% in the third quarter of 2017.
• Net income increased 110.2% to US$35.1 million compared from US$16.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2016, and increased 112.7% from US$16.5 million in the third quarter of 2017.
• Diluted net earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") attributable to shareholders were US$0.47 compared to US$0.18 in the fourth quarter of 2016 and US$0.22 in the third quarter of 2017.

Full Year 2017 Highlights

• For the year ended December 31, 2017, contract sales increased 40.0% to US$2,466.0 million from US$1,761.7 million in 2016. GFA sales increased 21.1% to 1,363,600 square meters from 1,126,100 square meters in 2016.
• Total revenues increased 26.8% to US$1,980.2 million from US$1,561.6 million in 2016.
• Gross profit was US$457.3 million, or 23.1% of revenue in 2017, compared to a gross profit of US$358.0 million, or 22.9% of revenue in 2016.
• SG&A expenses were US$211.6 million, or 10.7% of revenue in 2017, compared to US$178.6 million, or 11.4% of revenue in 2016.
• Net income was US$79.8 million in 2017 compared to US$79.5 million in 2016. Diluted earnings per ADS were US$0.94 in 2017 compared to US$1.06 per ADS in 2016.

Mr. Yong Zhang, Xinyuan's Chairman, stated, "We are pleased to see strong growth in contract sales during the fourth quarter despite ongoing restrictive government policies impacting China's overall housing market. Thanks to steady demand at our active projects, contract sales in this quarter grew to US$802 million, or over RMB5.4 billion, above the high end of our guidance range of RMB4.6 billion to RMB 4.8 billion. This consequently drove our full-year contract sales growth to 40.0% from the previous year, above our guidance range of 35% to 37%."

"During the fourth quarter, we commenced pre-sales on two new projects in China -- Zhengzhou International New City III and Zhengzhou Fancy City II (North)," continued Mr. Zhang, "and we continued to take advantage of market conditions to increase our land bank with six projects for development and three construction management service projects are in the pipeline. These projects are mainly located in our existing markets, with solid track records, and we believe they will drive our long-term growth. Furthermore, our under planning stage projects in both China and the U.S. continue to proceed as expected."

"We remain cautious about the market as the government's restrictive policy continues, but we are optimistic about our ability to adjust to the environment and deliver strong financial results. We will continue to seek additional avenues of growth in our core development business as well as our new construction management service business. We remain committed to our shareholders and are proud to have achieved 24 consecutive quarterly dividends thus far," concluded Mr. Zhang.

Fourth Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Contract Sales

Contract sales in China totaled US$795.9 million in the fourth quarter compared to US$347.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and US$597.5 million in the third quarter of 2017.

The Company's GFA sales in China were 443,600 square meters in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to 222,000 square meters in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 369,500 square meters in the third quarter of 2017.

The average selling price ("ASP") per square meter sold in China was RMB12,118 (US$1,794) in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to RMB10,401 (US$1,566) in the fourth quarter of 2016 and RMB10,994 (US$1,616) in the third quarter of 2017.

Contract sales in the United States totaled US$6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.

The Company commenced pre-sales of two new projects in the fourth quarter of 2017, Zhengzhou International New City III and Zhengzhou Fancy City II (North), which contributed 23.6% and 24.8% of total GFA sales and total contract sales, respectively.

Breakdown of GFA Sales and ASPs by Project in China

Revenue

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company's total revenue increased 44.3% to US$729.0 million from US$505.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 and increased 51.1% from US$482.4 million in the third quarter of 2017.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2017 was US$177.9 million, or 24.4% of revenue, compared to a gross profit of US$126.8 million, or 25.1% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2016 and a gross profit of US$108.8 million, or 22.6% of revenue, in the third quarter of 2017.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

SG&A expenses were US$77.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to US$52.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2016 and US$51.0 million for the third quarter of 2017. As a percentage of total revenue, SG&A expenses were 10.6% compared to 10.4% in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 10.6% in the third quarter of 2017.

Net Income

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2017 was US$35.1 million compared to US$16.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2016 and US$16.5 million for the third quarter of 2017. Net margin was 4.8% compared to 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 3.4% in the third quarter of 2017. Diluted earnings per ADS were US$0.47 compared to US$0.18 per ADS in the fourth quarter of 2016 and US$0.22 per ADS in the third quarter of 2017.

Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2017, the Company's cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) increased to US$1,481.0 million from US$1,187.2 million as of September 30, 2017. The strong cash position is attributable to Xinyuan's solid cash collection ability, which helped the Company's cash collection rate (cash collected from contract sales/total 2017 contract sales) reach around 90%, higher than industry average, even under the current restrictive policies.

Total debt outstanding was US$3,311.8 million, which reflected an increase of US$819.4 million compared to US$2,492.4 million at the end of the third quarter of 2017. The balance of the Company's real estate properties under development at the end of the fourth quarter of 2017 was US$2,001.2 million compared to US$2,080.5 million at the end of the third quarter of 2017.

Real Estate Project Status in China

Below is a summary table of projects that were active and available for sale in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Xinyuan further enlarged its land bank in the fourth quarter to support its development in future years by acquiring six pieces of land with total GFA of 1,805,000 m², four of which are projects that will be developed through cooperation with other companies.

As of December 31, 2017, the Company's total saleable GFA was approximately 4,935,600 square meters for active projects and under planning stage projects in China, about 223% of the same period last year. Below is a summary of all of the Company's planning stage projects: