(Yicai) March 31 -- Country Garden Holdings, one of China’s biggest real estate developers, narrowed its annual loss by 82 percent last year after greatly writing down the value of property the year before.

The net loss was CNY32.8 billion (USD4.5 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, versus CNY178.4 billion (USD24.6 billion) in 2023, the Foshan-based company’s annual earnings report showed on March 28. Revenue tumbled 37 percent to CNY252.8 billion, with over 97 percent of that coming from property sales.

China’s government introduced a series of support measures last year aimed at stabilizing the housing market, which is showing some signs of picking up, after a three-year downturn as builders grapple with high debt levels and softer demand.

“Benefiting from a raft of supportive policies from the government that promote sales, optimize supply and demand, and boost confidence, transaction volumes were gradually picking up in some core cities,” the company said.

“Despite the constant pressure on the industry in general, these positive signals indicate that the industry is expected to usher in new development opportunities after the adjustment,” it added.

Contracted sales plunged 70 percent to CNY47.2 billion last year, according to the report. Country Garden delivered more than 380,000 housing units, down from over 600,000 in 2023 and nearly 700,000 units in 2022.

The firm had total debt of about CNY253.5 billion as of Dec. 31, with CNY226.8 billion of that being short-term liabilities. Total cash reached CNY29.9 billion, including restricted cash of CNY23.5 billion. While its total assets exceeded CNY1.03 trillion (USD142.8 billion), total liabilities were about CNY984.6 billion, and net assets were around CNY51.3 billion.

“Country Garden will continue to do its utmost to ensure the safety of cash flow, intensify efforts to revitalize under-performing assets, further streamline its organizational structure and strengthen expense controls, and actively consider taking various debt management measures to resolve periodic liquidity pressure,” it said.

The company’s shares [HKG: 2007] ended unchanged at 48 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) each in Hong Kong today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione