CHINA State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC), the country’s largest builder, said yesterday its first-half net profit jumped 34.4 percent to 11.8 billion yuan (US$1.92 billion) even though real estate sales plunged from a year ago.

    The company, which lists shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said China’s urbanization would continue to underpin earnings, although risks included local authority debt, which could cut land finance, the tightening of national credit policy and an uncertain regulatory environment.

    Operating income hit 374.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.2 percent, according to a stock exchange filing yesterday.

    New construction projects rose 9.8 percent to 720 billion yuan, with real estate deals jumping 15.6 percent to 632.3 billion yuan. Infrastructure business fell by 20.8 percent to 82.8 billion yuan, according to the filing.

    Real estate sales fell 13.5 percent to 68.2 billion yuan, with the total sales area sold down 21 percent to 5.27 million square meters.

    The company said it aimed to achieve a new annual contract total of 1.2 trillion yuan by the end of this year, compared with last year’s half-year target of 1 trillion yuan. (SD-Agencies)