(Yicai) July 15 -- China Vanke’s shares fell after the embattled property developer said its loss widened in the first half of the year, even as the firm announced that sustained deleveraging efforts had cleared its short‑term offshore debt.

After sliding by as much as 3 percent in late morning trade, Vanke [SHE: 000002] finished the day 0.9 percent lower at CNY6.60 (92 US cents) a share. The stock is down 9 percent since the end of last year.

The Shenzhen-based company’s net loss likely increased 1 percent to 21 percent to between CNY10 billion and CNY12 billion (USD1.4 billion and USD1.7 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, it announced yesterday. Vanke lost CNY49.5 billion (USD6.9 billion) last year.

The firm attributed the first-half results to a sharp drop in project deliveries, persistently low gross margins, and additional impairment provisions taken to reflect market‑driven risks. It added that several big asset and equity disposals were below their book values, further weighing on earnings.

Despite these pressures, Vanke maintained steady operations in the period, delivering more than 45,000 new homes and notching up sales of CNY69.1 billion. It made CNY6.4 billion by selling large assets and pulled in another CNY5.8 billion by revitalizing existing projects.

Vanke secured new funding and refinancing worth CNY24.9 billion (USD3.5 billion) in the first half, as well as more than CNY21.1 billion through six loans from its largest shareholder, Shenzhen Metro Group. The company repaid CNY16.5 billion of debt and now has no offshore debt maturing before 2027.

The builder had interest-bearing liabilities of CNY361.3 billion (USD50.4 billion) at the end of last year, equal to 28 percent of its total assets, according to its annual financial report. Forty-four percent of that was due within a year, with offshore debt accounting for 17 percent.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione