(Yicai) July 15 -- Shares of China Vanke fell after the struggling property developer said its net loss widened in the first half of this year despite having cleared its offshore debts in the short term, thanks to sustained efforts to resolve liabilities.

Vanke's shares [SHE: 000002] were trading down 2.9 percent at CNY6.47 (89 US cents) as of 11.15 a.m. in Shenzhen today.

Net loss likely grew 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, the Shenzhen-based firm announced yesterday. Last year, Vanke's loss totaled CNY49.5 billion (USD6.9 billion).

Vanke attributed the loss to the decrease in real estate development project deliveries, smaller profit margins, and the fact that prices of some large asset and equity transactions were lower than their book values.

Despite the considerable financial pressure, Vanke maintained steady operations in the first half, delivering more than 45,000 new homes and achieving sales of CNY69.1 billion. The company generated CNY6.4 billion in revenue through the sale of large assets and collected CNY5.8 billion through the revitalization of existing projects.

Vanke has obtained new financing and refinancing worth CNY24.9 billion (USD3.5 billion) in the first half of the year, as well as over CNY21.1 billion in six loans from its largest shareholder, Shenzhen Metro Group. The firm has repaid CNY16.5 billion of debts in the period and has no more offshore debts maturing before 2027.

As of the end of last year, Vanke's interest-bearing liabilities totaled CNY361.3 billion (USD50.4 billion), accounting for 28 percent of its total assets, according to the company's 2024 financial report released earlier this year. Forty-four percent of such debts were due within one year, and 17 percent were offshore debts.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione