(Yicai) Oct. 17 -- Shares of Gemdale Group plunged after the chairman of the Chinese property developer resigned from all his positions for health reasons after leading the company for 25 years.

Gemdale [SHA: 600383] was trading down 9.5 percent at CNY5.55 (76 US cents) as of 10.40 a.m. in Shanghai today.

Ling Ke’s resignation has immediate effect, Gemdale announced yesterday. Director and President Huang Juncan will replace Ling as acting chairman, the Shenzhen-based firm added.

Ling, 64, joined Gemdale in the early 1990s. It held positions including deputy general manager and GM before being appointed chairman in 1998. Earlier in his career, Ling was a developer of communications technology products.

Huang, 52, joined Gemdale just after its establishment in 1992 after he graduated from the prestigious Tongji University. Huang rose through the ranks, moving from construction site technician to assistant president, chief financial officer, and president.

Key figures at many leading Chinese property developers, including the chairpersons of Poly Developments and Holdings Group, Yango Group, Soho China, China Jinmao Holdings Group, China Longfor, and Country Garden, have stepped down during this latest downturn of the real estate market.

Gemdale went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2001 under the leadership of Ling. It was once among China’s top four listed real estate developers with China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings, Poly, and China Vanke.

In the first half of the year, Gemdale’s net profit shrank 22 percent to CNY1.5 billion (USD205.1 million) from a year earlier, while revenue rose 31 percent to CNY36.9 billion (USD5.1 billion).

Gemdale reported 6.7 million square meters of contracted area in the first three quarters of the year, down 5.3 percent from a year earlier. Its contract value plunged 25 percent to CNY121.9 billion (USD16.7 billion) in the period.

As of June 30, Gemdale had CNY307.2 billion in debts, including CNY230.2 billion non-current liabilities, with a debt-to-assets ratio of over 72 percent, according to data from Wind Information. The figures are all better than the red line that Chinese regulatory authorities set for real estate developers.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione