Major Chinese property developers reported steep losses in 2024 as they attempt to stave off liquidation by making the most of the central government’s sweeping stimulus measures.

Real estate giant China Vanke Co reported revenue of more than 340 billion yuan ($46.8 billion), but with a 49.478-billion-yuan net loss attributable to the owners, an upswing from its 12.16-billion-yuan profit a year earlier, according to its annual results published on Monday.

The Shenzhen-based developer cited sharp declines in its scale of settled development projects and gross profit margins, alongside significant provisions for credit impairment and inventory write-downs.

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Vanke’s net debt ratio skyrocketed to 80.6 percent by year-end, up 25.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

In February, the company secured a loan agreement of up to 2.8 billion yuan from its largest shareholder, Shenzhen Metro Group, according to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.

In a statement on Monday, the company said that all public bonds due in the first quarter of 2025 have been fully repaid. “We believe the industry has passed through its most difficult period, and the real estate market will return to a stable and healthy development track,” it added.

Despite financial strains, the company maintained its leading position in property sales with a sales amount of 246.02 billion yuan and a sales recovery rate of over 100 percent. Operating cash flow remained positive at 3.8 billion yuan, marking 16 consecutive years in positive territory.

Its Hong Kong-listed stocks closed at HK$5.52 ($0.71) on Tuesday, down 0.36 percent.

According to the Chinese real estate sales results ranking for January published by the China Index Academy, total sales of the top 100 developers for the month amounted to 235.03 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year drop of 16.5 percent.

The central authorities rolled out a sweeping real estate stimulus package last year to arrest a yearlong housing slump. The reinvigoration campaign includes reductions in down payment requirements and mortgage rates and the cancelation of home resale restrictions.

Nanjing is the latest first-tier city to announce the complete removal of sales restrictions on commodity houses this year, joining other mega cities in easing its property policy.

Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai Yiju Real Estate Research Institute, said that “Debt restructuring arrangements allow firms to postpone existing debt obligations, giving companies breathing room to better address maturing debts while creating improved conditions for future development.”

Yan said that the potential for improved corporate financial health could mitigate the risks in the mainland’s property market.

“However, genuine market recovery depends on sales increase and new home inventory reduction across the sector,” he added.

In 2024, Country Garden, once China’s largest property developer by sales, recorded a 32.8-billion-yuan net loss attributable to the owners, narrowing from a 178.4-billion-yuan loss a year earlier, amid ongoing debt restructuring efforts to fight against liquidation.

Its total debt amounted to 253.5 billion yuan as of Dec 31, with 226.8 billion yuan classified as current liabilities due within a year. Available cash reserves stood at just 29.9 billion yuan.

The company is seeking a debt restructuring that aims to slash its offshore indebtedness by up to $11.6 billion, its earnings result statement said. It had defaulted or cross-defaulted on debt totaling 188.2 billion yuan by the end of 2024, including senior notes, corporate bonds, convertible bonds and bank borrowings.

According to its annual results released on Sunday, the embattled developer recorded total revenue of 252.8 billion yuan, down 37 percent year-on-year, due to dwindling property sales, while overall net losses reached 35.1 billion yuan.

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The proposed restructuring, which remains under negotiation with creditors, would extend debt maturities by up to 11.5 years and reduce the firm’s weighted average borrowing cost from about 6 percent to 2 percent.

Sunac China Holdings posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of 25.7 billion yuan for 2024, more than triple the 7.97 billion yuan in the previous year, due to the gain recorded from offshore debt restructuring last year.

It made notable progress with its debt restructuring. During December and January, the company secured bondholder approval for its onshore debt restructuring plan covering 10 corporate bonds and supply-chain asset-backed securities. The plan extends repayment periods by 5 to 9.5 years and reduces interest rates to 1 percent annually.

Contact the writer at tianyuanzhang@chinadailyhk.com