Author | Anjou Cao
After the credit crisis in the real estate industry spread to mixed-ownership housing enterprises, proving safety and reshaping the confidence of investors and creditors became the top priority of Vanke's 2023 results conference.
On the morning of March 29, regarding the question of whether Vanke is confident of “surviving”, which the outside world is highly concerned about, Yu Liang, chairman of Vanke's board of directors, confessed at the 2023 performance conference that although Vanke proposed “surviving” a long time ago, the consideration was not comprehensive enough. Under changes in the market, the robust standards in the past may not fully guarantee the safety of the company, so it is necessary to strengthen bottom-line thinking and make more thorough preparations.
Yu Liang said that Vanke's management team will definitely not lie flat and will definitely cross this phased threshold. The company will step up efforts to revitalize stocks, change real estate, etc., and reduce interest payment debt by more than 100 billion yuan over the next two years to ensure the company's safety.
He relies on the capabilities Vanke has built up over the years in developing and operating services.
Yu Liang said that in the past year, despite the downturn in the real estate market, Vanke's business has made some progress. Sales of the development business outperformed the general trend and maintained the leading position in the industry, completed the delivery of 289,000 units, and significantly improved investment and product capabilities.
At the same time, Vanke's operating service business has also maintained steady growth. The operating business has formed a number of high-quality assets, and the bulk transaction completed 12.3 billion yuan in 2023. REITs have also made breakthrough progress, and Vanke may become the only company that issues REITs in three fields at the same time.
However, Yu Liang also admits that to “survive,” good business ability is only one aspect; the company also needs to strengthen bottom-line thinking, do stress tests under extreme circumstances, and make more thorough preparations.
As for the future, Vanke will use greater determination and strength to promote tasks such as revitalizing stocks and changing real estate to make the company's safety cushion thicker.
Yu Liang pointed out that over the past period, Vanke has been making efforts to revitalize its stock and at the same time continue to turn operational real estate into movable property and supplement cash flow through new financing channels and asset transactions. In the future, the above work will be promoted with a stronger sense of crisis and greater vigor.
In the past, Vanke used this to achieve the goal of reducing debt by 100 billion dollars. This year, Vanke broke the 31-year practice and made difficult decisions without dividends, which also created conditions for this very important goal.
Finally, Yu Liang stressed that Vanke will do its best, will never lie back, and will overcome difficulties with full confidence. It will definitely cross this hurdle and continue to be an excellent company in the new stage of development.
At that time, Vanke will not only build a “moat”, but will also take the lead in the transformation of housing enterprises, leading the industry towards the second half of real estate.