中国地产商苦打价格战

Chinese property developers are finding themselves forced to sacrifice profits to boost sales, as the downturn in the housing market saddles them with bulging inventories and limited access to new funding.

中国房地产开发商发现，他们不得不牺牲利润以提振销售，因为房地产市场低迷让他们积压了越来越多库存，同时获取新融资的途径十分有限。

Most listed mainland homebuilders recorded a steady rise in revenue last year, but sharp declines in profit for many are a symptom of aggressive price-cutting designed to shift stock and generate much-needed cash in the debt-laden sector.

内地大多数房地产上市公司发布的财报显示，去年收入增长稳定，但许多公司的利润急剧下降，表明债务负担沉重的房地产行业为消化库存和产生亟需的现金，采取了激进的降价措施。

Revenue at Agile Property increased 8 per cent in 2014, the company said in its latest earnings report yet profits sank 11 per cent. Profit fell by 15 per cent at Guangzhou R&F and by 8 per cent at Yuzhou Properties, even as both reported growth in sales.

雅居乐地产(Agile Property)最新发布的财报显示，2014年公司收入同比增长8%，但利润下降11%。广州富力地产(Guangzhou R&F)全年利润同比下降15%，禹洲地产(Yuzhou Properties)全年利润同比下降8%，即便这两家公司的销售额全都出现增长。

“We expect prices will remain under pressure over the next few months as developers continue to offer price incentives for their projects,” Moody’s analysts wrote in a report.

穆迪(Moody's)的分析师在一份报告中写道：“我们预计未来几个月价格将依然承压，因为房地产开发商将继续对旗下项目降价促销。”

Margins at some of the more successful companies also have come under pressure. Country Garden’s income rose by more than a third last year, yet profit was up by only a fifth. Still, China Vanke — the country’s largest builder by sales — reports earnings on Monday, and is expected to show operating profit rising by over 30 per cent.

一些较为成功的房地产企业的利润率也在承压。碧桂园(Country Garden)去年的收入增长了逾三分之一，然而利润仅增长了五分之一。

Weakness in the housing market has been a key factor in China’s broad slowdown. The economy grew 7.4 per cent last year, the slowest pace in more than 20 years, as the government sought to reduce dependence on credit-fuelled construction. Overall home sales dropped 8 per cent last year, according to official figures.

房地产市场低迷是中国经济全面放缓的关键因素。随着中国政府寻求降低对信贷推动的建设活动的依赖，去年中国经济增长7.4%，是20多年来的最低增速。

“With the downward pressure on the economy, the real estate industry will continue to undergo a period of profound correction,” said Cao He, chairman of Hong Kong-listed builder Franshion, in the company’s annual report. “Property developers will face challenges including shrinking profit margins and intensifying competition.”

在香港上市的房企方兴地产(Franshion)的董事长何操表示：“随着经济下行压力加大，房地产行业将继续经历一段深度修正期。房地产开发商将面临包括利润率下降和竞争加剧在内的种种挑战。”

Kiyan Zandiyeh and Daili Wang of Roubini Global Economics warn that the current “supply glut” in Chinese housing is likely to get even more severe.

鲁比尼全球经济咨询公司(Roubini Global Economics)的基扬•赞迪耶(Kiyan Zandiyeh)和Daili Wang警告称，当前中国房产市场“供给过剩”的情况可能会变得更加严重。

“With companies trying to meet sales growth and defend market share, the incentive has been to keep building — meaning today’s excess supply in the market will only worsen,” they wrote in a report.

他们在报告中写道：“房地产企业试图实现销售增长目标并且捍卫市场份额，所以它们有动力继续造新房，这意味着今天市场上的供给过剩局面只会更加严重。”

“Developers will struggle with stronger headwinds from falling house prices, given that most of them are operating with unsustainable levels of inventory and debt.”

“鉴于大多数开发商有着不可持续的库存和债务水平，它们将很难应对更为猛烈的房价下跌势头。”

The sector has borrowed heavily in recent years from offshore bond markets, banks, and local investors. With cash needed for debt repayments and to finance existing projects, developers have been unable to wait for prices to recover.

房地产行业最近几年一直从离岸债券市场、银行和本地投资者那里大举借贷。由于急需现金偿还债务和为现有项目提供资金，房地产开发商无法等待价格回升。

Access to offshore funding has also been curbed this year by the dramatic fall of Kaisa, a Shenzhen-based developer. It is currently trying to restructure more than $10bn of onshore and offshore debts in order to secure a rescue by rival Sunac.

深圳房地产开发商佳兆业(Kaisa)今年引人注目的危机，也限制了中国房地产企业海外融资的能力。佳兆业目前正努力重组国内外逾100亿美元的境内和境外债务，以获得其竞争对手融创(Sunac)的接盘。

While some larger developers have been able to borrow in the US dollar debt markets, the fallout from Kaisa’s troubles has made it tougher for many smaller, junk-rated companies to get new financing.

尽管一些较大型的房地产开发商仍能在美元债券市场借贷，但佳兆业的困境带来的影响，使得许多较小的、垃圾评级的公司更难获得新的融资。

Total debt in the sector has jumped 280 per cent over the past five years, according to RGE research, with an increasingly large portion of it short-term borrowing. Top-rated developers raised $29bn in new offshore funding last year alone, according to Moody’s.

鲁比尼全球经济咨询公司的研究报告显示，中国房地产行业的债务总额在过去5年飙升280%，其中短期借款比例越来越高。穆迪的数据显示，最高评级的房地产开发商仅去年就在离岸市场获得了290亿美元的新融资。

China’s government has pledged support for the housing market, and the central bank has cut interest rates twice over the past six months.

中国政府已承诺要为房地产市场提供支持，中国央行过去6个月已两次降息。