Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.
Q4 2018 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 15 Feb 2019

[Bill Zima:]

Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Xinyuan's fourth quarter 2018 earnings conference call. The company's fourth quarter earnings results were released earlier today and are available on the company's IR website as well as on Newswire services. Before we continue, please note that discussion today will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, our results will be – can be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our registration statement and our form 20-F and other documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Xinyuan does not assume any obligations to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law. Today, you will hear from Mr. Lizhou Zhang, the company's Chief Executive Officer, who will comment on our operating results. He will be followed by Mr. Xuefeng Li, the company's Interim Chief Financial Officer, who will provide some additional color on Xinyuan's performance, review the company's financial results and discuss the financial outlook. Following management's prepared remarks, we will open up the call to questions. With that said, I would now like to turn the call over to Xinyuan's CEO, Mr. Zhang. Please go ahead.

[Lizhou Zhang:]

Thank you, Bill. Good morning, and thank you all for joining our fourth quarter 2018 earnings conference call. We are pleased that Xinyuan has maintained a strong growth despite the downward pressure on sales across the industry. For the 2018 full year results, the total amount of contracts signed in year 2018 was US$3.2 billion, which is 42.4% higher than in 2017. Correspondingly, our four-year total revenue increased by double digits due to the successful selection and execution of our projects. Gross profit margin for the year increased 27.5%, resulting in bottom line growth of more than 20%, well above our forecast of 20% to 20% [ph] (2

[Xuefeng Li:]

Thank you, Mr. Zhang. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Xinyuan's fourth quarter 2018 earnings conference call. Allow me to take you through the financial results of this quarter, further discuss our latest operations and initiatives and conclude by updating you on our financial outlook for the remainder of the year. To comply with SEC and Financial Accounting Standards Board's requirements, we have adopted ASC 606

[Operator:]

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] We will take our first question from Michael Prouting with 10K Capital.

[Michael Prouting:]

Yes, good morning. Thanks for hosting the call and taking my question. I didn't see any update in the press release on your blockchain initiatives. So I was wondering if you could just update us on that? And any plans that you may have to try to have the value of that initiative reflected in the stock price? Thank you.

[Unidentified Company Representative:]

[Foreign Language]

[Lizhou Zhang:]

Well, as for business in blockchain for Xinyuan, we used to release that in our previous quarterly report. And application for blockchain technology in Xinyuan is now in the very early phase of exploration, especially for the application with or traditional real estate industry, especially – for example, like the IBM's project now is in the very early stage. In the future days, we will have more comprehensive trying and exploration in this area.

[Operator:]

[Operator Instructions] And there are no questions at this time, so I would like to turn the call back over to management for any additional or closing remarks.

[Xuefeng Li:]

Okay. We thank you for joining us on today's call, and we appreciate your ongoing support. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the weeks and months ahead. Thank you again.

[Operator:]

And that concludes today's presentation. We thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.