News Release

BEIJING, March 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan" or the "Company") (NYSE: XIN), an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and recently in other countries, today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015.

Fourth Quarter 2015 Highlights

• Total fourth quarter revenue increased 13.9% to US$413.6 million from US$362.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and increased 33.9% from US$309.0 million in the third quarter of 2015.
• Contract sales increased 42.6% to US$574.2 million from US$402.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and increased 85.4% from US$309.7 million in the third quarter of 2015.
• Total gross floor area ("GFA") sales increased 66.9% to 420,900 square meters from 252,200 square meters sold in the fourth quarter of 2014 and increased 80.4% from 233,300 square meters sold in the third quarter of 2015.
• Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") expenses as a percent of total revenue decreased to 13.3% from 14.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014 and decreased from 15.8% in the third quarter of 2015.
• Net income was US$19.1 million, compared to US$23.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and US$22.7 million in the third quarter of 2015.
• Diluted net earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") attributable to shareholders were US$0.26, compared to US$0.30 in the fourth quarter of 2014 and US$0.31 in the third quarter of 2015.
• The Company repurchased 495,759 ADSs at a total cost of approximately US$1.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Full Year 2015 Highlights

• For the year ended December 31, 2015, total revenues increased 26.6% to US$1,164.3 million from US$919.7 million in 2014. GFA sales increased 56.7% to 986,100 square meters from 629,100 square meters in 2014. Contract sales increased 34.5% to US$1,401.1 million from US$1,041.6 million in 2014.
• Gross profit was US$273.0 million, or 23.4% of revenue in 2015, compared to a gross profit of US$242.2 million, or 26.3% of revenue in 2014. The Company commenced presales on six projects in 2015.
• SG&A expenses were US$167.5 million, or 14.4% of revenue in 2015, compared to US$145.1 million, or 15.8% of revenue in 2014.
• Net income was US$66.5 million in 2015 compared to US$48.5 million in 2014. Diluted earnings per ADS were US$0.91 in 2015 compared to US$0.58 per ADS in 2014.

Mr. Yong Zhang, Xinyuan's Chairman, stated, "We are pleased with our full year 2015 results, as contract sales were up 34.5% to US$1.40 billion and net income increased 37.1% to US$66.5 million. We experienced strong sequential and year-over-year GFA sales. Our improvement in GFA sales is indicative of improving market conditions."

"Recent local and national government policies which include easing monetary policy, relaxed home purchase restrictions and lower down payment requirements, continued to have a favorable impact on our unit sales activity in the fourth quarter. There were twenty two active development projects during 2015, including our US-based Oosten project, which represents a record number of projects for Xinyuan. We are also proud of our efforts to improve our balance sheet in the fourth quarter, highlighted by our increased cash position, lower debt level and improved coupon rates associated with our outstanding debt. We were active with our dividend program and repurchase activity throughout the year and remain committed to these programs for 2016."

"As we carefully monitor industry trends for 2016, we remain optimistic about the projects in our existing markets. While China's real estate market remains uncertain, we expect the favorable government policies to introduce new buyers to our projects. We also intend to explore new land acquisitions both in China and in overseas markets. Overall, we believe 2016 will represent another year of contract sales and net income growth for Xinyuan."

Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Contract Sales

Contract sales totaled US$574.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to US$402.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and US$309.7 million in the third quarter of 2015. The Company's GFA sales increased to 420,900 square meters in the fourth quarter of 2015 from 252,200 square meters in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 233,300 square meters in the third quarter of 2015. The average selling price ("ASP") per square meter sold was RMB8,493 (US$1,364) in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to RMB9,806 (US$1,596) in the fourth quarter of 2014 and RMB8,196 (US$1,328) in the third quarter of 2015.

The Company commenced pre-sales of two new projects in the fourth quarter of 2015, Zhengzhou Fancy City, which contributed 13.7% of total GFA sales, and Tianjin Spring Royal Palace, which contributed 3.3% of total GFA sales.

Breakdown of GFA Sales and ASPs by Project

Revenue

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company's total revenue increased 13.9% to US$413.6 million from US$362.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2014 and increased 33.9% from US$309.0 million in the third quarter of 2015.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for the fourth quarter of 2015 was US$81.4 million, or 19.7% of revenue, compared to a gross profit of US$96.1 million, or 26.5% of revenue, in the fourth quarter of 2014 and a gross profit of US$82.7 million, or 26.8% of revenue, in the third quarter of 2015.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

SG&A expenses were US$55.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to US$53.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2014 and US$48.8 million for the third quarter of 2015. As a percentage of total revenue, SG&A expenses were 13.3% compared to 14.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 15.8% in the third quarter of 2015.

Net Income

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2015 was US$19.1 million, compared to US$23.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2014 and US$22.7 million for the third quarter of 2015. Net margin was 4.6%, compared to 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2014 and 7.3% in the third quarter of 2015. Diluted earnings per ADS were US$0.26, compared to US$0.30 per ADS in the fourth quarter of 2014 and US$0.31 per ADS in the third quarter of 2015.

Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2015, the Company's cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash) increased to US$750.7 million from US$555.9 million as of September 30, 2015. Total debt outstanding was US$1,740.9 million, a decrease of US$52.2 million, compared to US$1,793.1 million at the end of the third quarter of 2015. The balance of the Company's real estate property under development at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 was US$1,884.3 million, compared to US$2,012.2 million at the end of the third quarter of 2015.

Real Estate Project Status in China

Below is a summary table of projects that were active and available for sale in the fourth quarter of 2015.

As of December 31, 2015, the Company's total sellable GFA was approximately 2,306,614 square meters for active projects and under planning stage projects in China. Below is a summary of all of the Company's planning stage projects:

Real Estate Project Update in the U.S.

During the fourth quarter of 2015, the Company continued to make good progress in its Oosten project based in Brooklyn, New York. As of the end of the fourth quarter, the Company had pre-sold approximately 64% of its total units.

Business Outlook

The full year 2015 contract sales and net income were up 34.5% and 37.1% year-over-year to US$1.40 billion and US$66.5 million, respectively. For the full year 2016, the Company currently expects its full year contract sales to grow between 10% and 15% and net income to grow between 15% and 20% compared to 2015.

Conference Call Information

The Company will hold a conference call at 8:00 am ET on March 1, 2016 to discuss its fourth quarter 2015 results. Listeners may access the call by dialing:

A webcast will also be available through the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.xyre.com.

A replay of the call will be available through March 8, 2016 by dialing:

About Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.

Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd. ("Xinyuan") is an NYSE-listed real estate developer and property manager primarily in China and recently in other countries. In China, the Company develops and manages large scale, high quality real estate projects in over ten tier one and tier two cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Xi'an, Suzhou, among others. Xinyuan was one of the first Chinese real estate developers to enter the U.S. market and over the past few years has been active in real estate development in New York. The Company aims to provide comfortable and convenient real estate related products and services to middle-class consumers. For more information, please visit http://www.xyre.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements includes statements about estimated financial performance, sales performance and activity, among others and can generally be identified by terminology such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "future", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical statements are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated, including, but not limited to, our ability to continue to implement our business model successfully; our ability to secure adequate financing for our project development; our ability to successfully sell or complete our property projects under construction and planning; our ability to enter into new geographic markets and expand our operations; the marketing and sales ability of our third-party sales agents; the performance of our third-party contractors; the impact of laws, regulations and policies relating to real estate developers and the real estate industry in the countries in which we operate; our ability to obtain permits and licenses to carry on our business in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; competition from other real estate developers; the growth of the real estate industry in the markets in which we operate; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in the markets in which we operate; and other risks outlined in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2014. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or review publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statement is made.

Notes to Unaudited Financial Information

This release contains unaudited financial information which is subject to year-end audit adjustments. Adjustments to the financial statements may be identified when the audit work is completed, which could result in significant differences between our audited financial statements and this unaudited financial information.

For more information, please contact:

In China:

Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.
Ms. May Shen
Investor Relations Director
Tel: +86 (10) 8588-9376
Email: irteam@xyre.com

ICR, LLC
In U.S.: +1-646-308-1472
In China: +86 (10) 6583-7511
Email: William.zima@icrinc.com 

SOURCE Xinyuan Real Estate Co., Ltd.