OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings says Shimao Property Holdings Limited's (BB+/Stable) 2014 annual results are in line with expectations and have no impact to the Chinese property developer's rating.

Shimao's contracted sales in 2014 increased 4.8% to CNY70.2bn and met its contracted sales target of CNY70bn. Its 2014 contracted sales by gross floor area rose 10.5% to 5.79m sqm, while the average selling price (ASP) for contracted sales decreased 5.3% to CNY12,129 per sqm.

EBITDA margin dropped to 26.3% in 2014 from 29.0% in 2013 due to lower recognised ASP. Churn weakened and the ratio of total contracted sales to total debt fell to 1.13x at end-2014 from 1.34x a year earlier. Fitch expects EBITDA margin of around 23%-25% and the ratio of contracted sales to total debt to be around 1.2x-1.3x in the next 18-24 months.

Leverage, measured by net debt to adjusted inventory, was at 26.5% at end-2014 compared with 28.4% at end-2013. Fitch expects the company to maintain its leverage at around the current level for next 12-18 months.