Upmarket China developer Yanlord Land Group has registered a 15 per cent drop in third quarter net earnings to 306.7 million yuan (S$62.8 million).

Revenue for the three months to Sept 30 rose by 40 per cent to 3.51 billion yuan.

The rise was driven by significant increase in average selling price per square metres arising from the inclusion of higher-priced project, namely, Yanlord Sunland Gardens in Shanghai and the higher gross floor area delivered.

The revenue was mainly derived from the delivery of Yanlord Sunland Gardens and Bayside Gardens in Shanghai, Yanlord Lakeview Bay - Land Parcels A2 and A6 - in Suzhou and Yanlord Riverside Gardens in Tianjin.

These accounted for 52 per cent, 22.3 per cent, 10.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively of gross revenue from properties sold during the quarter.

In tandem with the improved revenue stream, gross profit grew by 22.9 per cent to 1.1 billion yuan.

However, gross profit margin decreased by 4.3 percentage points to 31.4 per cent, principally due to the change in product mix composition.

Earnings per share fell to 15.74 fen compared to 18.61 fen previously while net asset value per share climbed to 8.58 yuan compared to 8.38 yuan as at Dec 31.

Concerns regarding the United States debt ceiling coupled with possible economic slowdown in China may continue to weigh on market sentiments in the China property sector.

However despite this near term volatility, Yanlord remains confident about the long term potential of the China real estate sector driven by the sustainable development of the local economy.