China Overseas Land's Net Profit up 66.7% in H1

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd., a major Chinese property developer, said Wednesday its net profit rose by 66.7 percent in the first half of this year over the same period last year on gain from property development in the mainland.

The turnover increased by 13.4 percent to 17.55 billion HK dollars (2.26 billion U.S. dollars), of which property development business in the mainland accounted for 96.6 percent, or 16.95 billion HK dollars, said the company in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

As the largest HK-listed mainland developer by market value, the company said it maintained its 2010 sales target of at least 4.8 million square meters.

China Overseas Land, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, was founded in Hong Kong in 1979 and listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd. in 1992.

It became a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Index in 2007.

The company's shares fell 1.33 percent on Wednesday to close at 16.3 HK dollars. (One U.S. dollar is equivalent to 7.766 HK dollars)