Developer China Evergrande says H1 core profit to more than double

HONG KONG, Aug 6 (Reuters) - China Evergrande Group said on Monday it expects first-half core profit to more than double from a year ago due to lower expenses and a rise in the floor area of properties delivered.

China's No.2 property developer by sales said in a filing its after-tax net profit is expected to rise by more than 125 percent during the period.

After a year of deleveraging efforts, net gearing ratio would drop to below 130 percent from 184 percent at the end of last year, the Shenzhen-based company said.

Evergrande's core profit, excluding revaluation gains and non-recurring income, was 27.3 billion yuan ($3.99 billion) in the first half of last year. In August last year, it pledged to cut net gearing ratio to around 70 percent by June 2020 from 240 percent at end-June 2017.

Boosted by record sales in the first half, a few major players have also issued positive profit alerts. Both Sunac China and Future Land Development Holdings earlier said their net profit would jump 200 percent.

Times China, among the first developers to announce first-half results this year, said last week its core profit rose 86 percent while net profit surged 138 percent.

Evergrande is expected to announce its results in the last week of August. Its shares have dropped 23 percent so far this year. ($1 = 6.8431 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Sunil Nair)