Wharf (Holdings) Ltd, the Hong Kong builder expanding in at least 14 other Chinese cities, said first-half underlying profit rose 49 percent after booking sales from a Shanghai luxury-home project and as rental income climbed.

Profit excluding property revaluations, and one-time gains advanced to HK$5.43 billion ($699 million) in the six months ended June 30 from HK$3.64 billion a year earlier, Wharf said on Thursday in a filing to Hong Kong's stock exchange. That exceeds the HK$4 billion median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Earnings were boosted by developments that include the Xi Yuan project in Shanghai, where sales began before the country's government stepped up real estate curbs to make housing more affordable. Wharf's Times Square and Harbour City shopping malls in Hong Kong posted gains as mainland tourists continued spending in the city even as the nation's economy slows.

Growth from the mainland is "a reflection of Wharf's expansion in its China properties in recent years," Stephen Wan and Mark Webb, analysts at HSBC Holdings Plc, wrote in report this week.

China Daily - Agencies