Poly Real Estate Group Co, China's second largest listed property developer after Vanke, surprised the market yesterday by posting a 50 percent increase in 2008 earnings amid a market slump.

In a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Guangzhou-based company said its net income for 2008 rose to 2.24 billion yuan from 1.49 billion yuan in 2007. Earnings per share for the period increased to 0.91 yuan from 0.65 yuan.

"The company's performance met with our expectations and its sales are much better than the industry average," said Chen Yan, senior analyst, Guosen Securities.