Strong E-House Report Excites Investors

Is a turnaround on the horizon for China's real-estate market?

That's the takeaway for many investors from today's E-House China(EJ Quote) earnings report, as the real-estate service company posted better-than-expected first-quarter profit and raised its revenue outlook for the second quarter.

The news sent shares up 11.5% to $14.91 in morning trading.

''Our results clearly reflect a rebound in China's real estate industry,'' Xin Zhou, E-House's chairman and CEO said in a statement. "While I'm pleased with our strong results in the first quarter, I'm even more confident that we will be able to deliver better results in the second quarter and later this year.

During the quarter, the company said profit sank 25% to $6.6 million, or 9 cents a share, from $8.8 million, or 11 cents, in the year-ago period.

Excluding share-based compensation expenses, it earned 11 cents a share, surpassing analysts' target of 5 cents.

Revenue declined 1% to $32.8 million from $33.2 million last year.

The company now expects second-quarter revenue in the range of $49 million to $51 million, above analysts' average estimate of $38.3 million, and an increase of 14% to 19% over the same quarter in 2008.