China Evergrande Group, the heavily indebted property developer, has reported a narrower net loss for the first half of the year due to an increase in revenue. The company posted a loss of 33 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) for the first six months of the year, compared to a loss of 66.4 billion yuan in the same period the previous year.

Evergrande is at the center of a crisis in China's property sector, marked by debt defaults, unfinished homes, and unpaid suppliers, which has eroded consumer confidence in the country's economy. The company's financial troubles have raised concerns about potential contagion effects on the broader economy.

Despite the loss, Evergrande reported a 44% increase in first-half revenue, reaching 128.2 billion yuan. The company attributed this increase to actively planning for sales resumption and benefiting from a brief surge in the property market earlier in the year. Cash holdings decreased by 6.3% to 13.4 billion yuan.

The company's liabilities slightly decreased to 2.39 trillion yuan from 2.44 trillion yuan at the end of 2022, and total assets also shrank to 1.74 trillion yuan from 1.84 trillion yuan.

In a recent earnings report, Evergrande disclosed a combined net loss of $81 billion for 2021 and 2022, a significant drop from the 8.1 billion yuan profit it posted in 2020.