HONG KONG, April 29 (Reuters) - China Vanke, China's second-biggest property developer by sales, on Monday reported a second consecutive quarterly loss in the January to March period and a drop in its cash level, after revenue and margins fell sharply.

The state-backed developer said this month that it is facing short-term liquidity pressure and operational difficulties, but that it has prepared "a basket of plans" to stabilise its business and cut debt.

Vanke reported a net loss of 362 million yuan ($50 million) in the first quarter, compared to a net profit of 1.4 billion yuan a year earlier and a net loss of 1.5 billion yuan in the previous quarter.

Its core loss, which excludes the impact of foreign exchange and changes in the value of assets and financial instruments, was 1.7 billion yuan, versus a core profit of 645.6 million yuan a year ago.

Revenue dropped 10% to 61.6 billion yuan, and gross margin contracted 4.6 percentage points to 10.8%

Cash and cash equivalents at end-March stood at 80.8 billion yuan, 16.6% lower than at end-December, which Vanke said was enough to cover interest-bearing debt in the coming one year.

Investors have been selling off Vanke's shares and bonds in recent weeks on liquidity concerns, triggering a rare central government directive to help the Shenzhen-based company.

Vanke shares rose 19% in Hong Kong and 10% in Shenzhen ahead of the results, as speculation that authorities would introduce more stimulus policies this week to stabilise the ailing sector lifted property sector stocks more broadly.

Moody's downgraded Vanke's corporate family rating again on Friday, by two notches to Ba3 with a negative outlook, as it forecast the company's contracted sales would drop by a quarter in 2024.

Vanke is also planning to boost cashflow this year by cutting debt, raising bank loans and disposing of more assets.

($1 = 7.2414 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)