China: Evergrande postpones the publication of its annual results

by Clare Jim and Jason Xue

HONG KONG, March 22 (Reuters) – China Evergrande will not be able to report its annual results by the end of the month as audit work is not yet complete, the struggling property developer said on Tuesday.

The Chinese giant clarified that due to the “radical changes” made to its activities since the second half of 2021, the financial auditor had reinforced the process for approving the group’s results.

Evergrande said it would release the audited annual results “as soon as possible” after that process was completed, adding that the stock’s listing in Hong Kong would remain suspended until then.

Its two listed subsidiaries China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group and Evergrande Property Services Group, whose listing is also suspended, also indicated that the publication of their results was postponed.

Evergrande, China’s former leading real estate developer, is overwhelmed with debt equivalent to more than 270 billion euros and is struggling to repay its creditors, suppliers and holders of its financial products.

Nine Hong Kong-listed property developers, including Evergrande, have still not given a timetable for the release of their annual results, which must take place at least seven working days before publication, Nomura pointed out.

For analysts, this inability of companies to publish their results on time only increases the mistrust of investors in the sector, which has paid the price in recent months of significant sell-offs. (Report Clare Jim in Hong Kong and Jason Xue in Shanghai, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)