(BFM Bourse) – Chinese real estate giant Evergrande on Monday announced a further suspension of its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, without explaining the reasons.
Trading in China Evergrande Group shares will be halted from 9 a.m., Evergrande said in a statement on Monday. Strangled by a debt of around 260 billion euros, the real estate developer has struggled for several months to honor its interest payments and its deliveries of apartments, after Beijing wanted to severely regulate a bloated Chinese real estate sector.
Evergrande was already classified in default in December by the rating agency Fitch for not having honored a due date on its debt.
Last week, Evergrande briefly reassured investors by insisting it would be able to deliver tens of thousands of housing units this month, and pay off some debts. But the stock plunged at the weekend after reports of two other overseas defaults.
Debt restructuring followed closely
In September, real estate buyers and investors came to demonstrate in front of the headquarters in Shenzhen to express their concerns over the developer’s difficulties in honoring its obligations to suppliers and contractors.
In recent months, the company has repeatedly said it will complete the started projects, in a desperate attempt to save its debts, despite missing the first payment equivalent to more than 1 billion euros.
Evergrande tried to sell assets and reduce its stakes in other companies. Its president, Hui Ka Yan – known as Xu Jiayin in Mandarin – has repaid part of his debts thanks to his considerable personal fortune. The company’s debt restructuring process is overseen by the government of Guangdong Province, where Evergrande is headquartered.
(With AFP)
© 2022 BFM Bourse