Evergrande has informed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it intends to delay a restructuring meeting because things are not going as planned.
Shares of Chinese real estate company Evergrande Group fell up to 22% on Monday after the firm announced it would delay a debt restructuring meeting due today. According to data from MarketWatch, Evergrande shares are trading at HK$0.430, a 21.82% drop from its previous close at HK$0.550.
In March, Evergrande announced plans for debt restructuring following heavy defaults. However, the company submitted a filing to the Hong Kong Exchange on Friday stating that the sales had not gone as expected. Evergrande added in the filing:
“Based on the Company’s current situation and consultations with its advisors and creditors, the Company considers it necessary to re-assess the terms of the Proposed Restructuring to meet the Company’s objective situation and the demand of the creditors.”
The Evergrande plunge in shares from the debt restructuring meeting delay triggered a sell-off in Hong Kong property stocks. Several real estate stocks fell on Monday, including R&F Properties and Logan Group, which fell 6.62% and 7.95%, respectively. Guangdong-based property development company Country Garden also lost 7.69%.
In November 2021, Evergrande defaulted on $148 million worth of bonds as the company struggled with financial problems. In March 2022, the company was suspended from public trading and only resumed in August this year. However, Evergrande shares fell 87% on the first day of trading, dropping to 22 Hong Kong cents. Its March 2022 close was HK$ 1.65.
Evergrande announced that it lost 39.25 billion yuan ($5.38 billion) for the six months ended in June. This is a 54.4% improvement compared to the 86.17 billion yuan loss the company recorded for the same period in 2022. In addition, Evergrande reported 128.81 billion yuan in revenue for the period, a 44.2% growth from last year’s 89.28 billion yuan.
Evergrande Delay Continues Long Period of Financial Woes
Evergrande’s financial problems informed a US bankruptcy protection filing in August. The company requested Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in Manhattan, hoping to protect its assets in the US. The bankruptcy filing is part of Evergrande’s plan to restructure over $19 billion in debts. Chapter 15 bankruptcy allows foreign entities to protect their assets in the US, which involves a court appointing an examiner or trustee to act on the company’s behalf. Evergrande subsidiary Scenery Journey and affiliate Tianji Holdings also filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection.
On Sunday, Evergrande revealed that because of an investigation involving one of its subsidiaries, Hengda Real Estate, it can not issue new notes required as part of its restructuring. The investigation, according to a Reuters report, involves a suspected violation of information disclosure.
Early this month, Evergrande shares surprisingly spiked 82%, beating all other companies on the Hang Seng Index (HSI). At the time, the company’s shares had jumped more than 137% in the five days prior, even though it had fallen more than 61% year-to-date (YTD).
As of this writing, Evergrande shares have climbed 22.86% over the last month. However, the company has lost nearly 30% in the last five days, and 73.94% YTD.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
