tirsdag 14. september 2021

China property giant Evergrande admits debt crisis as protesters besiege HQ

Property giant China Evergrande Group has said that it cannot sell properties and other assets fast enough to service its massive $300bn debts, and that its cashflow was under “tremendous pressure”. Only hours after angry investors besieged its Shenzhen headquarters and the company denied it was set for bankruptcy, Evergrande issued a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange saying that a significant drop in sales would continue this month, which was likely to further deteriorate its liquidity and cash flow.

The company blamed “ongoing negative media reports” for dampening investor confidence, resulting in a further decline in sales in September – usually a strong month for sales in China. Evergrande also said two of its subsidiaries had failed to discharge guarantee obligations for 934m yuan ($145m) worth of wealth management products issued by third parties. That could “lead to cross-default”, it said.