China Country Garden to suspend trading of onshore bonds from tomorrow

BEIJING: China’s Country Garden, the country’s top private property developer, will suspend trading of its 11 onshore bonds from Monday, according to filings to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Saturday.

Resumption of trading of the bonds will be determined at a later date, the company said in filings to the stock exchange.

Country Garden’s Hong Kong shares hit a record low on Friday on fears the company is preparing for a debt restructuring, adding to concerns about the outlook for the property sector in the absence of stronger support from Beijing.

Country Garden said on Tuesday it had not paid two dollar bond coupons due on Aug. 6 totalling $22.5 million, confirming market fears that the developer was slipping into repayment troubles.

The developer, which had liabilities totalling about $194 billion at the end of 2022, warned on Thursday it could report a loss of up to $7.6 billion for the first half and apologised to investors for misjudging market conditions.

Once considered one of the more financially sound developers, Country Garden’s woes could have a chilling effect on homebuyers and financial institutions, further squeezing a sector that has already seen plunging sales, tight liquidity and a series of developer defaults since late 2021.

The company has set up a special working group led by its chairman to handle the current “difficulties”, according to the company’s filings on Saturday.