Country Garden is pushing back some onshore bond payments to later dates despite a round of extensions last year, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring the financial stress at the Chinese property developer.
The builder’s main onshore unit plans to extend coupon and principal instalment payments for a yuan bond maturing in March 2026 to September, said the people, after missing a 96 million yuan (US$13 million) coupon payment on March 12, before a 30-day grace period kicked in.
The firm also seeks to extend coupon and principal instalment payments for a yuan bond maturing in June 2026 to September, the people added, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. It plans the same for a yuan bond maturing in December 2026, they added.
Country Garden didn’t immediately comment when contacted on Tuesday.
China’s home prices fall again in new alarm for Beijing to step up policy aid
China’s home prices fall again in new alarm for Beijing to step up policy aid
Based in Foshan in southern Guangdong province, the former No. 1 home builder has become one of the biggest casualties of the nation’s real estate crisis that has seen the demise of the likes of China Evergrande Group, rattled financial markets and hurt the economy.
New home prices have weakened every month since May 2023 across major cities, a government report this week showed. China’s top 100 developers recorded combined sales of 779.2 billion yuan in the first quarter, a 47.5 per cent slump from a year earlier, according to data compiled by China Real Estate Information Corp.
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Country Garden’s financial strains are piling up, with an 83 per cent slump in home sales last month exacerbating its cash crunch. It recently warned it will miss a deadline for reporting annual results, causing its shares to be suspended from trading in Hong Kong. The stock last traded at HK$0.485 on April 2, capping a 38 per cent slide this year.
Country Garden is fighting a winding-up petition filed by a creditor in a Hong Kong court. The first hearing is scheduled for May 17, when it will have to show progress on its offshore restructuring to fend off a potential liquidation order.
It has appointed Kroll to conduct an independent recovery analysis and hired Linklaters earlier this month as legal adviser to assist with its debt reorganisation plan with offshore creditors.
Additional reporting by SCMP
