Evergrande began one of China's biggest debt restructuring processes early last year. Photo: Reuters
Debt-ridden property developer China Evergrande Group reported a 33 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) net loss for the first half of the year on Sunday, ahead of the possible resumption of trade of its Hong Kong-listed stock.
The reported losses were half the 66.4 billion yuan figure for the same period last year.
Evergrande is at the centre of a crisis in China’s property sector that since late 2021 has seen a string of debt defaults.
The world’s most indebted developer, Evergrande posted a combined net loss of $81 billion for 2021 and 2022 in a long-overdue earnings report last month, having posted an 8.1 billion yuan profit in 2020.
Over that two-year period, revenue dropped 55% to 230.1 billion yuan. Liabilities reached 2.4 trillion yuan, up 23%, while its assets were worth 1.8 trillion yuan, down 20%.
On Friday, Evergrande said it had “adequately” fulfilled exchange guidance for the resumption of trade of its Hong Kong-listed stock and had applied for trade to resume on August 28.
Trading of the stock has been halted since March last year pending the 2021 and 2022 results and the outcome of matters including an investigation into 13.4 billion yuan of deposits seized from a subsidiary.
Evergrande’s external auditor, Prism Hong Kong and Shanghai Ltd, reviewed the independent investigation report and concluded that there are no significant off-balance sheet transactions, assets and liabilities, or pledged deposits other than those disclosed by the company, Evergrande said in a filing on Friday.
It stated that it had published all outstanding financial results required under the listing rules and considered that the issues raised by its former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its resignation letter, have been satisfactorily resolved.
Recently, the developer sought protection under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which shields non-US companies undergoing restructurings from creditors who hope to sue them or tie up their assets in the United States.
On the same day, the company’s unit, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle, posted a loss attributable from continuing operations of 5.80 billion yuan ($795.84 million), compared with a loss of 3.87 billion, from a year ago.
The developer will be meeting with its creditors later this month to discuss an offshore debt restructuring that involves a total of $31.7 billion, which includes bonds, collateral and repurchase obligations.
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