Country Garden Archives - Amora Escapes https://amoraescapes.com/tag/country-garden/ Property 101 Sun, 10 Dec 2023 02:50:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://amoraescapes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Amora-Escapes-Favico.png Country Garden Archives - Amora Escapes https://amoraescapes.com/tag/country-garden/ 32 32 Country Garden’s Chair Says Confident in Repairing Balance Sheet https://amoraescapes.com/2023/12/30/country-gardens-chair-says-confident-in-repairing-balance-sheet/ Sat, 30 Dec 2023 01:06:31 +0000 https://amoraescapes.com/?p=5148   (Bloomberg) — Country Garden Holdings Co.’s Chair Yang Huiyan says she is “very confident”…

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(Bloomberg) — Country Garden Holdings Co.’s Chair Yang Huiyan says she is “very confident” the company can repair its balance sheet and pledged the founding family’s support for the ailing Chinese property giant.

The path to fix the balance sheet is “very clear and can be achieved,” Yang said at a monthly management meeting held Friday, according to a statement on the developer’s WeChat account. Country Garden “will strive to become a model for the quick recovery” of distressed companies, she added.

Country Garden’s debt struggles have epitomized the property crisis engulfing the country’s economy. The remarks come as China introduces new measures to put a floor under a property market that’s been roiled since the introduction of measures three years ago aimed at cutting the industry’s reliance on debt.

The developer, a poster child of China’s property crisis, defaulted in October for the first time on dollar bonds, and will face a test next week to avoid the same fate on a local note — an outcome that a regulator signaled it’s trying to avoid.

Yang said that Country Garden can maintain “positive assets” for the next ten years “as long as our inventory assets are sold normally.”

Separately, the company said in the statement that it will have three tasks over the next 12 months: ensuring delivery, operation, and credit and it expects to deliver more than 400,000 units in 2024.

Source : BNNBloomberg

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China’s Unfinished Property Projects Are 20 Times the Size of Country Garden https://amoraescapes.com/2023/12/21/chinas-unfinished-property-projects-are-20-times-the-size-of-country-garden/ Thu, 21 Dec 2023 03:35:09 +0000 https://amoraescapes.com/?p=5074   BEIJING — The size of unfinished, pre-sold homes in China is about 20 times…

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BEIJING — The size of unfinished, pre-sold homes in China is about 20 times the size of property developer Country Garden as of the end of 2022, according to a Nomura report on Wednesday.

Country Garden has been the largest non-state-owned developer in China by sales. It ran into financing troubles this year, and defaulted on a U.S. dollar bond last month, according to Bloomberg News.

“We estimate that there are around 20 million units of unconstructed and delayed pre-sold homes,” said Nomura’s Chief China Economist Ting Lu and a team.

About 3.2 trillion yuan ($440 billion) is needed to complete those remaining units, according to the analysts’ estimates.

Apartments in China are typically sold ahead of completion. Ensuring construction of the homes has been a government priority since delays make people less willing to buy new apartments.

At some point next year, the issue of home delivery could turn into a social issue and endanger social stability, and Beijing may eventually need to significantly ramp up policy support.
Nomura

“In our view, amid the collapsing property sector and widespread credit fallout among property developers, home buyers might get increasingly impatient while waiting for the delivery of their purchased new homes,” the Nomura report said.

“At some point next year, the issue of home delivery could turn into a social issue and endanger social stability, and Beijing may eventually need to significantly ramp up policy support,” the analysts said. “We see this as the key to truly restoring the confidence in the property sector and economy.”

Last year, many homebuyers in China decided not to pay their mortgages on property purchases due to long delays in construction. Developers have faced a financing crunch since Beijing’s crackdown in 2020 on their high reliance on debt. Covid-19 restrictions last year also made construction difficult.

“Assuming 20% volume growth in new home completions for the current year, developers will only manage to deliver 48% of the homes pre-sold between 2015 and 2020, leaving 52% still subject to delays,” the Nomura analysts said.

Source : CNBC

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Country Garden Wins Bond Extension in Relief for China’s Property Sector https://amoraescapes.com/2023/10/12/country-garden-wins-bond-extension-in-relief-for-chinas-property-sector/ Thu, 12 Oct 2023 03:10:55 +0000 https://amoraescapes.com/?p=4773   Country Garden has won approval from its creditors to extend payments for an onshore private bond, according…

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Country Garden has won approval from its creditors to extend payments for an onshore private bond, according to sources and a document seen by Reuters, in a major relief for the embattled Chinese developer as well as the crisis-hit property sector.

Country Garden was seeking approval from its creditors to extend the maturity on a 3.9 billion yuan, or $540 million, onshore private bond in a vote that ended on Friday night.

An unprecedented liquidity crisis in China’s vast property sector is a major risk to a sputtering post-Covid recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy, which has rattled global markets.

Country Garden debt payment extension buys time for China’s largest private developer to avoid default, and is good news for financial markets and the Chinese government, which has announced a raft of measures to support the property sector.

The extension means the developer can repay the debt in instalments over three years, instead of meeting its obligations by Saturday. The bond is not publicly traded.

In Friday’s vote, 56.08% of participating Country Garden onshore creditors approved the extension, 43.64% opposed and 0.28% abstained, an official document shared with bondholders showed.

Country Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sources, who have direct knowledge of the matter, asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

China’s property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the economy, has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after the authorities cracked down on developers’ debt-fueled building boom.

As Country Garden’s financial woes spiraled over the past month, Beijing has rolled out a string of support measures including cutting mortgage rates and removing some curbs on home purchases.

The authorities are set to take further action, including relaxing home-purchase restrictions as they scramble to tackle a deepening crisis in its massive debt-riddled property sector, Reuters reported on Friday.

Country Garden’s reprieve may give onshore bondholders some relief, but there is still a long way to go as China tries to defuse risks in the crisis-hit property sector and bolster the economy, analysts said.

“Sales in the biggest cities in China may see meaningful improvement over the next couple of months as Beijing cuts mortgage rates and makes them more easily available to buyers,” said Guotai Junan International’s chief economist Zhou Hao.

“However, how the improvement will trickle down to help the cash flow of developers remains to be seen. Plus different types of developers are likely to benefit from it very unevenly. Those with more projects in the first-tier cities may benefit first.”

The slump in the Chinese property market is driven by more fundamental factors than the cost of borrowing, including broader debt worries in the economy, white-collar workers taking pay cuts and a demographic downturn, analysts say.

Until this year Country Garden was the largest Chinese developer by sales. The company was considered financially sound compared with peers like China Evergrande Group, which defaulted on its debt in 2021.

While Country Garden’s liabilities are only 59% of Evergrande’s, it has 3,103 projects across China, compared with around 800 for Evergrande — making the company matter to systemic stability.

A default by Country Garden would have exacerbated the real estate crisis and put more strain on its onshore lenders.

The developer’s financial woes became public last month after it missed two dollar-coupon payments totalling $22.5 million, raising fears that the country’s deepening property debt crisis would spill over to the broader financial sector.

Country Garden still faces another major challenge next week, when the grace period ends for last month’s missed coupon payments worth a total of $22.5 million on the two offshore dollar bonds.

The developer also has dollar coupon payments on its other offshore bonds coming due each month for the rest of 2023. And it has onshore bond payments totaling 12.6 billion yuan by the end of the year, according to CreditSights.

Moody’s slashed Country Garden’s credit rating by three notches to Ca from Caa1 on Thursday due to worries it could be on the brink of default. It said the firm was facing tight liquidity and recovery prospects for bondholders could be weak.

Country Garden warned on Wednesday of default risks if its financial performance continued to deteriorate, and said it “felt deeply remorseful” for its record loss in the first half.

Source : CNBC

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Country Garden: Property Shares Jump on Debt Reprieve https://amoraescapes.com/2023/10/06/country-garden-property-shares-jump-on-debt-reprieve/ Fri, 06 Oct 2023 02:29:19 +0000 https://amoraescapes.com/?p=4755   Shares in Chinese property firms have jumped after developer Country Garden reportedly secured an…

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Shares in Chinese property firms have jumped after developer Country Garden reportedly secured an extension to a key debt payment deadline.

Major home builders including Country Garden and Evergrande saw their shares rise in Hong Kong on Monday.

Investors also welcomed moves by Beijing to step up its support for the faltering economy.

It marks some rare, good news for China’s crisis-hit real estate industry.

Country Garden’s Hong Kong-listed shares were around 15% higher on Monday afternoon.

The company’s shares are still down by more than 60% since the start of this year.

Country Garden, which is one of China’s biggest property developers, had been due to make payments for a 3.9 billion yuan (£430m; $540m) onshore private bond on Saturday.

The firm avoided defaulting on the debt after Chinese creditors agreed over the weekend to allow it to make the payments in instalments over the next three years, according to reports.

The company has also wired a payment on a 2.85 million Malaysian ringgit (£490,000; $613,000) denominated bond, according to Bloomberg.

However, it is still currently scheduled to make $22m (£17.4m) in debt payments by Wednesday on two US dollar bonds it missed in August.

Country Garden did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

The company’s struggles have come into the spotlight in recent months.

Last week, the firm reported a record $6.7bn (£5.2bn) loss for the first six months of the year.

Country Garden said in a statement at the time that it was “deeply remorseful for the unsatisfactory performance.”

On Friday Beijing stepped up measures to boost the economy, with major banks paving the way for further cuts in lending rates.

It came as concerns grow about China’s property market, which accounts for around a quarter of the world’s second largest economy.

Issues with home builders to industries making the goods that go in them – are having a major impact as the economy struggles to recover from the pandemic.

China’s real estate industry was rocked when new rules to control the amount of money big real estate firms could borrow were introduced in 2020.

Evergrande, which was once China’s top-selling developer, racked up debts of more than $300bn as it expanded aggressively to become one of the country’s biggest companies.

Its financial problems have rippled through the country’s property industry, with a series of developers defaulting on their debts and leaving building projects unfinished across the country.

Just over a week ago, Evergrande posted a 33bn yuan loss for the first six months of the year.

Its shares fell by almost 80% last Monday, in their first day of trading in Hong Kong for a year and a half.

Evergrande shares have lost more than 99% of their value in the past three years as Beijing cracked down on property firms.

China is also facing various issues – including weak economic growth, ballooning local government debt and record-high youth unemployment.

Source : BBC

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Country Garden Debt Deal, China Property Support Moves Trigger Relief Rally https://amoraescapes.com/2023/09/13/country-garden-debt-deal-china-property-support-moves-trigger-relief-rally/ Wed, 13 Sep 2023 11:06:36 +0000 https://amoraescapes.com/?p=4680   HONG KONG/NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Country Garden’s (2007.HK) deal with creditors for an extension on…

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HONG KONG/NEW YORK, Sept 4 (Reuters) – Country Garden’s (2007.HK) deal with creditors for an extension on onshore debt payments worth 3.9 billion yuan ($536 million) boosted shares in the developer on Monday and gave China’s crisis-ridden property sector some much-needed respite.

Country Garden shares ended 14.6% higher after having jumped as much as 19% to their highest level since Aug. 10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng mainland properties index (.HSMPI) climbed as much as 10%.

Global shares also rose on Monday, lifted partly by hopes that China’s steady drip feed of policy stimulus might stabilise the world’s second-biggest economy, which has seen its post-pandemic recovery falling away quickly as the property sector cash squeeze worsened.

But while Country Garden investors may be heaving sighs of relief, it remains to be seen whether a raft of stimulus measures will help revive property demand soon, ease the sector’s cash squeeze and lift the gloom over the wider financial system.

Beijing on Monday added to a series of policy measures in recent months to revive its economy, approving the setting up of a special bureau to promote the development and growth of the private economy.

The private sector is responsible for 80% of new urban jobs, but has struggled to attract investment amid a frail economic recovery over the first half of the year, with business owners also constrained by weak domestic demand.

Carlos Casanova, senior economist for Asia at UBP, said that markets rallied after authorities showed that they were taking bigger steps in the last few days to support the property sector.

“Although these are positive measures for sentiment, which should help to stabilise real demand for homes, the sector is not entirely out of the woods yet,” he said, adding developers’ bond defaults were “artificially low” as Beijing tries to defuse the debt risks in an orderly manner.

The worsening financial woes of Country Garden have further highlighted the fragile state of the country’s real estate industry, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the economy and whose debt situation has been dire since 2021.

Considered financially sound compared to peers, Country Garden, China’s top private developer, had not missed a debt payment obligation, onshore or offshore, until it failed to make coupon payments on dollar bonds last month after slowing home demand hurt its cash flow.

Country Garden later also announced a 48.9 billion yuan first-half loss, a record for the developer.

In the past few weeks, Chinese authorities have rolled out a number of measures, the most significant being the lowering of existing mortgage rates and preferential loans for first-home purchases in big cities.

“We will see in the coming months if these supply-side measures are able to revive homebuying demand, which is crucial for the fate of China’s developers and their ability to handle their upcoming debt maturities,” said Tara Hariharan, managing director at global macro hedge fund NWI Management in New York.

She noted that Country Garden and other developers face payments for sizeable maturities this year.

Country Garden itself faces 108.7 billion yuan worth of debts due within 12 months.

In the deal reached late on Friday, a day before the developer had been due to repay its onshore debt worth $536 million, the company will pay its obligations in instalments over three years.

RESTRUCTURING TALKS

The developer, however, is facing a call from some smaller onshore bondholders for the nullification of a deal to extend repayment of a bond, arguing it was unfair and illegal, according to sources and a document.

In a letter opposing the deal, which the sources said has been sent to Country Garden and seen by Reuters, some creditors complained the procedures of the bondholder meetings were unfair and in breach of rules and laws.

Country Garden declined to comment.

Besides the onshore debt extension deal, Country Garden has also wired interest payments tied to a 100 million Malaysian ringgit ($21.5 million) bond that was due on Sept. 2, said a source familiar with the matter.

The source asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The developer has another impending debt payment challenge – the ending of a grace period on Tuesday for last month’s missed coupon payments worth a total of $22.5 million on two offshore dollar bonds.

That it was able to avert an onshore default with the extension deal has raised hopes it will be able to make the interest payments on those bonds, said three of its offshore creditors.

The bondholders declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

After making the interest payments by Tuesday, the creditors said they expect Country Garden to enter into restructuring negotiations for its entire offshore debt to avoid a “hard default”, similar to what it did with the onshore creditors.

While China’s property industry may have gained some respite, some market participants said they plan to stay away from the sector until there is a rebound in home sales.

“We sold all our Chinese real estate stocks in April 2020 and haven’t bought back any since,” said Qi Wang, CEO of Hong Kong-based MegaTrust Investment. “Wouldn’t touch the private developers with a 10-foot pole right now.”

Source : Reuters

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