Reuters-Pressure piles on Evergrande with chairman under police watch liquidation risk
September 27, 2023 4 min 659 words
这则报道再次突显了恶化的中国房地产市场和恶名昭著的恒大集团之间的紧张局势。恒大主席许家印的警察监视引发了更多对这个陷入困境的开发商未来的怀疑，尤其是在面临清算风险的压力不断增加的情况下。 这个消息的真实性尚未得到证实，但无论如何，恒大已经是全球最负债累累的地产开发商，中国房地产市场的流动性危机也愈发严重。自2021年以来，恒大及其同行因房屋销售减缓和筹资途径减少而违约了其海外债务义务。此次许家印被警方监视的报道加剧了其海外债务重组计划的不确定性，也使其被清算的前景日益明朗。 此外，恒大最近宣布由于对其主要中国子公司恒大置地的监管调查，无法发行新债券，进一步扩大了其财务困境。同时，恒大置地未能按期支付一项45亿元（约合5.47亿美元）的债券本息，令市场陷入混乱。 尽管恒大股价在香港市场略有回升，但整个中国房地产市场仍然面临诸多挑战。另一家重要的中国开发商碧桂园也面临债券偿付压力，这使中国政府不得不采取一系列支持措施来稳定房地产市场。 总之，中国房地产市场的不确定性持续升级，对私人和混合所有权开发商的违约风险仍然很高，直到中国监管机构采取足够大的刺激措施来恢复市场信心和提高房地产销售。这对全球经济也构成了潜在的风险。
The chairman of China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) has been placed under police surveillance, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, raising more doubts about the embattled developer's future as it also grapples with mounting prospects of liquidation.
Citing people with knowledge of the matter, the report said Hui Ka Yan, who founded Evergrande in 1996 in southern Guangzhou city, was taken away by police earlier this month and is being monitored at a designated location.
It was not clear why Hui was placed under residential surveillance, Bloomberg News said, adding the move was a type of police action that falls short of formal detention or arrest and does not mean Hui will be charged with a crime.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Evergrande, the police department in Guangdong province, whose capital is Guangzhou, and the public security ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Evergrande is the world's most indebted property developer and has been at the centre of an unprecedented liquidity crisis in China's property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the world's second-largest economy.
Once China's top-selling developer, Evergrande's financial crisis became public in 2021 and since then it and a string of its peers have defaulted on their offshore debt obligations amid slowing home sales and fewer new avenues for fundraising.
The reported move of Hui being under surveillance comes as its offshore debt restructuring plan, the key to its survival amid a stifling cash crunch, looks set to falter and the prospects of it being liquidated gather momentum.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that a major Evergrande offshore creditor group was planning to join a liquidation court petition filed against the developer if it does not submit a new debt revamp plan by the end of October.
That plan comes after the company rattled markets on Sunday with its announcement that it could not issue new bonds as part of its debt restructuring plan because of a regulatory investigation into its main Chinese unit, Hengda Real Estate.
Hengda, in a separate filing on Monday, said that it had failed to pay the principal and interest on a 4 billion yuan ($547 million) bond due by a Sept. 25 deadline.
Shares in Evergrande were up 1.3% in afternoon trade in the Hong Kong market on Wednesday, while an index tracking Hong Kong-listed mainland developers (.HSMPI) was little changed from its previous close.
The latest woes for Evergrande come as investors are also focused on another major Chinese developer, Country Garden (2007.HK), which is facing a new bond coupon repayment deadline on Wednesday.
The $40 million coupon, with a 30-day grace period, is tied to an 8%, $1 billion dollar bond that matures in January and is the latest payment challenge facing Country Garden, as the developer strives to avoid default.
The country's No.1 private developer, whose financial woes worsened the property sector outlook and prompted Beijing to unveil a raft of support measures in the last few weeks, scrambled to successfully dodge defaults this month.
Offshore creditors widely expect Country Garden to delay Wednesday's coupon payment, while making use of the grace period to come up with plans to restructure all of its offshore debt.
A Country Garden spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
"The fall of industry stalwarts in China's property space has been alarming, to say the least," said Fiona Kwok, Asian Fixed Income portfolio manager, First Sentier Investors.
"Until Chinese regulators come through with stimulus significant enough to inject optimism into the property market and increase property sales, default risk remains high among private and mixed ownership developers."