Troubled Evergrande suspends share trading again

HONG KONG

Embattled Chinese developer giant Evergrande announced on Dec. 3 it was once again suspending trading of its shares in Hong Kong.

The country’s property firms have struggled in the wake of Beijing’s drive to curb excessive debt in the real estate sector as well as rampant consumer speculation.

Drowning in $300 billion in liabilities, Evergrande has struggled to repay bondholders and investors after Beijing’s crackdown suddenly turned off the liquidity taps.

“At the request of the Company, trading in the shares of the Company was halted at 9:00am on 3 January 2022 pending the release by the Company of an announcement containing inside information,” the group said in a short statement on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

It previously saw a period of suspended share trading back in October.

The troubled developer was labelled as being in default by international ratings firms last month after it failed to repay liabilities on time.

Earlier struggles to pay suppliers and contractors due to the debt crisis led to sustained protests from homebuyers and investors at the group’s Shenzhen headquarters in September.

Last week, Evergrande momentarily cheered investors by insisting it would be able to deliver tens of thousands of units this month, and pay off some debts.

But its shares took a dive at the end of the week after a report that the group had failed to meet two more offshore payments.

In recent months, the company has repeatedly said it will finish its unfinished projects and deliver them to buyers in a desperate bid to salvage its debts, despite having missed the earlier payment of more than $1.2 billion.

But in a new headache for the firm, local Chinese media reported over the weekend that it has been ordered to demolish 39 buildings by the authorities on Hainan island because the structures were built illegally on an artificial archipelago in the tourist hub.