Category Archives: Evergrande

PwC expecting six-month China ban over Evergrande audit

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Company tells clients it also expects to receive a large fine following property developer’s collapse

The auditor PwC China has reportedly told clients that it expects to receive a six-month ban from Chinese authorities, and potentially a large fine, as a punishment for its role in auditing the collapsed property developer Evergrande.

PwC expects to be banned from conducting regulated activities in China, such as signing off on financial results, for six months starting in September, the Financial Times reported.

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Evergrande collapse: Hong Kong court orders liquidation of China property giant

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Judge says ‘enough is enough’ after developer, which has $300bn in debt, fails to provide convincing restructuring plan

Embattled Chinese development company, Evergrande, has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court after an 18-month long hearing.

Evergrande, which holds the ignominious title of the world’s most indebted property developer with about $300bn in liabilities, failed to convince the court that it had a viable restructuring plan, after having been given seven extensions since court proceedings were first brought in June 2022. However it can still appeal.

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China’s Evergrande wins more time to restructure debts

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Hong Kong court gives property developer until 29 January to formulate deal for creditors

The property developer Evergrande has been granted an extension until late January to try to restructure its debts and avoid liquidation in one of the most high-profile cases in China’s long-running property crisis.

Evergrande was once China’s biggest property developer, but a default on offshore debt obligations in 2021 started a lurch from one crisis to another. It has reported debts of more than $300bn (£237bn), much of it to individuals whose properties were never built.

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Evergrande, the ‘runaway’ developer that could become a wrecking ball for China’s economy

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The regulatory crackdown that sparked arrests and a debt crisis in China’s second-biggest developer may do more harm than good to market, say analysts

The saga of China’s second-largest development firm has escalated from a financial crisis to a potentially criminal one with the investigation and detention of Evergrande chairman and founder, Hui Ka Yan.

The company resumed trading on Tuesday after it was suspended last week in the wake of media reports of Hui’s apprehension. But analysts say signs point to a potential liquidation of the company, which could have drastic ramifications for China’s economy too.

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Evergrande shares soar as trading in crisis-hit China firm resumes

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Stock was suspended after report billionaire founder Hui Ka Yan was under police surveillance

Shares in the embattled Chinese property developer Evergrande jumped after trading resumed in Hong Kong after their suspension last week.

Shares soared more than 40% early on and were later 20% ahead. Trading in Evergrande and its property services and electric vehicle subsidiaries was suspended on Thursday, after a Bloomberg report that the company’s billionaire chairman and founder, Hui Ka Yan, was under police surveillance. On Friday, the company said he was being investigated over suspected “illegal crimes”.

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Evergrande founder ‘being investigated for suspected crimes’

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Chinese group’s statement about chair Hui Ka Yan piles on the woe for once top-selling property developer

The founder of China’s Evergrande is being investigated over suspected “illegal crimes”, the group has said, as creditors become increasingly concerned about the prospects of the world’s most indebted property developer.

Evergrande Group, which has more than $300bn (£245bn) in total liabilities, did not say whether Hui Ka Yan was still in a position to run the company, or what crimes he was being investigated for.

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Evergrande halts share trading as woes mount for China’ property giant

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Suspension comes a month after developer resumed trading and follows its chair reportedly being put under police surveillance

Embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande has suspended share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange only a month after it resumed trading after a 17-month suspension.

Trading in its two other units – the property services and electric vehicle groups – also stopped at 9am on Thursday, according to notices posted by the stock exchange.

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Evergrande arrests: China police detain staff at property giant’s wealth management arm

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Police do not list charges against arrested workers but urge public to report any suspected fraud

Police in China have arrested several employees at a subsidiary of Evergrande, the troubled property giant that is struggling under debts running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Employees at Evergrande’s financial subsidiary, Evergrande Wealth Management, were arrested, police in the southern city of Shenzhen said in a statement, without specifying the number of employees or the charges against them.

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Evergrande shares plunge further amid China economy fears

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Property developer’s value fell by more than $2bn as stock resumed trading after 17-month suspension

Shares in Evergrande fell a further 13% on Tuesday after more than $2bn was wiped off the Chinese property developer’s market value when it resumed trading for the first time in almost 18 months on Monday.

Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property firm with liabilities of $328bn (£260bn), has lost more than 99% of its share market value over the past three years.

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China’s property crisis deepens with developer Country Garden at risk of default

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Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy protection and firms covering 40% of Chinese home sales have defaulted

China’s property crisis has deepened with two major developers facing severe financial difficulties that threaten to send shock waves through the country’s economy and beyond.

Evergrande, the poster child for the woes of China’s property sector, filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York on Thursday. The provision permits the company to protect its US assets and will allow cross-border bankruptcy proceedings as it undergoes a restructuring.

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China’s struggling property giant Evergrande files for bankruptcy protection in US

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The company’s chapter 15 protection will protect its US assets while it attempts a restructuring deal

China’s Evergrande Group, the world’s most heavily indebted property developer and the poster child for the country’s property crisis, has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court.

The company sought protection under chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which protects its US assets while it attempts a restructuring deal. The code also provides mechanisms for dealing with insolvency cases involving more than one country.

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A Ponzi scheme by any other name: the bursting of China property bubble

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Only state intervention can save the day, but the pain is likely to fall on ordinary citizens, say observers

A little more than a year ago, a Chinese property developer largely unknown to the outside world said its cashflow was under “tremendous pressure” and it might not be able to pay back some of its eye-watering debts of $300bn (£275bn).

Today, that company, China Evergrande Group, is all too well known as the poster child of the country’s economic woes. House prices in China have fallen in each of the 12 months since Evergrande’s now prophetic warning, with Xi Jinping’s government now preparing to throw billions of dollars at a property market that experts say increasingly resembles a giant Ponzi scheme.

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Evergrande lenders appoint receiver to seize Hong Kong HQ – sources

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Crisis at debt-laden Chinese property developer deepens in wake of default last year and failure to sell building

Lenders to the struggling Chinese developer Evergrande Group have appointed a receiver to seize its Hong Kong headquarters, two sources have said, as the world’s most indebted developer struggles to emerge from its debt crisis.

Evergrande is saddled with more than $300bn (£260bn) in liabilities and has been kept alive by a government-run rescue operation since it defaulted on $22.7bn of overseas debts in December last year.

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Suez Canal briefly blocked again after another ship, Affinity V, becomes stuck

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Tanker blocked canal for hours, close to where Ever Given container ship became stuck, disrupting supply chains for a week

A tanker getting stuck used to be more the domain of niche business news, but that was before the Ever Given, so all eyes were soon on the Affinity V tanker’s plight in the Suez Canal.

On Wednesday, the 250-metre long Affinity V tanker was bound for Saudi Arabia when it ran aground close to the same spot in the narrow southern section of the canal in Egypt where the Ever Given container ship caused a week-long halt to traffic in March 2021, dominating global headlines and paralysing supply chains.

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Chinese developer Shimao plans fire sale after downgrade and missed payment

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Fears over contagion mount as a company once considered financially sound is running out of cash to pay its debts

A Chinese developer previously considered financially sound is embarking on a fire sale of assets as the contagion of bad debts built up within China’s bloated housing sector continues to spread.

Shimao Group Holdings, which is in the top dozen Chinese property companies, was plunged into crisis after it said it defaulted a trust loan last week after missing a 645m yuan ($101m) payment that it guaranteed.

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China’s indebted property sector highlights a fading economic revival

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Xi Jinping’s mission is not only to control the housing bubble, but rein in untethered industries and foreign capital

China’s economy has become heavily dependent on property development over the last decade. High-rise apartments have mushroomed across hundreds of cities to house a growing white-collar workforce, while glass and steel office blocks are dominating city centres, mimicking Shanghai’s glittering skyline.

Valued at more than $50tn after 20 years of rapid growth, Chinese real estate is worth twice as much as the US property market and four times China’s annual income.

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China unveils package to boost economy amid IMF growth warning

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Beijing to increase business lending and build more affordable housing as post-Covid recovery falters

China’s politburo has signalled measures to kickstart the faltering economy as the crisis gripping the country’s debt-laden property sector continued to play havoc with growth forecasts.

Amid a warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that a slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy could hurt the global recovery from Covid-19, President Xi Jinping’s senior leadership committee rubber-stamped a plan from the central bank on Monday for more targeted lending to businesses. They also outlined support for the housing market.

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China Evergrande shares hit record low as it edges closer to default

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With $82.5m repayment due, property developer appears to be heading for restructuring

Shares in the struggling Chinese property developer Evergrande hit a record low on Monday after strong indications that it is on the verge of a potentially disastrous default and could be forced into a full-blown restructuring.

The company has lurched from one crisis to another in recent months as it faced a series of repayments on debts – three times waiting until the last possible moment to stump up the cash needed to stay afloat.

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Speculation nation: Can Xi Jinping’s property tax deflate China’s housing bubble?

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Analysis: President faces an uphill battle to undo a system that has led to a bloated property sector

Xi Jinping’s to-do list has seen a lot of ticks in recent months: more flights into Taiwan’s defence zone; suppressing dissenting voices in Hong Kong; clipping the wings of tech barons; outlawing the out-of-school tutoring industry. The list goes on.

However, one key initiative – introducing a local property tax – has attracted fewer headlines but is apparently so controversial within China’s ruling Communist party that even Xi is still only able to deal in trial schemes rather than wholesale change.

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Oil prices climb to fresh highs, UK petrol price hits record – business live

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After Tesco’s website and app were down for most of the weekend, leaving many frustrated customers unable to shop online, HSBC’s business banking portal (called HSBCnet) had some issues this morning.

Large corporate customers only had intermittent access via the website or app for about an hour, from 9.10am, but the problem has been fixed, according to HSBC.

This is truly a dark day for drivers, and one which we hoped we wouldn’t see again after the high prices of April 2012. This will hurt many household budgets and no doubt have knock-on implications for the wider economy.

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