By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Shares in Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group (HK:3333) was suspended from trading on Monday, ahead of “an announcement containing inside information.”
Filings from the Hong Kong stock exchange showed that trade was also halted in shares of its property services and electric vehicle units, Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd. (HK:6666) and China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd.
China Evergrande’s Hong Kong shares closed at HK$1.65 ($0.21) before the suspension and have gained 3.8% in 2022 to date after plunging 89% the previous year.
The filings provided no further information for the reason for the suspension. However, it comes after the company said in January 2022 that it aimed to present a preliminary restructuring proposal in the next six months.
China Evergrande has over $300 billion in liabilities and has been struggling to repay its suppliers and creditors as well as complete projects and homes. The company’s flagship unit Hengda Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. also secured approval from its onshore bondholders over the weekend to delay a coupon payment due in September 2021 by a year, a company lawyer's filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sunday showed.
Hengda Real Estate Group held a meeting with creditors of the CNY4 billion ($628.6 million) 2025 bond on Mar. 18 to19 to approve the payment of interests incurred between September 2020 to September 2021 to be made in September 2023. China Evergrande has so far managed to avoid technical bond defaults onshore, although it missed payments on some offshore bonds.
China Evergrande’s onshore unit will sell its 30% stake in a Nanjing property company to Avic Trust Co. for an undisclosed sum, according to local media reports on Sunday.