The indebted Chinese real estate giant Evergrande it fulfilled the reimbursement of the interests of an “offshore” bond one day before the expiration of the maximum term, indicated a state media, avoiding bankruptcy for now.
Fears of a collapse of the group and its repercussions on the Chinese economy have unsettled the markets and caused the conglomerate’s shares to collapse, which returned to trading on Thursday after two weeks paralyzed.
But on Friday, the state newspaper Securities Times indicated, citing “relevant sources,” that the developer had sent a money order for 83.5 million dollars which should have initially reimbursed on September 23rd.
Bondholders must receive payment before Saturday, when the 30-day grace period that was available ends Evergrande.
A source with close knowledge of the case confirmed to AFP that Evergrande sent a money order for the reported value.
In a statement this week, the Shenzhen-based group had announced the failure of a deal to sell 50.1% of its property services unit for $ 2.58 billion.
In that same message he indicated that the resumption of its listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. The return resulted in a 12.5% drop in the value of their securities, which have depreciated more than 80% since the beginning of the year.
This Friday, after transcending the payment of this bond, its shares were trading 4% higher.
Critical situation
Still, analysts warn that the situation remains critical despite the refund.
They may have paid this interest and maybe they can pay other interest, they basically have interest payments every two weeks. (…) But if you look at the fundamentals of the company, that hasn’t changed, “Chen Long, a partner at the firm Plenum, told AFP.
The real estate giant, with a debt of more than 300,000 million dollars, has been in limbo for weeks and acknowledged on Wednesday that “there are no guarantees that it will be able to meet its financial obligations.”
Beijing, which in 2020 implemented measures to reduce the over-indebtedness of the real estate sector, which were very damaging to Evergrande, has insisted that the risks associated with a fall of this giant can be controlled.
Although it paid off a domestic bond in September, it is estimated that the company has already defaulted on $ 150 million of foreign bonds.
According to some reports, authorities have asked local governments to prepare for eventual bankruptcy and some have already taken on certain projects from the developer, analysts say.
“From a macroeconomic perspective, it is not important if the dying Evergrande survives. The important thing is who does or does not assume their commitments, “Leland Miller, CEO of Chinese data analytics firm Beige Book, told AFP.
“From the outside it is quite clear that the most painful is yet to come,” he says.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx