China Evergrande shares have been shut down and Reuters will release “inside information”

By Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s Evergrande Group’s shares have been suspended from trading on Monday until “internal information” is released, the developer in the dispute said without clarification.

Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, is struggling to repay more than $ 300 billion in liabilities, including nearly $ 20 billion worth of bonds in the international market that were believed to have been lost by ratings companies in the past month.

The property developer lost $ 255 million in new coupon payments last Tuesday, though both had a 30-day grace period.

The company has set up a risk management committee with many members of state-owned companies, and said it will be actively involved with creditors.

Local media reported over the weekend that a city government on the Chinese island of Hainan had ordered Evergrander to demolish its 39 apartment buildings on December 30 within 10 days as a result of illegal construction.

The buildings were more than 435,000 square meters in size, reports added, citing an official note from Evergrand’s Hainan unit.

Evergrand did not respond to Hainan’s request for comment on the development.

On Friday, Evergrande rejected plans to return to investors in its wealth management products, saying that every investor in its wealth management product could expect to receive 8,000 yuan ($ 1,257) a month as a principal payment for three months, regardless of when the investment matures.

The move highlights the tightening liquidity of the real estate developer.

“The market is making progress in removing its assets from Evergrande to pay off its debt, but the process will take time,” said Conita Hung Tiger Faith Asset Management’s director of investment strategy.

“And the demolition order in Hainan will hurt the low confidence of buyers in the company.”

Evergrand said last week that 91.7% of its national projects had been rebuilt after three months of effort. Many projects were stopped in advance after the developer left many of its suppliers and contractors unpaid.

Shares of Evergrand fell 89% last year to close at HK $ 1.59 on Friday.

Its EV unit China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group reversed its initial losses to a 14% rise in afternoon trading on Monday, and the Evergrande Services property management unit also returned from the red to rise 1%.