Evergrande to Pay Coupons in Time

Evergrande Group, a leading Chinese property developer, plans to pay coupons before the deadline on Friday, according to sources. The company’s short-term debts totaled 2.4 billion yuan at the end of September and Evergrande was already in breach of its loan covenants with some lenders because it had not paid coupon interest on time earlier this year for two tranches worth 1.5 billion yuan each due March 15 and June 15 respectively.

Evergrande, the parent of China Evergrande Football Club, is struggling to repay a debt of 39 billion yuan for a land-purchase deal that has increased its debt ratio by more than 10 percentage points. Investors were looking to see whether the developer will sell assets in order to repay debts when they became due next year. Evergrande has sold land or properties worth a combined 30 billion yuan since the end of September, according to media reports.

Evergrande’s net profit tumbled 51 percent year on year for the first nine months to 1.46 billion yuan , while sales dropped 41 percent to 56.8 billion yuan, according to its third-quarter earnings statement.

Evergrande Group may attempt to prepay its debts for a second time, according to sources. Evergrande Group was not available for immediate comment when contacted by the Post on Monday night. The developer was able to pre-pay an 8 billion yuan loan last month and said that it planned to pay other loans that were due before the end of this year. It also said that it “has been proactively reducing leverage and improving its financials” after a series of asset sales to repay debts.

On July 20, Evergrande Group announced a plan to sell a 90 percent stake in a property project for 2.2 billion yuan ($348 million) to a unit of Chinese state-owned non-hazardous waste treatment firm Qixing Energy. It also sold another project for 520 million yuan in June with the agreement that it could use the proceeds to prepay part of its debt with Ping An Bank, which came due on Aug 25.

Evergrande’s asset sale has made it the best-performing real estate stock in China, rallying 155 percent so far this year, but its shares have fallen 22.5 percent since July 31 when it issued a statement saying that it was in breach of some loan covenants with creditors, sparking worries about the developer’s possible default.

Evergrande’s stakes in China Evergrande Football Club 30 percent, Cofco Tunhe 80.19 percent , Hengda Real Estate 83.71 percent are traded as American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange .

The parent company of prominent Hong Kong football club South China, Evergrande Group, is planning to pay coupons before the deadline on Friday, according to sources. The company’s short-term debts totaled 2.4 billion yuan at the end of September and Evergrande was already in breach of its loan covenants with some lenders as it had not paid coupon interest on time earlier this year for two tranches worth 1.5 billion yuan each due March 15 and June 15 respectively.

Evergrande, the parent of China Evergrande Football Club , is struggling to repay a debt of 39 billion yuan for a land-purchase deal that has increased its debt ratio by more than 10 percentage points. Investors were looking to see whether the developer will sell assets in order to repay debts when they became due next year. Evergrande has sold land or properties worth a combined 30 billion yuan since the end of September, according to media reports.