Country Garden wins 4-week reprieve in Hong Kong winding-up case as Beijing steps up efforts to end housing market crisis
- Hong Kong’s High Court adjourns hearing to June 11 after deliberating on a winding-up bid by Kingboard Holdings to recover unpaid loan and interest
- A turnaround in China’s housing market proves elusive as sales extended a slump through April amid weak confidence among homebuyers
Justice Lawrence Yip Sue Pui on Friday adjourned the case to June 11 after hearing a litigation by Ever Credit Ltd, a unit of Hong Kong-listed laminates and chemicals producer Kingboard Holdings. Today’s hearing was the first since Ever Credit filed in February to liquidate the firm to recover a HK$1.6 billion in loan and accrued interest.
Country Garden had 1.36 trillion yuan (US$189 billion) in total liabilities on June 30, 2023, according to its latest published accounts. They included 258 billion yuan of bonds and bank borrowings. The developer did not file its annual 2023 report by April 30 under the city’s stock exchange listing rules.
Kingboard suffered a 44 per cent drop in earnings last year, citing provision for credit losses tied to a loan to Country Garden, among others, according to its exchange filing in March.
Country Garden, based in Foshan in southern Guangdong province and once China’s top home builder by sales, is facing mounting pressures to meet its obligations. It earlier defaulted on a dollar-denominated bond in October, forcing offshore creditors into talks to reorganise their debts. Last week, it paid about 66 million yuan of interest on two onshore bonds, within a grace period.