Two HNA units crash as trading resumes after six-month halt, wiping out US$1.6 billion in value
Shares of five other mainland China-listed HNA units remain suspended
Two units of China’s indebted conglomerate HNA Group have plummeted in Shenzhen when trading resumed following a six-month halt, wiping out 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) in market value, an inauspicious sign for shares of five other units that remain suspended.
HNA-Caissa Travel Group fell by the daily 10 per cent limit to 11.61 yuan immediately after the market opened on Thursday, erasing 1 billion yuan from its market capitalisation.
The travel service unit said late Tuesday it had scrapped a plan to buy a near 60 per cent stake in E-Life Financial, a finance unit of HNA Tourism Group, due to “big changes in industry-related policies and the securities market environment” while the synergy effect from the planned merger was “pending further discussion”.
Bohai Capital Holding, another HNA Group unit, also dropped 10 per cent when it resumed trading on Tuesday, and fell further by 9 per cent on Wednesday.
By Thursday close, it had lost an additional 9.7 per cent to 4.27 yuan. Its market capitalisation has evaporated by 9.7 billion yuan in the three trading days.
A total of seven listed units of the group in mainland China have suspended trading since earlier this year amid investor concerns about the financial distress that HNA is facing.