China’s indebted property developer Evergrande Group H1 net loss declines to $4.5 billion

The world's most-indebted property developer China Evergrande Group reported a narrower net loss for the first half of the year on 27 August, citing a rise in revenue, reported Reuters.

The January-June loss was 33 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) versus a 66.4 billion yuan loss in the same period a year earlier, said the firm.

Since late 2021, Evergrande has seen a string of debt defaults, unfinished homes, and unpaid suppliers, shattering consumer confidence in the world's second-largest economy.

The firm missed US dollar coupon payments by China's largest private developer, Country Garden, in August and this fanned concern of contagion in an economy already weakened by tepid domestic and foreign demand, faltering factory activity, and rising unemployment, added the report.

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Stating that first-half revenue rose 44% from a year earlier to 128.2 billion yuan, Evergrande said in a filing on Sunday, "It actively planned for the resumption of sales and successfully seized the short boom of the property market that emerged at the beginning of the year," adding the cash fell by 6.3% to 13.4 billion yuan.

Apart from this, its liabilities slightly dropped to 2.39 trillion yuan from 2.44 trillion yuan at the end of 2022, while total assets also shrank to 1.74 trillion yuan from 1.84 trillion yuan.

The real estate developer posted a combined net loss of $81 billion for 2021 and 2022 in a long-overdue earnings report in July against an 8.1 billion yuan profit in 2020.

Though citing multiple uncertainties relating to the business as a going concern, auditor Prism Hong Kong and Shanghai have not issued a conclusion on the annual financial statements report.

Earlier on Friday, Evergrande said it had 'adequately' fulfilled exchange guidance for trading of its Hong Kong-listed stock to resume and had applied for resumption on 28 August. It is to be known that stock trading has been halted since March last year pending the 2021 and 2022 results and the outcome of matters including an investigation into 13.4 billion yuan of deposits seized from a subsidiary.

The firm had even filed for US bankruptcy protection earlier in August as part of one of the world's biggest debt restructuring operations.

On the issue of approving an offshore debt restructuring plan involving $31.7 billion worth of instruments including bonds, collateral, and repurchase obligations, the courts in Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands will decide in early September. However, creditors voted on the plan last week and the developer has yet to disclose the result.

With agency inputs.