Country Garden gets trading resumption guidance from Hong Kong stock exchange, ET RealEstate

BENGALURU: Debt-laden property developer Country Garden said on Thursday it had received guidance from the Hong Kong stock exchange earlier in the week over resumption in trading of its shares, which have been halted since April 2.

The stock exchange has asked the cash-strapped real estate firm to publish all its outstanding financial results along with any audit modifications, the company said in an exchange filing.

Country Garden indicated that it is still preparing the consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended 2023.

“The group is also maintaining ongoing communication and orderly cooperation with the auditor” to finalize and publish the 2023 annual results and despatch the annual report as soon as practicable, the company said.

In the past few months, Country Garden and its advisors have been working with Kroll, a financial and risk advisory firm, with the latter performing an independent recovery analysis on the group which is still reeling from the struggling property market in China.

The Hong Kong exchange has also asked Country Garden to display that it can comply with a market listing rule which requires a company to maintain a certain level of operations or assets to continue being listed.

The developer had defaulted on $11 billion of offshore bonds last year and is in the process of an offshore debt restructuring.

The Hong Kong High Court had further adjourned hearing of a petition seeking liquidation of the real estate company to July end, earlier this month.

Over the past few years, a growing list of developers have defaulted on debt repayment obligations and a handful of them, including China Evergrande, have been ordered to be liquidated.

Advisers to Country Garden, an ad hoc group of bondholders and a group of bank lenders are still working with the firm in exploring all debt restructuring options available.