Shimao Misses Payments as $948M Debt Talks Drag On and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, cash-strapped developer Shimao misses trust payments on high-yield products, Singapore’s GIC forms a New Zealand joint venture, and banking giant HSBC takes a $450 million charge related to Chinese property exposure.

Shimao Misses Payment as $948M Debt Talks Drag On

Shimao Group Holdings missed some trust payments and hasn’t reached an agreement to extend repayments on about RMB 6 billion ($948 million) worth of high-yield products with China’s largest trust firm.

The builder didn’t make payments for principal and interest on a portion of the trust products that came due last week, according to a statement to investors from CITIC Trust Co that was seen by Bloomberg. Read more>>

GIC Enters $680M New Zealand JV With Precinct Properties

NZX-listed Precinct Properties NZ will form a new venture with Singapore’s GIC that has the potential to become a NZ$1 billion ($680 million) business.

“Precinct has conditionally agreed the formation of a new real estate investment partnership with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC,” the business told the stock exchange. Read more>>

HSBC Takes $450M Hit on Chinese Property, Plans Buyback

HSBC Holdings took a charge relating to its Chinese commercial real estate exposure and warned of a weaker performance in its wealth business in Asia, blemishing fourth-quarter results that saw the lender boost plans to return billions of dollars to investors.

The London-based bank will initiate a share buyback of as much as $1 billion, on top of an earlier $2 billion programme, according to an earnings statement on Tuesday. The lender posted a 79 percent increase in adjusted pre-tax profit to about $4 billion in the fourth quarter, roughly in line with company-compiled estimates. Read more>>

China Eases Housing Restrictions in More Cities

More mainland Chinese cities are taking steps to shore up the property market as local governments and lenders ease the requirements on down payments and mortgage financing to arrest the worst slump in home sales in a decade.

In Heze, a city in northern Shandong province, four major banks lowered the minimum deposit for home purchases this week to 20 percent from 30 percent, according to some buyers who spoke to the South China Morning Post. Buyers in Beihai in southern Guangxi province have been able to borrow 60 percent of the cost to fund their second homes, up from 40 percent in January, according to the Provident Fund Centre. Read more>>

GDS Raises $620M Through Convertible Notes

Chinese data centre firm GDS has raised $620 million via convertible notes.

GDS this week announced that it has entered into agreements to sell $620 million in convertible senior notes to Sequoia China Infrastructure Fund I, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres and an Asian sovereign wealth fund that “has a strategic relationship with GDS”. Read more>>

China Fights Latest Debt Crisis With Firm That Caused Last One

Three months ago, Chinese authorities saved the country’s largest manager of distressed debt from a potentially disastrous collapse.

Now, they’re turning China Huarong Asset Management and its peers into a key line of defence for the $54 trillion financial system as defaults in the property sector soar. Read more>>

Cromwell E-REIT H2 Distributions Drop 2.8%

Cromwell European REIT’s distribution per unit fell 2.8 percent to €0.08459 for the six months ended 31 December 2021 from €0.08703 in the year-ago period, the trust’s manager said Wednesday.

Net property income grew 10.4 percent year-on-year for the six-month period to €65.8 million ($74.6 million). This was mainly due to higher revenue from new acquisitions in Czechia, Slovakia, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands. There was also an absence of doubtful debt provisions in fiscal 2021 compared with fiscal 2020. Read more>>

Ivanhoe Cambridge, Lendlease Launch New Life Science JV

Ivanhoe Cambridge and Lendlease have launched a new life science joint venture to invest in state-of-the-art labs, offices and manufacturing spaces in high-growth life science clusters across the US, following their partnership to develop 60 Guest Street in Boston.

Lendlease and Ivanhoe Cambridge plan to invest an initial $500 million in equity with aspirations to grow the portfolio through additional equity investments over time. Read more>>

Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.