CIFI chairman Lin Zhong is joining the restructuring club (Getty Images)
Mainland China’s developer credit crisis dominates the news again today after Shanghai-based CIFI Holdings announced that it will enter restructuring and Greenland Group said it will seek an extension on an offshore bond. Also, getting some virtual ink is a downgrade for Country Garden, and a rare set of super-luxury bungalows is going on the market in Singapore.
Mainland Developer CIFI Suspends Debt Payments, Starts Restructuring
Shanghai-based property developer CIFI Holdings said on Tuesday it has suspended payments on all of its offshore debt after it failed to reach an agreement with creditors to which it owes $414 million in total.
CIFI said in a filing it has engaged Haitong International Securities Company Limited as financial advisor and Linklaters as legal adviser to facilitate a restructuring of its $6.85 billion offshore debt, as it is likely to come under continued pressure to generate sufficient cash flows for repayments. Read more>>
Shanghai’s Greenland Group Seeks Extension on Offshore Bond
Chinese property developer Greenland Holdings Corp said on Monday it was seeking its offshore bondholders’ approval to extend repayment on its bonds due between next month and 2025 by up to two years due to falling sales and poor market conditions.
State-backed Greenland joins a string of Chinese developers that have delayed or defaulted on offshore debt obligations since the second half of last year due to a stifling cash squeeze triggered partly by a regulatory crackdown. Read more>>
Fitch Downgrades China’s Largest Developer, Gives Negative Outlook
Fitch Ratings has downgraded China-based homebuilder Country Garden Holdings Company Limited’s Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs), senior unsecured rating and the rating on the outstanding bonds to ‘BB-‘ from ‘BB+’. The Outlook is Negative. The ratings have been removed from Rating Watch Negative (RWN).
The downgrade reflects the property sector’s continued poor capital-market conditions, limiting Country Garden’s access to unsecured funding and affecting its financial flexibility. Country Garden’s contracted sales may have stabilised in recent months and Fitch believes its available cash balance and internal cash generation should be sufficient to cover its medium-term capital-market debt maturities. However, there remains uncertainty over the sustainability of its sales, as well as the availability of its cash on hand. Fitch believe these risks are appropriately reflected at the current rating level. Read more>>
China Home Sales Fell 28.4% in October
China’s home sales slump intensified in October, the latest sign that a recovery in the nation’s property market remains distant.
The 100 biggest real estate developers saw new-home sales drop 28.4 percent from a year earlier to 556.1 billion yuan (S$107.8 billion) in October, according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information (CRIC). That plunge widened from a 25.4 percent slump in September. Read more>>
Hong Kong Negative Equity Mortgages Rise Nine-Fold
Cases of negative equity in Hong Kong’s residential mortgage loans registered a near ninefold increase in the third quarter from the previous one, the city’s de facto central bank said, with a fall in house prices accelerating during the period.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said in a statement on Monday (Oct 31) its survey estimated 533 cases of negative equity at the end of September, involving HK$3 billion (S$541 million), compared to 55 cases and HK$300 million at the end of June. Read more>>
India’s AdaniConneX Launches Chennai Data Centre
AdaniConneX, the joint venture between EdgeConneX and Indin conglomerate Adani Enterprises, has launched its first data center in Chennai, after partnering last with EdgeConneX to develop new server facilities in the country.
According to the company’s website, phase one of Chennai 1 offers 17MW, and will offer 33MW of IT load at full build-out. Building one spans five floors and 213,000 sq ft. A second building is planned for the future. Read more>>
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT Reports Positive Rental Reversions of 5.4%
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT posted a positive rental reversion of 5.4 percent for lease renewals in Q3 ended September, down from 13.2 percent in Q2, the manager announced in a quarterly business update on Monday (Oct 31).
It expects rental reversion for FY2022 to be in the “positive mid-single digit range”. In the year to date, rental reversion stands at 8 percent. Read more>>
Three Nassim Road Bungalows Marketed in $168M Singapore Deal
It’s a rare moment for Singapore’s luxury property market. Three of the country’s most prestigious homes, known as good class bungalows, are on sale in a quiet central neighborhood where only five such mansions have changed hands over the past five years.
The coveted residences are expected to fetch a record price of almost S$240 million (US$168 million) combined after prospective buyers submit bids by Nov 3. Read more>>
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