Trading in China Evergrande shares, onshore bonds halted pending announcement

The China Evergrande Centre building sign is seen in Hong Kong, China December 7, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

HONG KONG, March 21 (Reuters) – Shares of embattled property developer China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) and onshore bonds issued by its flagship unit Hengda Real Estate Group were suspended from trading on Monday, pending an announcement by the company.

Trading was also halted in shares of its property services unit, Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd (6666.HK), and electric vehicle unit, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd (0708.HK), exchange filings showed.

The filings gave no further details.

Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer with over $300 billion in liabilities, has been struggling to repay its suppliers and creditors and complete projects and homes.

Hengda secured approval from its onshore bondholders over the weekend to delay a coupon payment due last September to September 2022, according to a filing by the company’s lawyer to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sunday.

Hengda held a meeting with creditors of the 4 billion yuan ($629 million) 2025 bond on March 18-19 to approve the payment of interests incurred between September 2020 to September 2021 to be made in September 2023. read more

Evergrande has so far avoided technical bond defaults onshore, though it has missed payments on some offshore bonds.

Evergrande shares traded at HK$1.65 before the suspension. They have gained 3.8% this year after plunging 89% in 2021.

Reporting by Clare Jim and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong, Beijing newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar

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