Country Garden Holdings (2007), a prominent real estate company in China, has publicly dismissed the legitimacy of a liquidation petition initiated by Ever Credit Limited, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Kingboard Holdings (0148). The petition stems from an unsettled loan amounting to HK$1.6 billion, casting a shadow over Country Garden's efforts to restructure its debts and negatively impacting the broader mission of the Chinese government to bolster confidence within the real estate sector. A legal hearing to address this matter is scheduled for May 17.
Two days prior, Country Garden experienced a significant 12.5 percent decline in the value of its Hong Kong-listed shares, continuing a downward trend that has seen the company's stock plummet by over 75 percent in the last year. As of June 2023, Country Garden reported total liabilities of approximately 1.36 trillion yuan (HK$1.5 trillion), an amount alarmingly close to its declared total assets of 1.43 trillion yuan.
In a recent development, Country Garden announced that 135 of its property development projects have been identified by local Chinese authorities as being eligible for financing support, indicating potential avenues for alleviating its financial pressures.
