[The Epoch Times, January 28, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Li Bing) 2023 is called the “debt repayment year” for Chinese real estate companies. The real estate giant Ronshine China Holdings Co., Ltd. (“Ronshine China”) recently announced that a total of about 431 million US dollar bonds have expired, and the company has not yet paid.
Ronshine China announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 26 that Ronshine China issued and listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX”) 8.95% Senior Notes due 2023 with a total principal amount of US$413 million (“January 2023 Notes”, ISIN: XS2031469732 and Generic Code: 203146973), expired on 22 January 2023. A total of US$431,481,750 of principal and interest payable is due and payable. So far, the company has not paid the relevant amount.
Ronshine China stated that the group will actively contact creditors to seek an overall solution to related debts, and the group will also maintain stable project operations and sales and payment collection efforts, so as to do its best to protect the interests of all stakeholders. If the company fails to reach a solution to the corresponding debts with the creditors in a timely manner, the relevant creditors may require accelerated performance of the obligations of the relevant debts or take compulsory actions.
In addition to the inability to pay the above-mentioned US dollar bonds, on October 25, 2022, Ronshine China announced that the US$688 million 8.75% senior notes due 2022 issued by the company and listed on the Singapore Exchange had expired on the 25th. A total of US$718.1 million of deposits and interests payable have been due and payable, but the company has not paid the relevant amount on the due date.
Ronshine China’s sales fell 62% year-on-year
On March 25, 2022, Fitch Ratings, an international credit rating agency, downgraded Ronshine China’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating from “B-” to “CCC”, and Ronshine China’s US dollar senior notes Its senior unsecured rating was downgraded to “CCC” from “B-” with a Recovery Rating of “RR4”. “CCC” is also known as “garbage level”.
Since January this year, the 2022 sales “report cards” of China’s listed real estate companies have been released intensively.
On January 6, Ronshine China released an announcement showing that in 2022, Ronshine China will achieve a cumulative contract sales of approximately 57.873 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 62.8%.
Except for Ronshine China, for the whole year of 2022, the top 100 real estate companies in China will achieve a year-on-year sales decline of as much as 41.6%. Nearly 90% of the top 100 real estate companies have experienced a year-on-year decline in cumulative performance. In 2022, the amount of land acquired by Chinese real estate companies will shrink sharply, and the willingness of real estate companies to invest will fall to the bottom.
2023 is the “debt repayment year” for Chinese real estate companies
It is worth noting that, according to a report recently released by the Crane Research Center, 2023 is the “debt repayment year” for Chinese real estate companies, and real estate companies are under enormous pressure to mature their debts.
Data show that in the first three quarters of 2023, real estate companies will usher in a wave of large-scale debt repayments, with the total size of maturing bonds reaching 552.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%. Among them, 280.5 billion yuan of domestic bonds were due, and 272.4 billion yuan of overseas bonds were due.
Responsible Editor: Sun Yun#