China Evergrande Shares Suspended In Hong Kong Amid Chairman Surveillance Reports

China Evergrande Group EGRNF shares have been suspended from trading in Hong Kong stock exchange following reports that its chairman is now under surveillance.

What Happened: Hong Kong’s exchange announced the suspension of Evergrande’s shares. This news comes in the wake of a Bloomberg report stating that the chairman of the troubled Chinese property developer has been placed under surveillance, CNBC reported.

This is not the first time Evergrande’s shares have seen a halt in trading. In March last year, trading was suspended and only resumed on Aug. 28 after a 17-month hiatus.

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Evergrande reported a loss of 33 billion yuan ($4.15 billion) to shareholders for the six months ending in June, which it disclosed on Wednesday. The company also reported an operating loss of 11.72 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) down from 39.36 billion yuan ($5.42 billion) in the first half of 2022.

Earlier this month, Evergrande postponed a debt restructuring meeting with creditors due to underperforming sales since its March debt restructuring announcement. Owing to an investigation into its subsidiary Hengda Real Estate, Evergrande was unable to issue new notes under its debt restructuring plan.

A week after the detention of several employees at Evergrande’s wealth management unit, Reuters reported that Evergrande’s unit is now under scrutiny by China’s securities regulator for suspected violation of information disclosure rules.

Why It Matters: Evergrande’s ongoing financial turmoil continues to send shockwaves through China’s property sector. The company missed another loan payment deadline earlier this week, leading to further uncertainty. Its CEO was reportedly arrested, and a crucial meeting with creditors about offshore bond repayments was canceled.

The company’s Hengdu Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. subsidiary is set to miss 4 billion yuan ($537 million) in repayments on its three-year 5.8% interest bonds. The ongoing credit troubles at Hengdu also led to Chinese regulators vetoing Evergrande’s proposal to offer offshore bondholders equity securities as an alternative to delinquent bonds. The company’s recent losses and the current investigation into its chairman add to the mounting issues facing Evergrande, highlighting the gravity of the situation.

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