Even after a decade of The Lehman’s Brother collapsing, Wall Street shudders. The stroke is still felt. No wonder a new crisis was forthcoming. A businessman named Hui Ka Yan founded the company known as Hengda Group now known as Evergrande Group. Situated in China, this company now deals in real estate development. Over the years, this developer became the poster boy of China’s property boom. It even owns China’s top professional soccer team. However, this stability did not last much longer.
The trend shows Evergrande’s shares suffered a catastrophic decline on September 23, 2021. This was after the company missed its interest payment obligation to overseas shareholders. By doing so it raised the prospects of the largest defaults in the month of October. Evergrande’s growth was always a threat. The company would sell off properties even before they completed construction. This method helped them become one of the largest real estate developers in the world. A source says last year over 700 unfinished projects were under Evergrande, covering about 137 million sq. meters. As the Coronavirus Pandemic emerged, Beijing introduced new rules regarding property developments. The increased surge in the prices of apartments made Evergrande give out its properties at lower rates to stay afloat. Perhaps, this wasn’t enough to manage its finances.
The crisis has surged because of the intricate liabilities including $88.5 billion in debts, $147.2 billion to suppliers, payrolls, etc, and around $68.7 to income tax and other liabilities. This flushed and wide range of liabilities has struck the finances of China’s biggest property developer.
The implications of this missed interest payment are manifold. The Evergrande Group can go bankrupt. This means stakeholders who still haven’t got their property will lose all of their money in a bust. Secondly, companies associated with them like those of their suppliers may also go bankrupt. Lastly, if the latter also holds true then China will face a devastating impact on its financial system. Foreign investors will hardly give their trust and money to an impending disastrous economy. Moreover, a credit crunch may appear and banks will be forced to lend less.
Seeing all of these potential lingering effects, Beijing Government has come to the rescue of Evergrande by pitching them the idea to sell the majority of their commercial stakes or properties to commercial banks for an approx. of $1.2 billion. This money might help the company to meet its looming payment obligations and salvage its economy.
The faith of Evergrande is unknown. It might leave lingering horrifying effects or even a certain dent and a lesson for the world. It is up to the company and its strategic decisions that can cover the crisis.
One reply on “China’s Evergrande Crisis”
This is really insightful and informative. I loved how you explained such complex area of topic with such an ease. I’m waiting for your upcoming articles, post them soon!