Chinese state-linked developer Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. has suspended payment on all its offshore borrowings, citing tight liquidity, as the nation’s property debt crisis deepens.
The country’s 25th-largest builder “is fully committed to formulating a viable holistic restructuring of its offshore debts,” Sino-Ocean said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday. Trading in eight of its dollar bonds on the exchange will be suspended until further notice. Shares fell as much as 6.1 percent in early trading before reversing to trade higher.
The Beijing-based firm, which according to its 2022 annual report owns more than 290 property projects across China and is among the top home sellers in Beijing and Tianjin, has appointed Houlihan Lokey (China) Ltd. as financial adviser and Sidley Austin as legal adviser. Bloomberg News reported last month that Sino-Ocean was in talks with Houlihan.
“In response to mounting liquidity pressures, the Group has been in active dialogues with its creditors and endeavored to proactively manage its liabilities,” Sino-Ocean said in the filing. It added that this year the company “has experienced a rapid decline in contracted sales and increased uncertainty in asset disposals and has continuously faced limitations in various financing activities.”
Sino-Ocean has been one of the biggest sources of angst in China’s credit market the past several months. Dollar bond prices slumped amid mounting concerns that even property firms with state links weren’t immune from a sector debt crisis that has sparked record defaults.
Once one of the stronger names among the country’s debt-laden developers, its struggles have been a sign of the sector’s ongoing liquidity constraints. That has been amplified recently by the payment struggles at Country Garden Holdings Co., which this year has lost its title as China’s largest builder by sales. Sino-Ocean expanded into a range of operations since it was founded in 1993, including property services, logistics and asset management.
In August, Sino-Ocean won bondholder approval to extend a combined $50.2 million of interest payments for three dollar notes by two months. A unit two weeks ago got creditor clearance to stretch repayment of a 2 billion yuan ($275 million) local note through August 2024 after having lost an initial vote regarding such an extension.
On Thursday, the Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee said it had ruled that Sino-Ocean’s missed payment on dollar debt due 2024 was a failure-to-pay credit event, triggering credit default swaps.
Sino-Ocean’s largest shareholder is state-owned China Life Insurance Co., which held a nearly 30 percent stake in the Hong Kong-listed firm, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Having a nearly equal stake is Dajia Insurance Group Co., which took over most of the operations of China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. and has been controlled by a state-run bailout fund.
The builder’s shares have fallen 39 percent this year to record lows. They did surge a record 82 percent on September 11 as a Sino-Ocean affiliate won a 90-day grace period if any event of default occurs involving a yuan note on which a payment extension was sought.
