The company, based in Foshan, Guangdong province, is moving forward with efforts to restructure 12.4 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) in debt as part of a plan to reorganise nine bonds with a total value of 13.5 billion yuan, according to state-owned media outlet The Paper.
For two of the bonds, which previously required a 10 per cent payment on the principal in March, payment has been extended to September. The remaining bonds will be granted a grace period of 60 trading days for the repayment of both principal and interest, according to local media, adding that the developer currently has a total of 20.5 billion yuan in outstanding onshore bonds.
Country Garden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The latest development was another victory for Country Garden, once China’s largest home builder by sales. The firm’s fortunes started to sour in late 2020 when Beijing implemented its “three red lines” policy to deflate a housing bubble and curb excessive borrowing among developers.
Last week, the company said its 2024 loss attributable to shareholders narrowed to 32.8 billion yuan from a whopping 178 billion yuan loss a year earlier. The 2023 loss was mainly due to steep write-offs on properties that were completed or under development, the company said in its annual report.
