China Evergrande Group has applied for trading of its shares to resume on Tuesday, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
The Shenzhen-based developer said it was notified by relevant authorities last week that its chairman and founder Hui Ka-yan was placed under so-called “mandatory measures” due to “suspicion of illegal crimes”, hours after its shares and those of its two major subsidiaries were suspended from trading on September 28.
“The board is of the view that there is currently no other inside information in relation to the company that needs to be disclosed,” Evergrande’s executive director Siu Shawn said in the filing late on Monday.
03:18
China Evergrande suspends market trading amid questions about chairman’s whereabouts
China Evergrande suspends market trading amid questions about chairman’s whereabouts
Hui, known as Xu Jiayin on the mainland, has not been seen in public for some time, and his whereabouts have been a subject of intense speculation in Chinese media. His disappearance was preceded by the arrest of several top group executives last month.
The crisis in China’s real estate sector has widened, and Country Garden Holdings, the biggest developer by sales in 2021 and 2022, is the latest major developer to face concerns about its ability to service its debt.
Evergrande has struggled to restructure US$20 billion of its offshore debt and claims just as the process entered its final leg last quarter.
Evergrande’s shares will be “under pressure as investors who hold the stocks may sell it”, said Kenny Wen, KGI’s head of investment strategy based in Hong Kong.
“Given the fundamentals, I do not recommend retail investors trade the stock. There are better choices in Hong Kong’s market.”
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Last Thursday’s trading halt came a month after the group emerged from a 17-month suspension. The company and its subsidiaries had a combined market capitalisation of HK$16.7 billion (US$2.1 billion) on September 27, a decline of nearly 80 per cent from their value before they resumed trading in August.
“The share price will be under pressure as investors may worry about the uncertainties as [Evergrande’s chairman is] under arrest,” said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International.
