Chinese junk dollar bonds extended their slump as missed dollar bond interest payments that may lead to a default by major developer Country Garden Holdings Co. darkened the outlook for the debt-stricken sector.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese junk dollar bonds extended their slump as missed dollar bond interest payments that may lead to a default by major developer Country Garden Holdings Co. darkened the outlook for the debt-stricken sector.
Average prices of the nation’s high-yield US currency notes fell to 66.8 cents on Wednesday, the lowest since early December, according to a Bloomberg index. Country Garden’s next maturing dollar bond dropped 1 cent to 11.3 cents on Thursday, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.
Sentiment took a turn for the worse earlier this week as dollar bond holders of Country Garden, once the nation’s largest builder, said they hadn’t yet received coupon payments effectively due Monday. Failure to pay within a 30-day grace period can trigger the firm’s first default. That would deepen China’s years-long property crisis and highlight the challenges policymakers face in trying to rescue the sector.
READ: Country Garden Is in Danger of a Default Rivaling Evergrande
Chinese developers saw a brief rally at the end of July, when support measures from the Politburo meeting had offered hopes. That optimism soon fizzled as heavy-weight builders showed signs of deepening distress, with Sino-Ocean Group Holding Ltd. struggling to get holders to agree on a coupon extension request.
Country Garden’s coupons in question are part of the $2.9 billion debt obligation facing the developer by the end of December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its stock traded in Hong Kong fell for the sixth session, losing as much as 7.2% on Thursday before trimming the decline.
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