Chinese developer CIFI Holdings Group Co.’s shares plunged by a record after trading resumed upon the release of its earnings, which underscored the hit from a prolonged property downturn.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese developer CIFI Holdings Group Co.’s shares plunged by a record after trading resumed upon the release of its earnings, which underscored the hit from a prolonged property downturn.
The stock fell as much as 55% in Hong Kong, the biggest drag on a Bloomberg gauge of Chinese builder shares. The index, headed for a third day of losses, is close to erasing all gains notched during last year’s reopening rally.
The slide comes after the builder reported a net loss of almost 9 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in the first half of the year. Trading of its shares had been halted since end-March as the firm failed to release earnings on time, adding to a wave of suspensions by fellow troubled developers.
“Similar to most other distressed developers, we believe CIFI’s liquidity stress is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts including Karl Chan wrote in a note, citing a lack of funding access and weak sales.
Pessimism in the property sector has deepened recently, with fresh drama unfolding at China Evergrande Group as its restructuring process came to a halt. Investors are bracing for further troubles at some distressed builders after policy support failed to drive a sustainable recovery in home sales. The property market could take as long as a year to recover, according to a former central bank adviser, who urged Beijing to do more to encourage lending to developers.
Earlier this week, the developer stock index slumped by the most in nine months after China Aoyuan Group dived following a resumption in trading.
CIFI was one of the first beneficiaries of a key state-led program in 2022 aimed at helping cash-strapped builders sell onshore bonds with guarantees amid the property sector’s liquidity crunch. But the company’s default on offshore debt weeks after selling a guaranteed yuan bond tested investor faith on state aid.
–With assistance from Kevin Kingsbury.
(Adds analyst comment, more context.)
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