China Evergrande says resumption guidance fulfilled, shares set to trade next week

Embattled property developer China Evergrande Group said on Friday it has "adequately" fulfilled the resumption guidance issued by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and made an application to resume trading in shares on August 28.

Once China's top-selling developer, Evergrande has become the poster child for an unprecedented debt crisis in the country's property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the economy, after facing a liquidity crunch in mid-2021.

Trading in the company's shares was suspended on March 21 last year after it failed to get back on its feet amid the debt crisis.

The company's external auditor, Prism Hong Kong and Shanghai Ltd, reviewed the independent investigation report and concluded that there are no significant off-balance sheet transactions, assets and liabilities, or pledged deposits other than those disclosed by the company, Evergrande said in a filing.

It stated that it had published all outstanding financial results required under the listing rules and considered that the issues raised by its former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its resignation letter, have been satisfactorily resolved.

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Recently, the developer sought protection under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which shields non-U.S. companies undergoing restructurings from creditors who hope to sue them or tie up their assets in the United States.

On the same day, the company's unit, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle, posted a loss attributable from continuing operations of 5.80 billion yuan ($795.84 million), compared with a loss of 3.87 billion, from a year ago.

The company will be meeting with its creditors later this month to discuss an offshore debt restructuring that involves a total of $31.7 billion, which includes bonds, collateral and repurchase obligations.