Country Garden, China’s largest developer by sales and one of the few remaining investment grade-rated (BB+/Baa3/BBB-) Chinese developers, bought back $10mn worth of its dollar bonds on Monday in a bid to calm investor concerns over its liquidity position. The buyback included $5mn each of its July 2022s and April 2026s with the company indicating further buybacks “as and when appropriate”. Country Garden’s bonds have been under pressure since last week after news of a failed convertible bond issuance, indicating weakened access to capital markets. Its 4.2% 2026s have fallen to 67.38 cents on the dollar from ~92 levels earlier this month.
Adding to the negative news, a local housing regulator said that the government of West Coast New Area in the eastern city of Qingdao has halted sales of two home projects of Country Garden and a project of China Aoyuan because of a violation in sales, as per Bloomberg. Further details were not disclosed.
Separately, related company Country Garden Services Holdings (CG Services), one of China’s large property services providers, is distancing itself from the developer, stating that it would not serve as a financing vehicle for the parent, as per SCMP. Huang Peng, CFO of CG Services said on Monday, “Through management and control on capital [exchanges] with the group [Country Garden] and through our own independence and isolation, we can balance our business momentum.”
