Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. told creditors that it’s paid coupons of two dollar bonds within grace periods, avoiding what would be its first default.
Noteholders spoke about the matter asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Country Garden didn’t immediately offer a comment when reached Tuesday.
The builder, among the most indebted property firms in the world, had to pay a combined $22.5 million in interest on two dollar bonds within a grace period ending Sept. 5-6. It had missed paying the coupons by an initial effective due date of Aug. 7, and had a 30-day grace period to honor them before a default could be called.
The payment means Country Garden, once the country’s largest builder by sales, has narrowly dodged a potential first-time default, bringing some respite amid a liquidity crisis that’s shaken the nation’s financial markets. The development comes as China seeks to revive a property market mired in a years-long crisis.
Helmed by one of China’s richest women Yang Huiyan, Country Garden’s miss on the initial deadline for those payments last month jolted markets, dragging Chinese junk dollar bonds to their lowest levels this year. With more than 3,000 housing projects across the nation — quadruple the amount that China Evergrande Group has — the liquidity crisis at Country Garden could lead to a worse impact.
Country Garden has taken a series of steps recently to avert defaulting on its debt. It won sufficient support in a vote that ended late Friday to stretch payments on a yuan note, according to filings to the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s private disclosure platform that were seen by Bloomberg News.
Separately, Country Garden is now proposing to extend principal payments for eight other yuan bonds by three years, according to holders who said they were briefed by company advisers.
The real estate giant wired a coupon payment that was coming due on a ringgit-denominated bond.
But more tests loom. Country Garden recently posted an unprecedented net loss of 48.9 billion yuan while attributable sales - a key source of developer funding - fell 35% through July. Meanwhile, it still faces more than $2 billion of potential note obligations for the rest of this year.
Below is a calendar of Country Garden bond principal and interest payments across currencies potentially due just in September:
--With assistance from Pearl Liu.
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