(Bloomberg) — China’s Country Garden Holdings Co. reported a narrower loss in 2024 as the defaulted property giant seeks to build creditor support for its debt restructuring plan.
The loss attributable to shareholders stood at 32.8 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), compared with a record 178 billion yuan loss in 2023, according to an exchange filing on Sunday. The annual reading indicated a 20 billion yuan loss in the second half, widening from the 12.8 billion yuan loss in the first half.
The Foshan-based developer is continuing lengthy restructuring talks more than a year after defaulting on its debt. It made steep write-offs on properties under development and completed homes held for sale in 2023, laying the foundation for a smaller loss.
“Profit warnings by more Chinese developers including Country Garden before their 2024 results announcements could be good news,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Andrew Chan and Daniel Fan wrote in a recent note. “Developers could be looking to clean up their accounts now and position themselves for a better financing cycle later on.”
Country Garden is counting on a turnaround in operations to secure broad support for its restructuring and fight off liquidation. The developer told a court it expected to reach an agreement with creditors by the end of February, but it missed the self-imposed target date.
The builder again engaged Houlihan Lokey Inc. and China International Capital Corp. as financial advisers on its offshore debt restructuring, Bloomberg reported, renewing ties with the firms as it seeks to build creditor support for its debt plan.
For offshore liability management, Country Garden “is in the process of developing a holistic solution in a fair and equitable manner to achieve a sustainable capital structure,” the developer said in the report.
Country Garden is struggling to turn around a slump in sales, which slumped last month as new home transactions saw only a lukewarm recovery across China.
Country Garden’s next wind-up hearing is scheduled for May 26, but a judge previously said that the timing could be accelerated if creditors aren’t happy with the state of the talks by the end of February.
(Updates with more earnings details)
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