Chinese developer Greenland discloses overdue debt

Bloomberg

Greenland Holdings Corp., China’s fourth-biggest developer by property sales, said it had overdue loans of $69.2 million in some units in the northeast province of Liaoning at the end of June, underscoring concerns about the company’s debt problems.
Companies under Greenland’s unit in Liaoning had overdue short-term debt of 247.5 million yuan, as well as 210 million yuan in long-term obligations, according to Greenland’s interim report.
The company told Bloomberg News its project
in China’s northeast faced repayment problems due to the region’s weak real estate market.
China’s property market has turned “significantly” from the second quarter due to the heightened crackdown on the real-estate sector, the Shanghai-based firm, 46.4 percent owned by the municipal government, said in last week’s report. The nature of the joint-venture in some projects and management issues were among reasons for the overdue loans, an investor relations officer at Greenland said in response to Bloomberg queries.
“The impact of overdue loans on Greenland is reputational risk,” said Zhi Wei Feng, Singapore-based head of China corporate credit research at Standard Chartered Plc. “The company needs to improve transparency and communication with investors.”
This isn’t the first time a Greenland unit has had problems repaying debt. Last year, Greenland affiliate Shanghai Yunfeng Group Co was in default on 2 billion yuan of privately placed notes after the triggering of early repayment clauses, according to a Caixin magazine report. The banks involved in the overdue debt include Bank of Jinzhou Co, Bank of Yingkou Co, Shengjing Bank Co and Hengfeng Bank Co.