Evergrande Seeks To Resume Trading After Shares Were Halted In March 2022

(Bloomberg) -- China Evergrande Group, the defaulted developer at the heart of the country's real estate crisis, applied to resume stock trading after a 17-month halt, saying it has fulfilled all the listing requirements.

Evergrande is seeking to restart trading in Hong Kong on Aug. 28, ending a suspension that began in March last year, according to a filing Friday. The property developer released long-delayed earnings last month for 2021 and 2022, helping it meet requirements to resume trading. 

The resumption would be the latest recovery step for the embattled developer, which is undergoing one of the biggest debt overhauls ever in China. The real estate giant sought Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York last week, shielding it from creditors in the US while it works on the restructuring deal elsewhere. The company also received court approval to hold votes on its offshore-debt restructuring plan, scheduled for next week.

Evergrande first defaulted on a dollar bond in December 2021 following months of uncertainty about its finances. The company's struggles helped set off the initial wave of concerns about China's property sector that have kept growing. The contagion also spread to Country Garden Holdings Co., once the nation's biggest developer, that's now on the verge of default after missing coupon payments. China has responded with several measures to revive the property market, including the latest easing of mortgage policies.

Read more: Evergrande Pushes Restructuring Plan After $81 Billion Loss 

Evergrande said it has met six requirements to resume trading next week. These include publishing results and conducting an independent investigation into the enforcement by banks of pledge guarantees for its Evergrande Property Services unit. It also addressed issues raised by its auditors. PwC stepped down as Evergrande's auditor in January and was replaced by Prism Hong Kong & Shanghai Ltd.

As part of the trading resumption request, Evergrande released partial results for the first half of 2023. The firm had contracted sales of 33.4 billion yuan ($4.58 billion), and total assets of 1.74 trillion yuan, according to the statement. The company resumed work on 732 projects and delivered 301,000 units in 2022, it added.

The company is scheduled to hold a board meeting Aug. 27 to approve its interim results for 2023, according to a filing earlier this month.

Evergrande last traded at HK$1.65 (21 US cents) in March 2022, down about 95% from its peak in 2017, for a market value of HK$21.8 billion. 

(Adds details on trading resumption from third paragraph)

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