BlackRock downgraded Chinese stocks to neutral from overweight
In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, the world’s biggest asset manager sours on China equities, and troubled developer Sunac files for Chapter 15 protection in New York. Also making the cut are GuocoLand’s latest tender win in Singapore and Evergrande’s stubborn creditors.
BlackRock Downgrades China Stocks as Conviction Sours Amid Property Slump
Seven months after taking a punt on Chinese stocks, BlackRock is turning bearish again as almost everything has fallen short of expectations for the world’s biggest money manager.
Strategists at the BlackRock Investment Institute downgraded its tactical view on Chinese equities and their emerging-market peers to neutral from overweight, saying “China’s property sector remains a drag even with growth showing signs of stabilising”. Read more>>
Sunac Seeks Chapter 15 Protection in New York Court
Chinese developer Sunac China Holdings has filed for Chapter 15 protection from creditors in a US bankruptcy court, court documents showed Tuesday.
The company sought protection under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, which shields non-US companies that are undergoing restructuring from creditors that hope to sue them or tie up assets in the US. Read more>>
GuocoLand JV Awarded Tender of Lentor Central Parcel at S$435.2M Bid
The joint venture of GuocoLand, Hong Leong Holdings and CSC Land Group has won the bid for the Lentor Central land parcel.
The JV’s bid price of S$435.2 million ($332.6 million) beat Frasers Property’s S$410.8 million and was accepted by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Monday. Read more>>
Evergrande Restructuring Rests in Hands of Secretive Holdout Creditor Group
A large but secretive group of creditors is emerging as one of the last major roadblocks to a historic restructuring of China Evergrande Group.
Identified only as Class C creditors by Evergrande, the group is the second-biggest of its kind with $15 billion in claims — and among the only two that did not provide sufficient backing for the troubled developer’s debt plan based on its last public disclosure. Evergrande, which has about $328 billion in liabilities, will have to win them over at key creditor meetings on 25 and 26 September as it tries to avoid a liquidation. Read more>>
Evergrande Downplays Impact of Staff Arrests in Shenzhen
Indebted property giant China Evergrande said the arrest of certain members of staff from its Evergrande Wealth Management unit would have no impact on its operations, according to a filing by the property developer with the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Meanwhile, property management affiliate Evergrande Property Services said it remains uncertain whether it can meet its debts in the next 12 months after securing RMB 13.4 billion ($1.84 billion) in loans for the embattled developer, according to a separate exchange filing on Monday. Read more>>
Hong Kong Rental Market Heats Up While Singapore Boom Cools
Hong Kong rents are rising again as overseas workers return, a recovery that contrasts with the cooling market in rival financial hub Singapore.
Hong Kong rents rebounded from their first-quarter decline to climb 2.8 percent in the second quarter of 2023, Knight Frank data show. While Singapore recorded the same pace of gains, growth in the latter city’s rents was the weakest since 2021 and down from a recent peak rate of 8.6 percent. Read more>>
Hong Kong Developers Are Turning Cautious: Wheelock Chairman
Hong Kong’s developers have become cautious in acquiring land, as evidenced by a number of failed government land sales recently, according to Stewart Leung, chairman of the Real Estate Developers Association.
Leung, who also chairs Wheelock Properties, cited the example of the withdrawn tender of a site in Stanley earlier this year in which Wheelock participated, in an interview with local media. Read more>>
SRE Group Opts Against PwC Reappointment
The board of Hong Kong-listed SRE Group has resolved not to reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditor of the company at the forthcoming annual general meeting.
The developer said it was unable to reach consensus with PwC on the auditor’s remuneration for the financial year ending 31 December 2023. Read more>>
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