China Evergrande shares jump in resumed trade

HONG KONG, Jan 4 (Reuters) – China Evergrande Group (3333.HK) shares jumped as much as 10% in resumed trade on Tuesday after the developer said a government order to demolish 39 buildings on the resort island of Hainan would not affect the rest of its project there. read more

The firm, struggling to repay more than $300 billion in liabilities, also said its contracted sales for 2021 had plunged 39% from the previous year to 443 billion yuan ($69.5 billion).

Its shares were up 4.4% to HK$1.66 at 0532 GMT in line with the broader Chinese property sector (.HSMPI).

Evergrande’s shares were suspended from trading on Monday and Tuesday morning, pending the release of inside information.

J.P. Morgan said in a report early this week that most developers had missed their 2021 sales targets, although sales still managed average growth of 3% on-year.

The investment bank expected yearly sales growth to continue to shrink in the first quarter due to a very high base and weak market sentiment.

Evergrande confirmed late on Monday that on Dec. 30 authorities in Danzhou city, Hainan province, had ordered it to demolish 39 buildings at Ocean Flower Island, a massive integrated resort development where Evergrande has spent 81 billion yuan ($13 billion) to build over 60,000 homes.

It has not disclosed the reason for the demolition order and Reuters could not reach Hainan provincial authorities for comment.

The order did not involve other plots of land in the project, Evergrande said on Tuesday.

“The company will actively communicate with the authority in accordance with the guidance of the decision letter and resolve the issue properly,” it added in the filing.

On its liquidity status in general, the firm said it would continue to actively maintain communication with creditors.

($1 = 6.3717 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Stephen Coates

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