China developer Sunac shares plunge to 11-year low after year-long suspension ends

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese property developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd lost more than half its market value on Thursday after resuming trade following a suspension of more than a year, having released results and agreed a debt restructuring.

The share slump came a day after the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it was to resume trading and was implementing a debt restructuring plan.

Shares fell nearly 60% to as low as HK$1.86, their lowest since January 2012 , and ended the day at HK$2.04, still down 55.5% – erasing HK$13.84 billion ($1.8 billion) from the group’s market value.

“The stock was catching up with the decline in the property sector during the year of suspension,” said Steven Leung, a sales director at UOB Kay Hian. 

“It’s a good sign that the company could resume trading as it suggested that the company is able to meet the required criteria for a trading resumption,” he added.

Sunac is among many Chinese developers that defaulted last year as the property sector reeled under a debt crisis.

Over the last two years, property firms in China have struggled to sell new homes or have sold them at lower prices than expected. Beijing began rolling out supportive policies late last year as a result.

Sunac said in late March it had reached agreements with a group of offshore creditors to convert its debt into new notes and convertible bonds backed by its Hong Kong-listed shares and shares in its property management unit Sunac Services.

Sunac published its overdue 2022 interim results last month, showing a core loss of 11.06 billion yuan ($1.61 billion).

The property industry faces an uneven recovery, with some developers like Sunac and China Evergrande Group striking debt restructuring deals, while others face delisting, said Yan Yuejin, an analyst at the E-house China Research and Development Institution in Shanghai.

Earlier this month, the Hong Kong stock exchange canceled the listing of Chinese developer Cinic Holdings after it failed to meet trading resumption requirements in the time allotted.

Sunac said in a statement after the market closed that Chi Xun and Shang Yu had tendered their resignations as executive directors, effective April 13, due to “work duties and responsibilities rearrangement within the group”.

There were no other matters related to the resignations that “need to be brought to the attention” of shareholders, the company said.

($1 = 6.8730 Chinese yuan)

($1 = 7.8498 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting By Donny Kwok, Anne Marie Roantree and Xie Yu; Editing by Jamie Freed and David Holmes)