Evergrande delays results as lenders claim $2bn

Evergrande has blamed a “drastic change” in its prospects for a delay in publishing its annual results. The Chinese developer has promised investors that it will reveal how it plans to restructure its $300bn debts by the end of July. Evergrande, which has been kept alive by a Chinese government-run rescue operation since it defaulted on $22.7bn of overseas debt in December, said audit work would not be completed by the 31 March deadline. It promised to “further enhance communications” with investors. The heavily indebted developer’s lenders have laid claim to a vast chunk of its cash, dealing a further blow to international investors. Lenders to a property services unit of China Evergrande Group have claimed more than $2bn of its cash. International investors had been hoping to recoup some of their losses through the subsidiary. The claim stands to hit the remaining value of Evergrande’s international bonds, which are already trading at a fraction of their $20bn face value following the company’s default late last year. A bond maturing in 2025 is trading at 13 cents on the dollar. Evergrande said in a Tuesday filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that lenders had taken over Rmb13.4bn ($2.1bn) of the subsidiary’s deposits that were pledged as security for “third party guarantees”. It did not give further details or identify the lenders. The FT (£) The Guardian