China Vanke posts another quarterly loss on sales drought
CHINA Vanke recorded a second consecutive quarterly loss, adding to the developer’s financial woes as it struggles with slumping sales and a cash crunch.
The net loss was 362 million yuan (S$69 million) for the first quarter, the Shenzhen-based company said in an exchange filing on Monday (Apr 29). That narrowed from a 1.46 billion yuan loss in the fourth quarter. The company posted a profit of 1.45 billion yuan a year earlier.
Vanke, the country’s second-largest developer by sales last year, has seen its stock and bonds slide over concerns about its financial condition. S&P Global Ratings became the third major ratings company to cut the developer to junk earlier this month, following similar moves by Moody’s and Fitch.
The state-backed builder is seeking to ease worries about its ability to avoid default. Earlier this month, executives including chairman Yu Liang told brokerages that Vanke will “make full use of all existing financing facilities” and is receiving understanding and support from financial institutions. Its sales drought has continued to drag on, with transactions falling 43 per cent in March from a year earlier.
Vanke saw its cash and cash equivalents down 41 per cent year on year to 80.8 billion yuan at the end of March, the filing showed. Revenue fell 10 per cent from a year earlier, to 61.6 billion yuan.
The developer faces a maturity wall in 2025, when 36.2 billion yuan of onshore and offshore bonds come due, according to S&P. At the end of 2023, the company had accessible cash of 36.3 billion yuan, S&P estimated.
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JPMorgan Chase & Co lowered its recommendation on the shares to underweight in early April, saying Vanke faces a “challenging” period of deleveraging and relying on the support of banks and state-owned enterprises.
Vanke shares jumped 10 per cent in Hong Kong on Monday – the most in 16 years – joining other developers that gained on expectations of additional government support for the sector. BLOOMBERG
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