3 days ago
One of China's Few Surviving Builders Makes U-Turn on Debt Plans
Chinese developer Road King Infrastructure Ltd. is suspending all offshore debt payments, a reversal from a couple of months ago when it said it expected to have enough cash to pay interest on borrowings this year.
The company said it should explore 'a holistic solution' to the situation, according to an exchange filing, a term that usually points to a debt restructuring.
The statement came after the developer failed to make interest payments on a $434.7 million bond within a 30-day grace period, something that would typically lead to a default.
Road King in June had proposed changing certain terms of its existing bonds in an effort to ease liquidity pressure. At the time, it said it expected to have cash available for interest payments this year, but had concerns about next year. The proposed changes failed to win sufficient approval from creditors.
Road King's about-face signals a further deepening of China's years-long property crisis, which continues to roil developers. Just this week, state-backed China South City Holdings Ltd. was ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court, and news came that China Evergrande Group, once the country's largest developer by sales, would have its Hong Kong stock delisted.
Road King has about $1.5 billion of offshore debt, including bank debt and bonds, the company said in the filing. Its 5.2% dollar notes due in 2029 fell 2.3 cents to 19.4 cents on Wednesday, the lowest level since April 2024, Bloomberg-compiled data show.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
