Investors Miffed As Interest On Evergrande Bonds Still Unpaid

Holders of offshore bonds issued by a unit of China Evergrande Group had not received interest payments due on Nov. 6 by Monday morning in Asia, two people familiar with the matter said, Clare Jim and Andrew Galbraith reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The Evergrande saga continues.

Scenery Journey Ltd. was due to make semi-annual coupon payments on Saturday worth a combined $82.49 million on its 13% November 2022 and 13.75% November 2023 US dollar bonds. Non-payment of interest by Nov. 6 would have kicked off a 30-day grace period for payment.

Twice in October, Evergrande narrowly averted catastrophic defaults on its $19 billion worth of bonds in international capital markets by paying coupons just before the expiration of their grace periods.

One such period expires on Wednesday, Nov. 10, for more than $148 million in coupon payments that had been due on Oct. 11. Evergrande is also due to make coupon payments totaling more than $255 million on its June 2023 and 2025 bonds on Dec. 28.

Reuters was unable to determine whether Evergrande has told bondholders what it planned to do regarding the coupon payment due on Saturday.

Evergrande's shares edged lower on Monday, finishing the morning down 0.9%. They have fallen nearly 85% this year. Duration Finance data showed the company's dollar bonds continuing to trade at discounts of about 75% from their face value on Monday.

Once China's top-selling developer, Evergrande has been reeling under more than $300 billion in liabilities, and its liquidity woes have reverberated across the country's $5 trillion property sector, prompting a string of offshore debt defaults, credit rating downgrades, and sell-offs in the developers' shares and bonds in recent weeks.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic