Country Garden sales slump abates after China property stimulus

    • Country Garden's contracted sales for October declined 31 per cent from a year earlier to 4.3 billion yuan (S$798 million).
    • Country Garden's contracted sales for October declined 31 per cent from a year earlier to 4.3 billion yuan (S$798 million). PHOTO: REUTERS
    Published Mon, Nov 4, 2024 · 08:32 PM

    CHINESE builder Country Garden Holdings’ sales slump moderated in October, a sign of improving industry prospects following China’s stimulus blitz that include measures for property developers.

    Contracted sales for October declined 31 per cent from a year earlier to 4.3 billion yuan (S$798 million), according to corporate filings. That narrowed from a 41 per cent on-year drop in September. Its October sales also gained 20 per cent from the September total.

    In September, China began introducing a series of measures to jumpstart the economy and property sector, including cutting borrowing costs and relaxing buying curbs in big cities and downpayment requirements. Improving sales at the distressed company – once China’s largest builder by contracted sales – may temporarily soothe investor concerns over its liquidity given that it’s counting on more transactions to fight off liquidation.

    A creditor filed a petition against Country Garden in February after the builder defaulted on US dollar debt a year ago. The company is in talks with creditors for a debt overhaul. But it has already missed a self-imposed target date for getting key creditor support for terms of its restructuring plan, Bloomberg reported last month.

    Its wind-up hearing in Hong Kong has been adjourned until late January.

    The Foshan-based developer still lags peers in sales. The value of new-home sales from the 100 biggest real estate companies in October rose 7.1 per cent from a year earlier to 435.5 billion yuan, reversing from a 37.7 per cent slump in September, according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information. BLOOMBERG

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