Stressed China builders face US$11b in April payments

[HONG KONG] Bond and trust obligations will again be in the spotlight for China's troubled property sector this month, after further signals of investor concern about builders' repayment capabilities.

Stressed developers face at least US$3.1 billion of payments on US dollar and onshore public bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, a pullback from the previous month's level. In addition, the sector has 53.6 billion yuan (S$11.4 billion) of trust payments due in April, according to data tracker Use Trust.

Builders dominate China's high-yield US dollar note market, which lost a record 19 per cent in the first quarter on top of the prior quarter's 15 per cent loss, according to a Bloomberg total return index.

All of China's offshore bond defaults this year have come from the nation's property sector, and the rate of such payment misses is again set for an all-time high.

As concerns about balance-sheet transparency persist and new-home sales continue to slump, a number of embattled developers have yet to release audited results for last year. Some, including Sunac China Holdings, said they could not even disclose unaudited figures. BLOOMBERG