HONG KONG (Reuters) – This will be a “crucial year” for China Evergrande Group to fulfil home delivery to buyers, company Chairman Hui Ka Yan said in a letter to employees on New Year’s Day, adding he trusted the firm would be able to repay all its debt.
Saddled with over $300 billion in liabilities and undergoing a debt restructuring, the world’s most indebted property developer has been struggling to repay its many creditors and suppliers and complete projects.
“I trust firmly, as long as the entire Evergrande staff … does all the jobs solidly including completing construction, restoring sales, restoring operation, we will definitely be able to ensure home delivery … (and) repay all kinds of debt and resolve risks,” Hui said in the letter dated Jan. 1.
The firm had resumed construction in all 732 projects across the country in 2022, delivering 301,000 homes in total, he added.
The figures compared to 631 projects and 256,000 units in the first 11 months, according to a company filing last month.
In the December filing, the firm said its operation still faced significant challenges due to its substantial liabilities.
There was significant uncertainty on whether the resources for debt repayment could generate the expected value, it said, creating the differences between the group and its creditors on the terms of the debt restructuring plan.
Evergrande aimed to win creditors’ approval for its debt restructuring proposals by as early as the end of February, the company said earlier.
(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Stephen Coates)
