China’s Embattled Evergrande Says It Can’t Publish Annual Report On Time

China Evergrande Group, the deeply indebted developer headed by billionaire Hui Ka Yan, says it can’t publish its annual report for 2021 on time.

In a Tuesday filing to Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company cited the effects of Covid-19, “drastic changes” in its operating environment, as well the requirement for additional audit procedures as reasons for the delay. It will publish annual results “as soon as practicable,” according to the filling. The company suspended on Monday trading of its shares.

Two of Evergrande’s units, Evergrande Property Services Group and China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, have also halted trading of their shares and said they’d postpone publishing annual results. Evergrande Property Services Group, in the meantime, said in its own filing that 13.4 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) of deposits used as guarantees for unspecified third party pledges had now been claimed by relevant banks.

“The company will establish an independent investigation committee and arrange for experts to be appointed to investigate the pledge guarantees,” Evergrande Property Services writes in the filing.

The multiple delays come as Evergrande is mired in the middle of what could be one of China’s largest corporate debt restructurings. The company with more than $300 in total liabilities said in January that a restructuring plan would be released within the next six months. It is expected to hold a call with investors at 9 p.m. Tuesday evening Hong Kong time, according to multiple media reports, although it isn’t immediately known what the call would cover.

Evergrande has in recent months persuaded investors in some of its onshore bonds to accept delayed payments, and sold stakes in real estate projects to state-owned trust firms. Some of its international creditors, for example U.S. asset manager Oaktree Capital, have gone on to seize Evergrande’s most-prized land assets in mainland China after the company defaulted on secured loans.

On a personal front, Hui could be rapidly falling out of favor with the central government in Beijing. The embattled billionaire, whose fortune has plunged to $8.9 billion after claiming the crown as Asia’s richest person in 2017 with a wealth of $42.5 billion, didn’t attend an annual gathering of the country’s political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in early March.

The tycoon, a long-time Communist Party member who has a seat in the CPPCC, was told not to attend, according to a Bloomberg report. His public appearance, especially at government-associated occasions, is one closely watched sign by investors. Evergrande’s bonds jumped last July after Hui posted a photo of himself on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, having been invited to attend the Communist Party’s celebration of its 100th anniversary at the time.