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• Fitch Ratings downgraded Kaisa Group Holdings’ credit rating to “restricted default
• The real estate giant defaulted again on its $400 million bond payments.
Chinese real estate firm, Kaisa Group Holdings, has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings to “restricted default,” after it defaulted again on its $400 million bond payments.
The Chinese realtor was one of the first real estate moguls to default on its overseas payments in 2015. As of June, the company has about $10.9 billion of dollar bonds outstanding.
Shenzen-based Kaisa is one of China’s biggest borrowers after Evergrande. The latter defaulted on interest payments worth $82.5 million on Monday, which were originally due November 6. The debts were issued by a unit known as Scenery Journey Ltd., reported Wall Street Journal.
Fitch defines a restricted default as indicating an issuer has experienced a distressed debt exchange on a bond, loan, or other material financial obligation, but has not entered into bankruptcy filings, or any other formal winding-up procedure, and has not ceased operations.
The credit rating downgrades to "restricted default" status come even though Evergrande and Kaisa have not officially announced defaults that could result in drawn-out debt restructuring processes.
Reuters reported that Kaisa had started work on restructuring its $12 billion offshore debt.
Reuters also reported that Kaisa has note maturities totaling $2.8 billion next year, and $2.2-3.2 billion of maturities each year between 2023 and 2025.
Trading in Kaisa's shares was suspended on Wednesday. The stock has lost 75% this year, while Evergrande's stock dropped 88% this year.
Several smaller Chinese companies such as Fantasia Holdings Group and Sinic Holdings Group Co. have also defaulted this year.
Inputs from WSJ and Reuters