China Evergrande says contracted sales dropped 38.7% in 2021



The China Evergrande Centre is in Hong Kong.

China Evergrande's contracted sales plunged last year as the real estate giant struggled to repay its debts.

The company's contracted sales of properties totaled over $60 billion last year, down from the previous year's 723.25 billion.

Evergrande shares will be traded in Hong Kong at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The trading was stopped at 9 a.m. Monday.

The company said it will continue to communicate with its debts, try to resolve risks and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all parties.

Evergrande shares have plummeted over the last 250 days. The company missed payments in December and was in default.

Evergrande is the largest Chinese real estate developer by issuance of offshore, U.S. dollar-denominated debt, which stood at $19 billion last year. As of last year, the developer had $300 billion in liabilities.

The company was the second largest developer in China.

Like other Chinese real estate developers, Evergrande relies on sales of apartments to customers before the units are completed. S&P Global Ratings said in November that Evergrande is likely to default since the company is no longer able to sell new homes.

The Ocean Flower Island project only applied to 39 buildings, according to Tuesday's filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

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