Reporting by Shuyan Wang in Beijing, Jing Bian in Shanghai and Xie Yu in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jamie Freed
World
Country Garden secures bondholder reprieve, sources say; shares soar
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Sept 12 (Reuters) – China’s largest private property developer Country Garden (2007.HK) won approval from its creditors to extend repayments on six onshore bonds by three years, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, sending shares up as much as 10%.
The bondholder reprieve came as investors are closely monitoring whether China’s latest government stimulus measures including lowering existing mortgage rates and offering preferential loans for first-home purchases in big cities might be enough to restore consumer confidence and sow the seeds for an eventual property market recovery.
Country Garden’s onshore creditors voted on Monday for proposals by the distressed developer to extend repayments on eight onshore bonds worth 10.8 billion yuan ($1.48 billion) by three years, sources said, marking the latest relief to China’s crisis-hit property sector.
In the voting, which concluded by 10 p.m. Hong Kong time (1400 GMT) on Monday, creditors approved extending six out of the eight bonds, the two sources said.
The other two bonds will see voting delayed, the two sources said, asking not to be named because they were not authorised to speak with media.
Country Garden did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares surged after the news but are down nearly 60% since the start of the year. The broader Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index (.HSMPI) also reversed earlier losses and was up by 0.75%.
The latest voting came after Country Garden on Sept. 1 gained approval from creditors to extend payments by three years for a 3.9 billion yuan ($533 million)onshore private bond.
It also made a last-minute dollar coupon payment offshore last week to avoid a immediate default.
Country Garden, one of the few large Chinese developers that has not defaulted on debt obligations, has faced liquidity pressure with reduced available funds as sales plunged, its interim financial statements showed.
It has 108.7 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) of debts due within 12 months, while its cash level are around 101.1 billion yuan as of end-June, according to the company’s interim financial statement.
In the offshore bond market, Country Garden has at least five coupon payments due this month, including two relatively sizable dollar bond coupons worth $15 million due on Sept. 17, and $40 million on Sept. 27, each with a 30-day grace period.
Any default by Country Garden would exacerbate the country’s spiralling real estate crisis, put more strain on its struggling banks and could delay the recovery of not only the property market, but the overall Chinese economy.
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World
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World
Slovakia's prime minister expected to survive assassination attempt as shock reverberates across Europe
Slovakia’s prime minister is expected to survive after he was shot multiple times and gravely wounded during an attempted assassination on Wednesday, according to his deputy.
Doctors fought for several hours to save Prime Minister Robert Fico’s life after he was shot in the abdomen while he was greeting supporters at an event outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, Defense Minister Robert Kalina told reporters.
“I guess in the end he will survive,” Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC, adding: “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”
A suspect was swiftly arrested following the attack Wednesday and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said.
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The 59-year-old’s attempted assassination just weeks before an election shocked the small country and reverberated concern across Europe.
“A physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy,” said outgoing President Zuzana Caputova, Fico’s political rival. “Any violence is unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we’ve been witnessing in society leads to hateful actions. Please, let’s stop it.”
President-elect Peter Pellegrini, an ally of Fico, called the shooting “an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy. If we express other political opinions with pistols in squares, and not in polling stations, we are jeopardizing everything that we have built together over 31 years of Slovak sovereignty.”
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denounced the violence.
“Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form or sphere,” he said.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala chimed in with other world leaders and wished the prime minister a swift recovery, saying “we cannot tolerate violence, there’s no place for it in society.”
The Czech Republic and Slovakia formed Czechoslovakia until 1992.
Fico, a divisive figure in Slovakia, returned to power last year after campaigning on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform.
At the time, European Union members expressed worry that he could potentially lead Slovakia – a nation of 5.4 million that belongs to NATO – to abandon its pro-Western course.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Slovakia PM Robert Fico in ‘very serious’ condition after being shot
Deputy PM Kalinak says Fico is stable post-surgery after being shot five times in an attempted assassination.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is stable but his condition remains “very serious”, his deputy has said, after an assassination attempt that shocked the country and drew global condemnation.
Fico, 59, was shot five times in the central town of Handlova on Wednesday. He was in critical condition and underwent several hours of emergency surgery.
“During the night, doctors managed to stabilise the patient’s condition,” Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak said on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, the condition is still very serious as the injuries are complicated,” said Kalinak, who is also the defence minister.
A state security council meeting is scheduled for Thursday following the attack. The alleged attacker, a 71-year-old writer, was taken into custody.
Environment Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC on Thursday that the operation had “gone well”. He said one bullet went through Fico’s stomach, and the second hit a joint during the attack after Fico left a government meeting.
The shooting was “politically motivated”, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said on Wednesday.
“This assassination [attempt] was politically motivated, and the perpetrator’s decision was born closely after the presidential election,” Sutaj Estok said, referring to an April election won by Fico’s ally, Peter Pellegrini.
Pellegrini described the attack as an “unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy”.
“If we express other political opinions in squares, and not in polling stations, we are jeopardising everything that we have built together over 31 years of Slovak sovereignty,” Pellegrini said.
Following the attack, Fico was rushed to a hospital in Handlova but was transferred by helicopter to the regional capital, Banska Bystrica, for urgent treatment.
Russia said it considered the attack “absolutely unacceptable”.
“This is really a great tragedy,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Fico’s European counterparts, including Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, condemned the shooting and wished him a complete recovery.
The country of 5.4 million has seen polarised political debate in recent years, including last year’s presidential election that helped Fico tighten his grip on power.
Since returning as prime minister last October, his government has scaled back support for Ukraine while opening up dialogue with Russia, looked to lessen punishments for corruption, and is revamping the RTVS public broadcaster despite a call to protect media freedoms.
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