HONG KONG - Shares in troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande plummeted more than 80 percent in Hong Kong on Monday morning after the lifting of a 17-month trading suspension.
The resumption of trading came after the company said in a filing on Friday that it had met guidelines set out by the bourse, including belatedly publishing its financial results and complying with other listing rules.
Once China's largest real estate firm, Evergrande defaulted in 2021 and is saddled with more than $300-billion in liabilities, becoming a symbol of the nationwide property crisis that many fear could spill over globally.
Its shares plunged 86.67 percent at the open.
The company on Sunday reported fresh losses for the first half of the year amounting to 33 billion yuan ($4.53-billion) -- an improvement on the 66.4 billion yuan in losses reported in the same period last year.
But its cash assets fell from $2-billion last year to $556-million, reflecting its dwindling liquidity.
China's property market "cooled down significantly" in the first six months of the year and saw new defaults in the sector, "further exacerbating the volatility in the market", Evergrande said.
"Based on the principles of respecting international restructuring practices and treating the rights and claims of all creditors in a fair and equitable manner, the Company steadily pushed forward the work related to the restructuring of its offshore debts," the firm added.
Evergrande's creditors will vote Monday on a proposal from the developer regarding its offshore debt that is shaping up to be one of China's biggest restructurings ever.
The plan offers creditors a choice to swap their debt into new notes issued by the company and equities in two subsidiaries, Evergrande Property Services Group and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group.