Our reporter Wang Lixin

　　There is no other year like the spring of 2022. During the intensive disclosure period of annual reports, the annual reports of listed real estate companies are so difficult to produce.

　　As of April 21, there are still 9 days before the closing period of the 2021 annual report disclosure of A-share listed companies. The reporter of "Securities Daily" learned from Wind that 66 listed real estate companies (according to Shenyin & Wanguo's 2021 industry classification) still The annual report has not been released, including a number of "100 billion yuan camp" real estate companies that have previously announced debt defaults.

　　A-share housing companies still have more than a week to go, but some Hong Kong-listed housing companies have passed the closing period for annual report disclosure and have not released their audited annual reports, including China Evergrande, Sunac China, and Shimao Group. Including a total of 9 real estate companies whose annual reports are still difficult to produce, since April 1, these companies are still in a state of suspension.

　　"From the perspective of some Hong Kong stock real estate companies that failed to release their audited 2021 annual reports as scheduled, most companies are looking for debt rollovers or have already defaulted on their debts." Liang Nan, an analyst at Zhuge Housing Search Data Research Center, told Securities A reporter from the Daily said that in addition to the reasons for the epidemic and the change of auditors, it is more likely that the sales performance is lower than expected and the liquidity is tight, resulting in a poor financial situation.

　　Multiple factors lead to dystocia in annual report

　　In this annual report season, a number of leading real estate companies have "broken their appointments" in their annual reports, and their stocks have been suspended from trading since April 1, arousing concerns in the industry.

　　"At present, Shanghai is affected by the epidemic, and audit-related work, such as sending letters and financial institutions' reply letters, has been affected. The original plan to release the audited 2021 annual report process has been hindered." A real estate company source told the "Securities Daily" "The reporter said that since the on-site audit work has also been suspended, the release time has not yet been determined.

　　Regarding the reasons for not publishing the 2021 unaudited annual results, Sunac China stated in the announcement that there are three main points: first, the expected workload and time required for the preparation of some of the financial statements that have not yet been completed; second, the recent Due to the issue of overseas loans caused by the downgrade of the company's rating by an international rating agency, the company is actively communicating with relevant creditors for solutions; Published 2021 unaudited annual results on or before 31 March 2020.

　　Regarding the reasons for the delay in the release of annual reports by listed real estate companies, according to the observation of the "Securities Daily" reporter, there are three common reasons that can be summarized from the current housing company announcements: First, travel, logistics and other restrictions caused by the recent new crown epidemic in mainland China and Hong Kong , audit procedures cannot be completed on time, such as bank, customer and supplier letter confirmation procedures; second, audit procedures that require on-site inspections are delayed, such as interviews with partners and financial institutions, credential inspections, etc.; third, multiple houses Before the company announced its results, the accounting firm resigned as the company's auditor, which led to the company having to temporarily change the auditor. For example, PricewaterhouseCoopers has resigned as the auditor of many real estate companies.

However, there are also real estate companies that have not been able to publish the audited annual report data even after changing the audit agency.

　　"In addition to being affected by the epidemic, affected by the market downturn and the outbreak of liquidity risks in individual companies, auditors have generally adopted a more prudent attitude in the implementation of audit procedures and accounting estimates this year, resulting in more complex audit workload and processes, and the completion time of audit work. Forced to postpone." Liu Shui, research director of the Enterprise Division of the China Index Research Institute, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the more important reason is that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, continued strict regulation and market downturn, the performance of real estate companies has weakened, and some Real estate companies are facing liquidity difficulties and their operating conditions may deteriorate, thus causing them to delay their performance disclosures.

　　Or there is a risk of delisting?

　　"To a certain extent, the dystocia of the annual report means that these real estate companies are facing difficulties, or their debts are under pressure, or their capital situation is not optimistic." Liang Nan said.

　　"A company will go through a period of time from the tight capital chain to the final debt default. During this process, listed companies may hide some liabilities to decorate their financial statements. The relevant audit institutions treat them strictly during the audit process, which makes the statements difficult to produce." Huisheng International Capital President Huang Lichong said in an interview with the "Securities Daily" reporter that if it is only because the financial statements are affected by the epidemic and other difficulties, the resumption of trading will be faster. Note.

　　"If the audit procedure is complicated and the annual report is difficult to produce, or it is only faced with a long-term suspension, but if it is not possible to publish due to financial conditions and other reasons, the risk of triggering delisting will increase." Liang Nan said that if these real estate companies are delayed The delay in publishing the annual report will further reduce the trust of the outside world and further increase the difficulty of refinancing.

　　"Failure to release financial information will lead to the downgrade or suspension of the corporate credit rating, which will undermine investors' confidence in the company, and further aggravate the financing difficulties of the company." Liu Shui told the "Securities Daily" reporter that one should be wary of failing to publish the audited review. Real estate companies with financial information face certain liquidity difficulties, and their operations may be in trouble.

At the same time, we must be alert to the risk that companies that fail to publish audited financial information face the risk of suspension or even delisting.

　　Liu Shui also said that paragraph 6.04 of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Listing Rules stipulates that if the suspension continues for a long time, and the issuer does not take appropriate action to restore its listing status, it may lead to the exchange's delisting.

Rule 6.01A(1) of the HKEx Listing Rules provides that the Exchange may delist securities that have been suspended from trading for 18 consecutive months.

　　"The delisting will take place after 18 months of continuous suspension of trading. It is expected that the company will publish the audited annual report as soon as possible." A person from a real estate company told the "Securities Daily" reporter.

In this regard, Liu Shui said that companies that have not released their annual reports still have a long time and procedures to delist, but long-term suspension of trading may lead to delisting risks.

(Securities Daily)