Asia’s richest woman has lost more than half her wealth in the past year as the crisis in China’s real estate sector continues to escalate, a billionaire index showed on Thursday.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Yang Huian, a majority shareholder in Country Garden, China’s largest property developer, saw assets at $11.3 billion, a drop of more than 52% from $23.7 billion a year ago.
In a sign that the crisis is spreading for developers previously considered rock solid, Yang’s fortunes took a big hit on Wednesday when Hong Kong-listed shares of Guangdong-based Country Garden fell 15% after the company announced that it would sell new shares. raise cash.
According to state media, Yang was transferred his shares by her father – Country Garden founder Yang Guoqiang – in 2005, when she inherited it.
She became Asia’s richest woman two years later following the developer’s initial public offering in Hong Kong.
But she is now barely holding on to that title, with chemical fiber tycoon Fan Hongwei finishing runner-up on Thursday with a net worth of $11.2 billion.
Chinese authorities cracked down on excessive debt in the property sector in 2020, leaving major players such as Evergrande and Sunak struggling to make payments and forcing them to renegotiate with creditors as they edge up bankruptcy. Were.
Buyers across the country, angered by construction delays and delayed delivery of their properties, have started withholding mortgage payments for homes sold before completion.
While Country Gardens has been relatively unaffected by the industry turmoil, it shook investors with an announcement on Wednesday that it planned to raise more than $343m through a share sale, partly to pay off debt. For.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to “refinance existing offshore indebtedness, general working capital and future growth objectives,” Country Garden said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
China’s banking regulator has urged lenders to support the property sector and meet firms’ “reasonable financing needs” as analysts and policymakers fear a financial transition.
The property sector is estimated to account for 18–30% of the country’s GDP and is a major driver of growth in the world’s second largest economy.
Analysts warned the industry was caught in a “vicious cycle” that would further undermine consumer confidence, following the release of disappointing Q2 growth figures that were the worst since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.