China's Hywin seeks payment delay on some products amid property woes
15/12/2023 10:11
BEIJING, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Chinese wealth manager Hywin
Holdings Ltd. HYW.O , whose products are primarily invested
into real estate, said it has been unable to meet some
repayments on time, a sign of spreading stress in a financial
market dragged down by a property crisis.
Hywin said the asset managers for some products distributed
by the company were unable to reach an agreement with relevant
clients to defer redemption, according to a statement released
by the company on Thursday.
The announcement comes after market chatter on social media
that the firm missed payments on some investment products.
Hywin did not immediately reply to a Reuters' request for
comment.
Shares of the Nasdaq-listed firm fell 14.15% on Thursday
after plunging by more than 40% on Wednesday.
Hywin derives most of its revenues from distributing real
estate products, including those investing in projects from
troubled China Evergrande Group 3333.HK and Sunac China
Holdings Ltd. 1918.HK
Net revenue from real estate products accounted for 88.8% of
its wealth management services in the year ended on June 30,
2020, according to the latest available data from the company's
prospectus released in 2021.
Hywin's statement also said it had formed a special
investigation committee comprised of members of senior
management to oversee an internal investigation. It did not give
further details.
China's highly indebted property sector has been reeling from
a liquidity crunch since 2020. Defaults by developers since late
2021 have impeded economic growth and rattled global markets.
In July, signs of trouble at Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, a
leading Chinese wealth manager, came to light when Zhongrong
International Trust Co, a trust firm controlled by Zhongzhi,
missed payments on dozens of investment products.
(Reporting by Ziyi Tang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sharon
Singleton)
((Ziyi.Tang@thomsonreuters.com;))