Corrected: China posts first public bond default by unit of state-owned firm

Glorious Property Holdings

30/11/2015 13:13

(Corrects name in para 1 to Baoding Tianwei Group, not Baoding 
Tianwei Baobian Electric Co Ltd  600550.SS , clarifies ownership 
structure in final paragraph to remove mention of listed entity) 
    SHANGHAI, April 21 (Reuters) - The deadline for Baoding 
Tianwei Group to make an interest payment on a bond due on 
Tuesday passed without payment, a China bond clearinghouse 
official said, marking the first default by a state-owned firm. 
    The company said in a statement on the China bond 
clearinghouse website that it was unable to make the payment on 
time. 
    Calls to the company were not answered, but investors 
appeared to have taken the lack of a rescue in stride, with bond 
markets shrugging off the news.  
    On April 16, the company had warned investors that it might 
miss an 85.5 million yuan ($13.8 million) interest payment. 
    The 5-year, 1.5 billion yuan bond maturing in 2016 has a 
coupon of 5.7 percent. It was originally rated AA+, but was 
later downgraded to BB. 
    Baoding Tianwei Group is entirely owned by the Beijing-based 
China South Industries Group Corporation, which advertises 
itself as a part owner of Changan Automobile Group on its 
corporate website as well as a major defense equipment maker. It 
is directly owned by the central government. 
 
 (Reporting by Pete Sweeney and Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by 
Jacqueline Wong) 
 ((Nathaniel.Taplin@thomsonreuters.com; +86 021 6104 1779;)) 
 
Keywords: CHINA DEBT/BONDS