REAL ESTATE NEWS: Ocean of Debt
The L.A. Loft Blog has received many requests for more information about the massive incomplete construction project that lies directly between Staples Center and Flower Street Lofts in Downtown Los Angeles. Here’s an update with details just in about the stalled megaproject: | Blog Video
We would like to point your attention to the information we found in China as it relates to the stepdown of Chairman, Lu Zhiqiang. The only information we could find in the US news is reported on Bloomberg that there is a new Chairman in place, as well as two new Vice Chairmans. Why did Mr. Lu Zhiqiang step down quietly without any news being released about the new leadership team put in place? Furthermore, news sources in China believe that Chairman Lu is hiding in San Francisco currently and possibly has been in the United States for a while.
City of Los Angeles: Ocean of Corruption
Knowing that the Chairman, Lu Zhiqiang, has stepped down and a new Chairman, Song Hongmou, has been put in place, and auditor PWC has resigned, one can draw their own conclusions as to possibilities of issues within Oceanwide Holdings and the potential for findings in connection with the ongoing FBI investigation with Los Angeles City Councilman, Jose Huizar. Please note, we have not done the research of possible connections to corruption in their other locations in the US but perhaps this is worth digging into?
Finally, to note, many of the articles we found surrounding Oceanwide Los Angeles, the Mechanics Liens mentioned are approximately $100 million. It is our understanding through public records and filings, the mechanic liens have climbed to $180 million. The EB-5 loans will be coming due in 2021 (no further extensions) and it is highly unlikely a project of this nature, with no ability to fund will be completed in time to pay such notes.
February 27, 2019
PWC RESIGNS AS AUDITOR FOR CHINA OCEANWIDE FOLLOWING PROFIT WARNING
May 1, 2020
Oceanside Q1 2020 reported net loss of RMB RMB$1.2 billion
http://xinpi.stcn.com/finalpage/2020-04/30/pdf1207681887.shtml
May 21, 2020
Oceanwide Holding Chairman Lu Zhiqiang stepped down as Chairman
https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/estate/yw/2020-05-21/doc-iirczymk2747881.shtml
http://www.szse.cn/disclosure/listed/bulletinDetail/index.html?1a6a72a6-e7c1-4927-b008-d7e083d45a1c (Chinese equivalent SEC filing with Shenzhen Stock Exchange)
May 29, 2020
Oceanwide Holding CEO Lu Zhiqiang changed to Song Hongmou
http://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202006021506368730.html
https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2020-06-02/doc-iircuyvi6293071.shtml
http://www.sse.com.cn/disclosure/bond/announcement/company/c/2020-05-29/3881696824291943151402170.pdf (Chinese equivalent SEC filing with Shanghai Stock Exchange)
June 23, 2020
“LA Councilman Jose Huizar Arrested By FBI, Accused Of Leading ‘Criminal Enterprise’ From City Hall. Huizar was named in another search warrant the FBI issued to Google in July 2018, which suggested the feds were digging into “development projects in and around Los Angeles that relate to foreign investors.” Chinese development firms like Oceanwide Holdings were included in the warrant, which requested information from the Gmail account of Raymond Chan, former head of the city’s Department of Building and Safety. Chan later worked as a deputy mayor and then at the private firm CCC Investment Group”
Oceanwide Holdings Plunged into Financial Crisis
As of the end of the first quarter 2020, Oceanwide Holdings is rushing into deep crisis. The company as the guarantor of the group’s multiple projects in the US covering San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, etc., its critical financial condition will seriously delay the subsequent progress of these projects.
Debt: a tremendous amount of debt will be due before the end of 2020
In 2020, the company’s rigid payment debt will mainly consist of credit bonds due in 2020, non-standard financing and interest payable of the interest-bearing debt.
As of the issue date of this report, the principal amount of the credit bonds due / sold-back within 2020 is about US $1.04 billion, the overseas senior bonds is bout US $420 million, the scale of non-standard product debt is about US $910 million, and the comprehensive financing cost of all interest bearing debt is about 8.64%.
According to the calculation, the interest expenditure in 2020 is about US $970 million. Therefore, it is estimated that the amount of newly paid debts of the company will be about US $3.34 billion in 2020.
Profitability: revenue is sharply falling and first quarter result turns out to be loss
From January to March 2020, the company’s total operating revenue is about US $333 million with 18.71% decrease comparing with that of same period last year. The total profit was USD -29 million, which turned into a loss. The profitability declined significantly, mainly due to the impact of the epidemic on the real estate development and financial business of the company.
Credit Rating: rating has been substantially downgraded by top credit rating firms
In March this year, the rating of Oceanwide Holdings was twice downgraded by international rating agencies. On March 3, S & P downgraded the long-term issuer credit rating of Oceanwide Holdings to “CCC” and the long-term issuance rating of senior unsecured notes to “CCC -“. On March 19, Fitch lowered the Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating and senior unsecured rating of Oceanwide Holdings from “B -” to “CCC +”. At the same time, both institutions believe that the short-term maturity debt of Oceanwide Holdings is quite large and the risk is increasing.
Financing: company faces great difficulties in large fund raising
Looking back on the bond financing of Oceanwide Holdings in the past six months, it has not made smooth progress. Since the end of last year, the company has repeatedly issued bonds and failed to obtain full market subscription.
As of December 25, 2019, the planned public issuance of corporate bonds did not exceed US $315 million and the final actual issuance amount was around US $71 million; as of January 23 of this year, the planned public issuance of bonds was no more than US $243 million and the final actual issuance amount was around US $171 million; as of February 26 of this year, Oceanwide Holdings planned to issue no more than US $71 million of corporate bonds and the final actual issue amount was about US $57 million. In addition to its overseas rating downgrade, it is expected that the overseas issuance of bonds by Oceanwide Holdings will be very difficult.
Guarantee: external guarantee balance is reaching 300% of the net assets
According to the announcement of Oceanwide Holdings on June 19, the total guarantee amount of the company and its holding subsidiaries in 2020 was expected to be about US $8.9 billion. The actual external guarantee balance of the company and its holding subsidiaries is about US $8.63 billion, which is 281.38% of the parent company’s audited net assets as of December 31, 2019.
Appendix
Company Main Financial Data and Indicators
| Item | Year 2017 | Year 2018 | Year 2019 | March 2020 |
| Main financial data and Indicators | ||||
| Total asset ($m) | 26,825 | 30,300 | 25,410 | 25,580 |
| Shareholders’ equity ($m) | 3,928 | 4,061 | 4,730 | 4,818 |
| Equity attributable to shareholders of the parent company ($m) | 2,867 | 2,874 | 3,068 | 3,065 |
| Total liability ($m) | 22,897 | 26,238 | 20,681 | 20,763 |
| Short-term debt ($m) | 6,807 | 7,265 | 6,660 | 6,724 |
| Long-term debt ($m) | 9,930 | 10,113 | 5,875 | 6,040 |
| Total debt ($m) | 16,737 | 17,378 | 12,535 | 12,763 |
| Operating income ($m) | 1,198 | 715 | 432 | 23 |
| Total profit ($m) | 578 | 192 | 344 | -29 |
| Net profit ($m) | 442 | 148 | 204 | -19 |
| EBITDA ($m) | 903 | 545 | 798 | – |
| Net cash flow from operating activities ($m) | -2,751 | 1,315 | 796 | -242 |
| Net cash flow from investing activities ($m) | -356 | -400 | 1,046 | 44 |
| Net cash flow from financing activities ($m) | 1,113 | -1,393 | -1,808 | 153 |
| Asset/liability ratio (%) | 85.36 | 86.60 | 81.39 | 81.17 |
| Long-term debt/capitalization ratio (%) | 71.66 | 71.35 | 55.40 | 55.63 |
| Total debt/capitalization ratio (%) | 80.99 | 81.06 | 72.61 | 72.60 |
| Non-financing net cash flow/debt ratio (%) | -18.57 | 5.27 | 14.69 | – |
Main Indicators of Company’s Solvency (%, multiple)
| Indicator | Year 2017 | Year 2018 | Year 2019 | March 2020 |
| Current ratio | 151.19 | 135.19 | 134.35 | 135.92 |
| Quick ratio | 57.01 | 52.11 | 74.95 | 74.39 |
| Cash/short-term debt | 0.40 | 0.43 | 0.39 | 0.38 |
| Operating cash/current liability | -21.46 | 8.26 | 5.46 | – |
| EBITDA/interest multiple | 0.86 | 0.46 | 0.73 | – |
| Total debt/EBITDA | 18.54 | 31.90 | 15.70 | – |
* Exchange Rate for US Dollar/ RMB: 1/7
The company’s solvency condition is deteriorating due to the delay in sales of its US assets caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the sluggish economy.
Controlling Shareholding Structure
*March 31, 2020
According to the Shareholder Chart, Zhiqiang Lu indirectly occupies 55% shares of Oceanwide Holdings Co., Ltd, but, he curiously resigns both positions of Chairman and Enterprise-juristic Person on May 25, 2020.
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