OceanWide Plaza Downtown Los Angeles News July 2020

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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”

https://laist.com/2020/06/23/la_councilman_jose_huizar_arrested_by_fbi_amid_city_hall_corruption_probe.php

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

ItemYear 2017Year 2018Year 2019March 2020
Main financial data and Indicators
Total asset ($m)26,82530,30025,41025,580
Shareholders’ equity ($m)3,9284,0614,7304,818
Equity attributable to shareholders of the parent company ($m)2,8672,8743,0683,065
Total liability ($m)22,89726,23820,68120,763
Short-term debt ($m)6,8077,2656,6606,724
Long-term debt ($m)9,93010,1135,8756,040
Total debt ($m)16,73717,37812,53512,763
Operating income ($m)1,19871543223
Total profit ($m)578192344-29
Net profit ($m)442148204-19
EBITDA ($m)903545798
Net cash flow from operating activities ($m)-2,7511,315796-242
Net cash flow from investing activities ($m)-356-4001,04644
Net cash flow from financing activities ($m)1,113-1,393-1,808153
Asset/liability ratio (%)85.3686.6081.3981.17
Long-term debt/capitalization ratio (%)71.6671.3555.4055.63
Total debt/capitalization ratio (%)80.9981.0672.6172.60
Non-financing net cash flow/debt ratio (%)-18.575.2714.69

Main Indicators of Company’s Solvency (%, multiple)

IndicatorYear 2017Year 2018Year 2019March 2020
Current ratio151.19135.19134.35135.92
Quick ratio57.0152.1174.9574.39
Cash/short-term debt0.400.430.390.38
Operating cash/current liability-21.468.265.46
EBITDA/interest multiple0.860.460.73
Total debt/EBITDA18.5431.9015.70

*  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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Chinese Real Estate Los Angeles: Downtown Condo Market Cools as Foreign and Domestic Investors Pull Back

China-funded development of super luxury Metropolis condo highrise with Indigo hotel

REAL ESTATE NEWS

The LA Loft Blog recently reported that Chinese companies are pulling out of Downtown Los Angeles as real estate developer Greenland decides not to complete the last building in the Metropolis condo complex. As other expensive projects are shelved amid construction non-payment lawsuits, mainland China cannot hide its economic woes. OceanWide Plaza megaproject sits uncompleted while financially strapped Mainland China developer quietly seeks a buy-out.

Bloomberg reported recently that Los Angeles condo sales have cooled as Chinese capital stays at home. The #realestate market in downtown Los Angeles is taking a hit as #chinese cash dries up. Condo sales plunged 31% in the third quarter from a year earlier. Chinese and other foreign buyers had made more than 25% of the purchases in downtown Los Angeles in recent years, but tightened restrictions on capital flowing out of China have recently hampered the market. As the trade war between the U.S. and China approaches its second anniversary, Beijing is making it tougher to shift money abroad, imposing capital controls to help stabilize its currency. That’s weighed on the real estate market in cities including #losangeles, New York City, San Francisco and Vancouver.

California Condos Cooling

Bloomberg reports confirm earlier Loft Blog articles on Downtown L.A. condo prices having fallen from a peak in early 2018. Restaurants, shopping, entertainment and transportation infrastructure has attracted nearly 50,000 new residents since 2000. Tens of thousands of new homes have been built, while thousands of new apartment and condos are still under construction. This includes thousands of new luxury high-rise units. These expensive upscale condos are suffering the most as mainland China is hit hard by communist capital controls, tariff battles and economic uncertainty. Investors and other prospective home buyers don’t like the value of today’s relatively high Downtown condo prices.

China’s Fake Economy

The South China Morning Post reported that China is proving to be mired in significant inaccurate financial reporting. China’s economic census has uncovered bunches of fake data. As China’s cash has dried, corporate has borrowing soared. Local Chinese officials of Guanghan and other areas have been found to have gone to extraordinary lengths to manipulate raw data to obscure the real financial health of the economy. They reported growth of 9% while the real growth was likely closer to 0%.

American’s and other financial connections have access to some of the true data, which gets easier to see as the financial tide goes down to reveal the naked truth of financial struggles.

CNBC reports that China’s corporate borrowing has shot up while cash flows deteriorate. China’s cash flows have deteriorated quickly, and new orders continue to fall. Shadow banking is making a resurgence as the CPC Communist Party of China attempts new crackdowns on bankers. China’s cash flows have rapidly deteriorated recently as fourth quarter 2019 late payables and deliverables skyrocketed to the worst levels ever recorded. China’s woes are likely to worsen before the get better because new orders continue to fall. Corporate borrowing has risen to unprecedented rates as business loan applications in China shot to an all-time high, with more than 30% of manufacturing, retail, services and real estate developers needing to borrow money.

China’s communist dictator always has plenty of lowly individuals to pin the blame on. Several bankers have been sentenced to death recently.

Trade War Affecting China, Reviving Trend of Shadow Banking

Borrowing rose in every sector this quarter. China saw overall export orders fall in the second half of 2019, as American tariffs on Chinese goods took effect. With the U.S. and China entering a trade truce this December, the President Trump’s Phase One China deal is expected to help reduce China’s economic freefall.

Mainland stocks tumble as China cut tariffs on over 850 products

CNBC reports that mainland Chinese stocks have been tumbling. The Shanghai Composite is down more than 10% since February 2018, and down more than 25% from its peak in May 2015. China just announced a few days ago that it will lower import tariffs on over 850 products as part of the Phase One trade deal talks. The trade war armistice may be too little too late for China. The communist-backed semiconductor fund has announced plans to reduce holdings in some tech firms, according to a Reuters report. Tech stocks, then broader stocks have just dropped.

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Copyright © This free information provided courtesy L.A. Loft Blog and LAcondoInfo.com with information provided by Corey Chambers, Realty Source Inc, BRE#01889449 We are not associated with the homeowner’s association or developer. For more information, contact (213) 880-9910 or visit LAcondoInfo.com Licensed in California. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental. This is not a solicitation if buyer or seller is already under contract with another broker.