Evergrande Lives Shy, Dies Unwillingly

<p>&nbsp;After 17 months, shares of Chinese property giant Evergrande returned to trading in Hong Kong for the first time on Monday.</p><p><br /></p><p>Even so, its shares suffered a severe fall of around 80% amid ongoing uncertainty in the country's real estate sector.</p><p><br /></p><p>Earlier, the company reported a loss of 33 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) in the first half of 2023.</p><p><br /></p><p>Although the loss is seen as severe, it is better than the 66.4 billion yuan ($9.1 billion) loss recorded for the same period in 2022.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Evergrande said that the company's directors have taken several steps to improve the group's liquidity and finances.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The firm also added that its revenue for the first six months of the year had jumped 44% to 128.2bn yuan from a year earlier.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, its cash reserves reportedly fell by 6.3% in the same period.</p><p><br /></p><p>Evergrande shares have been suspended since March last year, where the company has lost more than 95% of its market capitalization since its peak in 2017.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, also on Monday, Beijing halved the 0.1% tax on stock trading to stimulate capital markets and boost investor confidence.</p><p><br /></p><p>Major stock indexes in Hong Kong and China traded higher following the news.</p>