(Yicai) Feb. 28 -- Shares of Country Garden Holdings plunged despite the struggling Chinese property developer said the winding-up petition filed by an overseas creditor will not have a significant impact on the company’s operation and house delivery.

Country Garden [HKG: 2007] was trading down 12.5 percent at 63 Hong Kong cents (13 US cents) as of lunch break in Hong Kong today, after closing 1.4 percent down yesterday.

The debts cited in the winding-up petition only account for a very small portion of Country Garden’s total overseas interest-bearing liabilities, the Foshan-based developer told Yicai. The creditor’s aggressive move will not have a significant impact on the company’s normal operation, overseas debt restructuring, and delivery of real estate projects, it added.

Kingboard Holdings - backed money lender Ever Credit yesterday filed a winding-up petition against Country Garden to the Hong Kong High Court, as the builder failed to pay term loans and interests worth about HKD1.6 billion (USD204.4 million). The case’s first hearing will be held on May 17.

Country Garden is firmly against the move from Ever Credit, the company said in a statement yesterday, adding that all stock transactions and asset disposal that will happen after the winding-up petition was filed will be void if the court rules in favor of the liquidation.

Last October, Country Garden announced it defaulted on debts. Its interest-bearing debts totaled CNY257.9 billion (USD35.8 billion), and its overall cash balance neared CNY130.6 billion as of June 30, last year, according to the firm’s latest semiannual earnings report.

Country Garden had 17 overseas bonds, 15 of which were US dollar-denominated ones, with a total unpaid sum of USD9.9 billion as of the end of October, according to previous media reports. The company had two ordinary convertible bonds traded on the Singapore Exchange, with an unpaid value of HKD6.9 billion (USD881.7 million).

After announcing the completion of arrangements to roll over nine corporate bonds in the Chinese mainland, Country Garden said on Jan. 16 that it was formulating an overall solution for its overseas debts.

Editor: Futura Costaglione