(Yicai) Aug. 28 -- Shares of China Evergrande Group closed down 79 percent after the debt-ridden Chinese property developer resumed trading after a more than 500-day halt.

Evergrande [HKG: 3333] fell to 35 Hong Kong cents (5 US cents) a share, after tanking by as much as 87 percent in the morning trading session.

The Shenzhen-based company applied to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to resume trading from today after being suspended since March 21 of last year, Evergrande said on Aug. 25.

Its two main listed units also fell further today. Evergrande Property Services Group [HKG: 6666] dropped 2.9 percent to 67 Hong Kong cents, extending its decline to 71 percent since it began trading again on Aug. 3. China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group [HKG: 0708] fell 5.4 percent to HKD1.22 (16 US cents), bringing its drop to 62 percent since trading resumed on July 28.

Evergrande narrowed its first-half net loss to CNY39.3 billion (USD5.4 billion) from CNY86.2 billion a year earlier, its earnings results showed yesterday. Revenue jumped 44 percent to CNY128.2 billion (USD17.6 billion).

The builder’s debt reached CNY2.39 trillion (USD328.1 billion) as of June 30, down from over CNY2.44 trillion at the end of last year. Assets shrank to around CNY1.74 trillion from CNY1.84 trillion, with the company still insolvent.

According to Evergrande, it still has enough business, with the source of its working capital mainly consisting of local government bailout funds, income from project disposal, existing funds from escrow accounts, and daily operating sales income. In the six months ended June 30, its contracted sales stood at CNY33.4 billion, while sales proceeds totaled CNY27.1 billion.

Evergrande had land reserves of 190 million square meters at the end of June, while also being involved in 78 urban redevelopment projects, with 55 in the Greater Bay Area, 34 of which are in Shenzhen, and the rest in other cities.

To remain operational, Evergrande must complete the proposed restructuring of offshore debt and successfully negotiate with the remaining creditors to extend or delay the repayment of its liabilities, the developer said.

In March, Evergrande released an offshore debt restructuring plan for over USD19 billion and continues to persuade creditors to accept it. The firm intended to convene creditors to vote on Aug. 23 but postponed the meeting to Aug. 28, as Evergrande NEV received a USD500 million investment from NWTN, a United Arab Emirates green mobility solutions provider.

Editor: Martin Kadiev