(Yicai) May 16 -- Shanghai Shimao, the listed arm of struggling Chinese real estate developer Shimao Group, has been kicked off the Shanghai stock exchange for trading below CNY1 (USD0.13) for the last 20 consecutive trading days, bringing to an end a thirty-year listing.

Shanghai Shimao’s share price [SHA:600823] plunged by the exchange-imposed limit yesterday to close at CNY0.43 (USD0.06), giving it a market capitalization of just CNY1.6 billion (USD221.7 million).

Shanghai Shimao, which went public in Shanghai in 1994, is struggling to pay off its debts as the developer’s sales have yet to recover due to a prolonged downturn in the real estate market that started in 2022 and as fundraising becomes more difficult.

The Shanghai-based firm, which had amassed debts of CNY12 billion (USD1.6 billion) as of April 30, defaulted on principal and interest worth CNY608 million (USD84.2 million) on May 6. It was the second payment due on medium-term notes issued in 2021, it said on May 8.

Its parent firm owed CNY264 billion (USD36.6 billion) as of the end of last year, 75 percent of which matures in the next 12 months. The company only had cash and cash equivalents of CNY21.4 billion (USD2.9 million) as of Dec. 31 and it had defaulted on CNY169.4 billion (USD23.4 billion) worth of loans.

Shimao Group was slapped with a winding up petition from creditor China Construction Bank Asia on April 5 at the Hong Kong High Court for failing to repay a loan worth HKD1.6 billion (USD202.4 million). On April 8, Shanghai Shimao’s share price plunged 4.5 percent and another listed unit Shimao Group Holdings’ stock [HKG:0813] plummeted 18 percent.

Shimao Group Holdings’ stock [HKG:0813] closed up 17.9% at HKD1.25 (USD0.16) today. 

Editor: Kim Taylor