Almost half of China’s 30 biggest developers were in breach of at least one of Beijing’s recently introduced rules on property sector leverage, according to a Financial Times analysis of the latest available data.
In August last year, the Chinese government unveiled the “three red lines”, which aim to constrain property developers’ debt according to three balance sheet metrics: the ratio of liabilities to assets; net debt to equity; and cash to short-term borrowings.
The FT analysis, based on data from Beike Research, part of Chinese property group KE Holdings, showed that among the 30 developers, 14 had breached at least one red line as of June 14. These companies accounted for the majority of the 30 developers’ sales last year.