International auditors are resigning from China’s heavily indebted property developers as a wave of delayed financial results has increased uncertainty over the full scale of the sector’s worst-ever crisis and raised the threat of hidden debts.
Big Four accounting firm PwC, which audits more than a dozen listed Chinese developers, is under investigation in Hong Kong over its Evergrande audit. It and Deloitte have resigned as auditors of at least five Chinese developers in the past three months.
Shimao, one of China’s largest property companies, said last week that PwC had resigned after it did not provide information related to “trust loan arrangements”, a form of financing often used by mainland Chinese developers. Shimao said it had been unable to complete a review on the matter in time due to Covid-19 restrictions. PwC declined to comment.