R&F Group finds a silver lining in upbeat overseas property markets, but is it enough to avert a collapse?
- R&F is marketing projects in London, Australia, Malaysia’s Johor Bahru and in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh amid upbeat market conditions there
- The company’s development in Malaysia could benefit from pricier Singapore market
Guangzhou R&F Properties, one of China’s most indebted developers, is capitalising on upbeat sentiment in overseas markets where some of its projects are located, to inject some relief into its operations and improve its creditworthiness at a time when the sector is experiencing sluggish conditions in China.
The debt-stricken group is marketing projects in London, Australia, Malaysia’s Johor Bahru and in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and leveraging buoyant market conditions in these markets, Garry Yau, R&F Group’s Hong Kong regional sales and marketing director, told the Post.
“The local markets in which some of the company’s projects are located have been booming recently. As the pandemic has passed, the market [momentum] has resumed,” said Yau, while highlighting the R&F Princess Cove project in Malaysia, which has seen Singaporeans and Malaysians rushing in to buy.
R&F Properties, set up in 1994, began rolling out its global strategy in 2013. It is now one of China’s largest property companies with operations in China, Malaysia, Australia, the United Kingdom, Cambodia and South Korea.
Yau’s comments follow a difficult year when it completed a debt restructuring involving 10 tranches of US-dollar denominated notes, totalling around US$4.9 billion.
The company said in its financial report in March that with unprecedented negative sentiment in recent years, various forms of refinancing were impractical.
