BRIEF: Country Garden’s sales plunge 57%, auditor resigns

Country Garden Holdings (2007.HK) disclosed on Thursday that its monthly contracted sales for August declined 57% year-on-year to 3.43 billion yuan ($483 million), with a gross floor area of about 350,000 square meters. The decline follows a 72% drop in sales the previous month, underscoring difficulties the company faces as it battles potential liquidation.

Once the largest home builder in China, the company has been struggling with high liabilities and steep losses for the last two years as oversupply and plummeting home prices weigh on the Chinese property market. Country Garden is facing a liquidation petition filed by one of its Hong Kong creditors, and has until January to come up with a restructuring plan.

The company also announced on Thursday that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has resigned as its auditor, and is being replaced with Hong Kong-based Zhonghui Anda CPA.  The company’s stock has been suspended since April pending the publication of its 2023 financial statements.

Reporting by Teri Yu

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