COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Ant Group to differentiate loans

China's Ant Group said on Monday that it is making efforts to "differentiate" part of its short-term consumer loan business Jiebei, as it pursues a Beijing-led restructuring aimed at reining in some of its freewheeling businesses.

Ant, the financial affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, saw its US$37 billion IPO derailed by regulators last year and has since been working to turn itself into a financial holding firm.

Local media on the weekend reported changes at Jiebei after Chinese regulators in April asked Ant to conduct a sweeping business overhaul, which includes folding its credit products Jiebei and Huabei, into a new consumer finance firm.

They also criticised Huabei and Jiebei for improper links between payment services and financial products, saying that these may have over promoted loan services to users.

The Shanghai Securities News reported on Sunday, citing borrowers, that the Jiebei platform had made changes to show which loans were being provided by Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co, and which were provided by banks. -Nampa/Reuters

Sydney Airport agrees to buyout

Sydney Airport Holdings said on Monday it has agreed to accept a A$23.6 billion (US$17.5 billion) takeover bid from an infrastructure investor group in one of Australia's biggest buyouts.

The company said in a statement it unanimously recommended the buyout offer from Sydney Aviation Alliance (SAA), comprised of Australian investors IFM Investors, QSuper, AustralianSuper and US-based Global Infrastructure Partners.

The deal to buy Australia's largest and only listed airport operator comes as the country this month eased its international border restrictions for the first since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

A scheme implementation deed had been made on Monday and a scheme meeting would take place in January, the company said.

It follows a sweetened offer by SAA of A$8.75 a share in September 6% higher than its first approach at A$8.25 which convinced the company's board to give the consortium access to due diligence. -Nampa/Reuters

Evergrande investor payments delayed

Some holders of offshore bonds issued by a unit of developer China Evergrande Group had not received interest payments due on Nov. 6 by Monday morning in Asia, two people familiar with the matter said.

Scenery Journey Ltd was due to make semi-annual coupon payments on Saturday worth a combined US$82.49 million on its 13% November 2022 and 13.75% November 2023 US dollar bonds. Non-payment of interest by Nov. 6 would have kicked off a 30-day grace period for payment.

Twice in October, Evergrande narrowly averted catastrophic defaults on its US$19 billion worth of bonds in international capital markets by paying coupons just before the expiration of their grace periods.

One such period expires on Wednesday, Nov. 10, for more than US$148 million in coupon payments that had been due on Oct. 11. Evergrande is also due to make coupon payments totalling more than US$255 million on its June 2023 and 2025 bonds on Dec. 28.

A spokesperson for Evergrande did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sources could not be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media. -Nampa/Reuters

SoftBank dragged into red

SoftBank Group Corp reported a 397-billion-yen (US$3.5 billion) net loss for the July-September quarter, dragged down by a $10 billion investment loss at its Vision Fund unit as tech valuations fell.

While CEO Masayoshi Son describes SoftBank as a goose laying “golden egg”, referring to its stakes in startups that go to market, initial public offerings (IPOs) have dropped off and shares in many top assets like online retailer Coupang fell during the quarter.

"The strategy of let's create the perception of enhanced value by taking things public hasn't really worked this year," Redex Research analyst Kirk Boodry said.

Depressed valuations in SoftBank's China portfolio amid a regulatory crackdown continued to drag with its stake in ride-hailer Didi, acquired for US$12 billion, currently valued at US$7.5 billion.

The group's largest asset, Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba, fell by around a third in the second quarter. Softbank’s quarterly net loss compared with a profit of 628 billion yen in the same period a year earlier. -Nampa/Reuters

China's Haidilao shares jump

Shares in Chinese hot pot chain Haidilao International surged on Monday after the company announced it would suspend or shut down 300 stores by the end of the year, slamming the brakes on a rapid expansion it undertook during the Covid-19 pandemic.

China's largest hot pot chain said late on Friday it would shut down restaurants with relatively low customer traffic and unsatisfying results and would launch a new plan focused on improving its operations of existing stores.

Its shares jumped more than 11% on Monday to hit their highest since Oct. 28. Reuters reported last month that Haidilao planned to slow its growth after its expansion and softening consumer appetite in China left it with falling table turnover rates and profits.

Haidilao, which became so popular in recent years that it appeased customers in hours-long queues for its soups by providing free manicures, snacks and shoe shines, was initially undeterred by the pandemic. The company embarked on an expansion drive in early 2020 that doubled its outlets since then to almost 1 600 currently. -Nampa/Reuters