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By Clare Jim, Jason Xue and Shuyan Wang
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) -Embattled China Evergrande Group will unveil a debt restructuring proposal for its creditors by the end of July, it said on Tuesday, after concerns about its financial health were renewed by a delay in publishing its annual results.
Evergrande, whose $22.7 billion worth of offshore debt is deemed to be in default, is seeking to "further enhance communications" with creditors to reach the end-July target, its executive director Siu Shawn told investors on a call.
Earlier on Tuesday, Evergrande said in a stock exchange filing it would not meet a March 31 deadline to file its financial results for 2021 because audit work had not been completed.
The world's most indebted property developer, Evergrande told investors in January it aimed to have a preliminary restructuring proposal in place within six months.
A wave of defaults in China's property sector has rattled investors and while state intervention has quelled market concern over a disorderly collapse of Evergrande, investors are still in the dark over whether they will recoup their money.
Evergrande, once China's top-selling developer and now reeling under more than $300 billion in liabilities, defaulted on some overseas bond payments in December and has struggled to repay suppliers and creditors and complete projects and homes.
The developer set up a risk management committee in December made up mostly of members from state enterprises, as the Guangdong provincial government is leading the restructuring.
"With the broad support and understanding from the majority of creditors ... we strive to release the preliminary restructuring proposal by the end of July," Chen Yong, a member of the committee, told investors.
As part of its plans to divest assets to repay some of its offshore debt, the developer is working to sell its Yuen Long land parcel in Hong Kong as well as the Evergrande Centre commercial building, said Evergrande board member Liang Senlin.
Trading in shares of Evergrande, its property services unit Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd, and electric vehicle unit China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd have been suspended since Monday.
Liang said on the investor call the developer was trying to rope in strategic investors in both the electric vehicle and property services units to restore value - a goal it has been pursuing for roughly a year without much success.
Siu said the EV unit aimed to start mass production in June of its inaugural electric car, the Hengchi 5 sport-utility vehicle, after getting approval to start sales last week.