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By Andrew Galbraith and Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -Fitch Ratings cut the ratings of China Evergrande Group and two of its subsidiaries on Wednesday, the latest in a series of downgrades targeting the property firm over its struggles to restructure huge debts.
Regulators have warned that Evergrande's 1.97 trillion yuan ($304.79 billion) of liabilities could spark broader risks to the country's financial system if not stabilised.
Fitch said in a statement that it had downgraded the long-term foreign-currency issuer default ratings of Evergrande and subsidiaries Hengda Real Estate Group Co and Tianji Holding Ltd to CC from CCC+. Fitch defines a CC rating as indicating "very high levels" of credit risk.
Fitch also downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of Evergrande and Tianji, as well as the rating on Tianji-guaranteed senior unsecured notes issued by Scenery Journey Limited to C from CCC.
"The downgrade reflects our view that a default of some kind appears probable. We believe credit risk is high given tight liquidity, declining contracted sales, pressure to address delayed payments to suppliers and contractors, and limited progress on asset disposals," Fitch said.
Fitch said it saw few signs of progress in the sale of Evergrande's property management business, Evergrande Property Services Group and its new-energy vehicle business China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd, and cautioned there was "significant execution risk" surrounding their disposal. It said that raised the possibility of default on offshore bond interest payments.
While Evergrande does not have any bonds maturing in 2021, Fitch estimated that it faces bond interest payments of $129 million in September alone and $850 million before the end of the year.
The company has also been struggling with payments to suppliers. On Tuesday, a stock exchange filing showed that Evergrande had outstanding liabilities worth 562 million yuan to a supplier, Skshu Paint Co Ltd, as of the end of August.
Evergrande had repaid overdue debts to Skshu worth 234.74 million yuan, but 219.5 million yuan of those repayments were in the form of apartments in three unfinished property projects, the filing showed.
In the latest indication of the company's funding challenges, financial information provider REDD reported on Wednesday that the company would suspend interest payments due on loans to two banks on Sept. 21, citing sources briefed by banks.
The company has delayed payments to several trust firms and may suspend all payments on its wealth management products starting Sept. 8, REDD reported.