A 30% off sale failed to attract buyers, resulting in the first auction of a hotel under R&F Properties being unsuccessful. The real estate giant plans to sell more assets to raise funds.

Guangzhou R&F Airport Holiday Hotel's First Auction Ends in Failure. According to the bidding announcement, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court conducted the first auction of the hotel from April 21 to 22, 10:00 AM. The hotel was valued at approximately 396 million yuan, with a starting bid of about 277 million yuan. This means the starting bid for the first auction was around 70% of the valuation. The auctioned property is located at No. 11 Jingu North Road, Huadu District, and includes 38 parking spaces (B401-B405, B408-B419, B421-B439, B441-B442) on the fourth basement level at No. 16 Huaxia Road, Tianhe District. The hotel currently operates at No. 11 Jingu North Road, with a total of 12 floors. The first floor serves as the lobby, the second floor houses meeting rooms, banquet halls, and fitness facilities, while floors 3-12 are guest rooms. Despite the 70% discount, the property failed to sell. According to information posted on Alibaba Judicial Auction Network this morning, there were zero bidders, and the auction ended without any bids. Industry insiders noted that if the first auction fails, the second auction will offer a further discount, indicating that the price for the second auction will be even lower. It is understood that the auctioned property is an asset of R&F Properties (02777.HK). The company disclosed that a bank branch in Guangzhou had applied to enforce the mortgage on the hotel under the H16 R&F 4, H16 R&F 6, and H19 R&F 2 bonds. On April 2, R&F Properties announced it received an "Execution Ruling" from the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court, ordering the auction of the hotel. "The company will continue to communicate with the bank to reach a satisfactory solution. If the hotel is successfully auctioned, we will follow the resolutions of the bondholders' meetings and the mortgage agreements to protect the rights and interests of the bondholders," R&F Properties stated. In fact, apart from the assets being auctioned due to debt issues, R&F Properties completed the sale of some projects last year to reduce debt and plans to continue disposing of assets this year to generate cash. The company disclosed that it completed a complex asset sale and restructuring project last year, selling a completed project in London's Zone 1 to priority note holders for cash and notes. The transaction involved a project valued at about 1.6 billion pounds, including 800 million pounds in cash to repay project loans and the cancellation of $1.17 billion in secured notes, with an average value 46% below par. The financial impact of the transaction reduced R&F's liabilities (including loans and notes) by about 15 billion yuan. Compared to the successful sale and restructuring of the London project, R&F Properties faced greater pressure from domestic and foreign lenders regarding its hotel asset portfolio. The company disclosed that the debt repayment deferral agreement for overseas loans, set to expire at the end of 2024, was terminated, and immediate repayment was demanded, or enforcement would follow. "After lengthy discussions and exploring feasible options, although ownership remains with the group, the overseas mortgage was enforced, and the assets entered receivership. The financial impact of the change in management control of the hotel assets is reflected in the 2024 financial figures. The company will continue to communicate with lenders to explore the feasibility of restoring or restructuring the unpaid hotel loans, aiming to keep the hotels in the company's portfolio," R&F Properties stated. From an operational perspective, R&F Properties still faces significant pressure. According to the company's data, sales revenue in March was 1.19 billion yuan, and total sales revenue for the first three months was about 2.77 billion yuan. According to R&F Properties' 2024 annual report, the company's total contract sales for the year were 11.23 billion yuan, with a sales area of about 838,100 m². During the reporting period, the company's revenue was 17.701 billion yuan, down 51.15% from 36.239 billion yuan in 2023; gross loss was 824 million yuan, a YoY decrease of 142.93%; and the loss attributable to the company's owners narrowed to 17.71 billion yuan from 20.164 billion yuan in 2023. Due to uncertainties in several indicators related to ongoing operations, the external auditor, Hong Kong-based LSH CPA Limited, expressed a "disclaimer of opinion" on R&F Properties' 2024 financial results. LSH CPA stated that R&F Properties' current liabilities exceeded current assets by about 31.676 billion yuan, with 103.569 billion yuan in borrowings due within 12 months, but only 3.864 billion yuan in total cash (including restricted cash). "Due to multiple uncertainties in ongoing operations, their potential interplay, and the possible cumulative impact on these consolidated financial statements, we do not express an opinion on the group's consolidated financial statements," LSH CPA said. To alleviate debt pressure, R&F Properties will further sell assets to generate liquidity. "The company will adopt a pragmatic approach to negotiate the commercial terms and conditions for asset sales. We are in discussions with buyers and hope to complete more asset sales in 2025. If more assets are sold, it will help further reduce the company's liabilities and provide more flexibility in negotiations with creditors," R&F Properties stated.