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World Cup hosts offer steel beds and luxury villas

By - Mar 24,2022 - Last updated at Mar 24,2022

This photo shows a room at the JW Marriott Marquis hotel in the Qatari capital Doha on March 16, part of the accommodation unveiled for Qatar World Cup (AFP photo)

DOHA — Qatar World Cup organisers on Wednesday unveiled fan accommodation for the event that ranges from a steel bed in a studio at $84 a night to luxury villas costing nearly $1,000 and luxury cruise ship suites.

Visitors to the Gulf state will also have to buy a match ticket before they can get official accommodation and to register for a special pass to get access to stadiums and fan zones, Qatari officials said.

Organisers of the football extravaganza, which runs from November 21 to December 18, have sought to reassure 1.2 million visitors expected from around the world that there are enough rooms and they will fit all pockets.

Despite the doubts, and some criticism of Qatar's record of handling migrant workers, there have been nearly 20 million applications for the three million tickets.

The government and world body FIFA have reserved 130,000 hotel and apartment rooms for the tournament. But they will also have two cruise ships in Doha port and could set up desert camps for fans.

Omar Al-Jaber, executive director of accommodation for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the main organising body, said the aim was to have prices for all fans.

Website wait 

"As for the average price, it starts from $80 and varies according to the location and the type of housing chosen," he told a press conference.

But he warned that rates would be based on "supply and demand" and those who book early would get the cheaper prices.

While visiting the accommodation website an hour after it opened, there was a 50-minute wait to access the list of hotels and rooms.

The cheapest was a studio with two steel single beds and a shared kitchen in an alcohol-free campus at Al Wakra, a Doha suburb. The $84 a night room at Barwa Barahat Al Janoub Cluster A includes an ensuite shower but the kitchen is shared.

Beer and strong drinks are mainly banned in Muslim Qatar. But the government plans to allow drinking in World Cup fan zones. 

The studios -- near the Al Janoub stadium, where some matches will be played -- and most of the accommodation, is virtually new.

There are also luxury villas near the Al Khalifa stadium in Doha for $920 a night. But many fans will be in one of the 4,000 cabins on the MSC Poesia and MSC World Europa cruise ships.

Prices start at $180 a night for a basic cabin while some suites are more than twice as expensive.

Fans must have a ticket to get an official room though some private portals will also be selling accommodation and hotels will also have some rooms on the open market.

Fans have to register for a Hayya card, which will act as a visa for Qatar and a passport to enter stadiums and fan zones and get free transport. The card is expected to have information on whether the holder has had a Covid-19 vaccine.

"The Hayya card is the gateway to attendance at the 2022 World Cup stadiums, as it is mandatory for all fans," said Captain Mohammed al-Kuwari of the government's Safety and Security Operations Committee.

With accommodation at a premium some people will fly in for one-day trips from Dubai. 

FIFA has said that some fans could be housed in "desert camps".

Qatar and FIFA have also launched an international campaign to find 20,000 volunteers to help manage the event. They are expecting tens of thousands of applications.

Toshiba shareholders reject spin-off plan

By - Mar 24,2022 - Last updated at Mar 24,2022

TOKYO — Toshiba shareholders on Thursday voted against a proposal to split the Japanese conglomerate into two, dealing a fresh blow to management that will likely spell further turmoil for the embattled company.

The results of the ballot held at an extraordinary shareholder meeting are non-binding, but Toshiba had been hoping to shore up support ahead of a final vote next year on the plan to spin off its electronic devices unit.

The result is the latest setback for the engineering giant, which was once a symbol of Japan's tech and business prowess but has faced a series of scandals, financial troubles and shock high-level resignations in recent years.

A proposal by a key Singapore-based shareholder to explore alternatives including going private was also rejected, however, highlighting the deadlock between management and activist investors over the future of the company.

"Our company will review any and all strategic options in order to increase our corporate value, taking into account the opinions expressed by shareholders," CEO Taro Shimada said at the end of the meeting.

Details of how many votes each proposal received will be announced at a later date in a special report after both failed to receive majority support.

The plan to divide Toshiba in two was revised from an earlier idea for a three-way split, which also met stiff opposition from some investors.

Several major shareholders argued that a spin-off would only add to Toshiba's woes by creating more managerial posts at smaller units, rather than improving the firm's governance.

Some want a buyout instead, following an abandoned takeover offer last year from private equity fund CVC Capital Partners.

Singapore-based Effissimo Capital Management, which owns 10 per cent of Toshiba's shares, had come out against the spin-off plan before the vote, while Farallon Capital Management said a buyout would "put an end to the spiral of mistrust and reposition the company for the future".

Satoshi Tsunakawa, a key figure behind the spin-off proposal, abruptly stepped down as CEO earlier this month after a brief tenure of less than a year. He was replaced by Shimada, who backs the two-way split.

Foreign investors have kept Toshiba afloat, but have also pushed for faster growth and a clearer long-term strategy.

Travis Lundy, an analyst at Quiddity Advisors who publishes on Smartkarma, told AFP before the vote that Toshiba's "number one goal" is to "get rid of the activists, make them go away".

"The problem is... that activists have a certain mandate," he said.

"They need to get out with a win. Otherwise, at this point, it would be getting out with a loss, because they've been there for years now."



 

US new home sales fell but supply crunch eases in February

By - Mar 24,2022 - Last updated at Mar 24,2022

Homes under construction are seen at a housing development on Wednesday in Petaluma, California (AFP photo)

WASHINGTON — After months of high prices and scarcity, the supply of new US homes on the market increased in February, though sales fell once again amid rising lending rates, according to government data released on Wednesday.

Sales of new homes fell two per cent last month to an annual rate of 772,000, seasonally adjusted, and January sales were revised down sharply, the Commerce Department said. 

The result was substantially worse than analysts expected.

The US real estate market boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the Federal Reserve's easy money policies and the disruptions to daily life caused by the coronavirus.

However, the boom started to fade as available properties grew scarce and prices surged, and now is being hit by the Fed's interest rate hikes aimed at lowering inflation that have tightened borrowing conditions.

"We are braced for sales (to) quickly to return to their pre-Covid level and then drop to multi-year lows in the late summer. With inventory already quite high, at just over six months, the rate of price gains will slow sharply too," Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said.

The supply of new real estate for sale last month ticked up for the second month, rising to 407,000, an increase of 9,000 compared to January, which is equal to a 6.3 months supply at the current sales pace, the report said.

Meanwhile, the median sales prices, not seasonally adjusted, fell in February to $400,600, much lower than the month prior, when it came in at $427,400. However, the average sales prices rose to $511,000 from $494,000 in January.

Sales were uneven across regions, shooting up 59.3 per cent in the Northeast and growing 6.3 per cent in the Midwest. But in the West, they fell 13 per cent, while in the South, the drop was nearly two per cent.

France's TotalEnergies says unable to end Russian gas purchases

By - Mar 23,2022 - Last updated at Mar 23,2022

This file photo taken on May 28, 2021 shows the new TotalEnergies in La Defense on the outskirts of Paris (AFP photo)

PARIS — TotalEnergies' Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday that his company could not stop buying Russian natural gas in retaliation for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, saying it would force a partial economic shutdown in Europe. 

The French energy giant had announced Tuesday that it would stop buying Russia's oil and petroleum products by the end of this year, the latest of several multinationals to halt or curtail their operations in the country.

But the CEO said ending its natural gas purchases from Russia would effectively hand over billions of euros to Russian investors.

Unlike oil, which can more easily be shipped for sale anywhere in the world, natural gas is often supplied via pipelines directly to individual countries and clients.

"I know how to replace this oil and diesel fuel," Pouyanne told RTL radio, but "with gas, I don't know how to do it".

"I don't know how to replace it, there isn't any other available, and I have 25-year contracts that I can't get out of," he said.

Unless European governments impose sanctions on Russian gas, which would allow companies to declare force majeure to break contracts, pulling out of existing deals would require TotalEnergies to pay billions in penalties to its Russian partners.

Pouyanne also warned that European economies would pay a heavy price.

"Without Russian gas, you stop part of the European economy... If we stop Russian gas we know that in winter 2023 we have a problem, in January we'll have to ration gas use, not for households but probably for industry," he said.

Pouyanne also said Total would not suddenly stop its Russian operations completely, since "we've invested nearly $13 billion in these sites... that are going to operate whether I leave or not".

"Pulling out would mean I'd be giving this $13 billion to the Russians... Should I abandon these assets to enrich the Russians that we have sanctioned?"

But Pouyanne insisted that in the wake of Russia's assault on Ukraine, "There's no future growth for TotalEnergies in Russia, I've crossed out all the future we were building in Russia", noting that Russia accounted for five per cent of its cashflow and 10 per cent of its earnings.

US announces deal with UK to end steel, aluminum tariffs

By - Mar 23,2022 - Last updated at Mar 23,2022

WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday announced an agreement with Britain to end tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed by former president Donald Trump.

"By allowing for a flow of duty-free steel and aluminum from the UK, we further ease the gap between supply and demand for these products in the United States," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

"And by removing the UK's retaliatory tariffs, we reopen the British market to beloved American products."

The deal was the latest in a series of efforts by President Joe Biden to settle trade spats with US allies, some of which were long-running and others started under the Trump administration.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cheered the announcement of the deal "with our American friends."

"This is fantastic news and a very welcome boost to our steel and aluminum industries," he said on Twitter.

Washington and London in January announced the start of negotiations to end the dispute, which began in 2018 when Trump imposed levies of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum imports from Britain and other nations to protect US industry.

US companies for years have struggled to compete with the glut of supply coming out of China, but Trump penalized close trade partners citing national security concerns, which worsened relations with major US allies.

In October, the Biden administration reached a deal to end the tariffs on the European Union, and in early February did the same with Japan.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, Britain will lift retaliatory tariffs it imposed on $500 million in American imports, including alcohol and consumer goods, the statement said.

It also stipulates that any British steel company "owned by a Chinese entity must undertake an audit of their financial records to assess influence from the People's Republic of China government," the results of which will be shared with the United States, the Commerce Department said.

Britain's International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who met with Raimondo in Washington to finalize the agreement, said the deal was "good news for our steel and aluminum industries who have been unfairly hit by these tariffs, and the 80,000 people employed across the sector."

US industry was more cautious in its praise, noting the benefits the tariffs provided to aluminum and steel manufacturers.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine should remind us all just how critical the domestic steel industry is to our national and economic security," said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. 

"Section 232 quotas and tariffs have permitted the American steel industry to recover, invest, hire, and contribute robustly to our national defence," he said, calling for a pause in more such deals to allow the industry to adjust.

The announcement followed two days of talks between US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Trevelyan in the port city of Baltimore on the broader trade relationship.

In a statement, Tai said the deal to remove the metal tariffs "delivers on President Biden's vision to repair relationships with our allies while also helping to ensure the long-term viability of our steel and aluminum industries."

Free trade deal? 

Trevalyan and Tai said they would continue their talks next month in Scotland.

"Hopefully we can now move forward and focus on deepening our thriving trading relationship with the US," the British official said.

However, there was no indication of progress towards a free trade agreement between the two countries — a priority of Britain following its departure from the European Union.

Marjorie Chorlins, senior vice president for European Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, who took part in discussions in Baltimore on Monday, said a trade pact is not likely "at least not anytime soon."

Trump officials seemed ready to make a new bilateral arrangement with London and had even opened negotiations, but the Biden administration has shown little indication of wanting to continue them.

Oil prices jump, stocks fall over inflation, Russia concerns

By - Mar 23,2022 - Last updated at Mar 23,2022

Pedestrians walk past an electronic share price board showing the closing numbers on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Wednesday (AFP photo)

LONDON — Oil prices surged while stock markets fell on Wednesday on renewed fears over Russian energy supplies and soaring inflation.

Crude futures jumped more than four per cent with Brent North Sea, the international benchmark, exceeding $120 per barrel.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Wednesday warned that a ban on Russian oil and gas imports over the Ukraine war — which some EU countries are demanding — would drive the world's energy markets to a "collapse". 

"It is absolutely obvious that without Russian hydrocarbons, if sanctions are introduced, there will be a collapse of the oil and gas markets," Novak told Russia's lower house State Duma as reported by Russian news agencies.

"The rise in energy prices may be unpredictable," Novak added.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, hit back at "unfriendly countries" — which include EU members — as he announced that Russia will now only accept rubles for gas deliveries.

Russia also warned that repairs at a terminal near a Black Sea port may take up to two months and lead to a drop in oil exports of about one million barrels per day.

Moscow could face more sanctions as US President Joe Biden left on Wednesday for Europe on a mission to bolster Western unity against Russia.

Inflation and war 

 

On stock markets, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading as British finance minister Rishi Sunak said the UK economy would grow far slower than expected this year due to the Ukraine war and soaring global inflation.

In Frankfurt, the DAX was 1.5 per cent lower while the Paris CAC 40 was shedding 1.3 per cent.

Wall Street was lower in morning deals.

"The markets continue to contend with the uncertainty regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, and persistently elevated and broad-based inflation pressures," analysts at Charles Schwab investment firm said in a note.

Sunak launched plans to ease a cost of living crisis, with UK inflation set to spike to a 40-year high on Ukraine fallout. 

"Today's data confirm a worsening squeeze on consumer incomes," said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.

"These price rises were dominated by increases in energy, and we expect further rises this year as global energy, food, and other commodities markets are impacted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

Asian stock markets closed higher after a Wall Street rally the day before.

US shares had risen Tuesday on optimism that the Federal Reserve's plan to hike interest rates would help to bring inflation under control.

While there remains plenty of concern about the war in Ukraine, analysts said some confidence had seeped back into trading floors as investors bet on consumer resilience and economies continue to reopen.

"There is a narrative taking root that the bad news is priced in," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell this week said that the US central bank was prepared to act more aggressively on lifting borrowing costs should American inflation — already at a 40-year high — not fall quickly enough.

Officials lifted US rates last week by a quarter of a point but some have advocated bigger increases, a view Powell suggested he was open to believing that the world's biggest economy was strong enough to withstand such a move.

UK confronts cost of living crisis

By - Mar 23,2022 - Last updated at Mar 23,2022

A video grab shows Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak gesturing as he presents the Spring budget statement to MPs at the House of Commons, in London, on Wednesday (AFP photo)

LONDON — British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday launched plans to ease a cost of living crisis, with growth set for a massive slowdown as the war in Ukraine and decades-high inflation pummel the economy.

In a budget update, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak unveiled measures to help household finances, including a cut on fuel duty and easing the tax burden for the lowest earners.

He also pledged to cut income tax in 2024, which is the last year when the next general election can be called by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Britain's economy will grow far slower than expected this year owing to the Ukraine war and soaring global inflation, Sunak told parliament.

The UK economy was set to grow 3.8 per cent in 2022, down from an official estimate of six per cent made in October.

'Prepare for worse' 

Sunak said that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) — the government's official economic forecaster — "has not accounted for the full impacts of the war in Ukraine and we should be prepared for the economy and public finances to worsen, potentially significantly".

"Their initial view, combined with high global inflation and continuing supply chain pressures means" the UK economy is forecast to grow significantly slower than thought.

Gross domestic product was estimated to expand a further 1.8 per cent next year, down from an official prediction of 2.1 per cent.

The OBR warned that should "wholesale energy prices remain as high as markets expect, energy bills are set to rise... pushing inflation to a 40-year high of 8.7 per cent in the fourth quarter".

UK annual inflation accelerated to a 30-year high at 6.2 per cent in February, official data showed on Wednesday.

Countries across the world are battling surging inflation fuelled by rocketing commodity prices over the Ukraine war and after nations exited pandemic lockdowns.

Sunak last month unveiled a package worth £9 billion ($11.9 billion, 11 billion euros) to help millions of low and middle-income households with energy bills, in particular.

Many household incomes are set to shrink further in April owing to a planned tax hike on UK workers and businesses to fund care for the elderly.

The same month, a cap on domestic gas and electricity bills will be increased because of a spike in wholesale energy costs.

Wage erosion 

While Sunak has been comforted by news that UK unemployment has fallen to pre-pandemic levels, rising wages are being eroded at the fastest pace in eight years as inflation soars.

"Higher inflation will erode real incomes and consumption," the OBR said.

It said that "with inflation outpacing growth in nominal earnings and net taxes due to rise in April", real living standards are set to fall by a record amount this year.

The main opposition Labour party attacked Sunak for failing to help all financially-struggling families.

"For all his words it is clear that the chancellor does not understand the scale of the challenge," Rachel Reeves, finance spokesperson for the main opposition Labour party, said in response to the budget update.

"He talks about providing security for hard-working families but his choices are making the cost of living crisis worse."

Spiking global inflation has forced central banks around the world to lift interest rates, including the Bank of England.

Rising interest rates are significantly increasing governments' debt repayments, which ballooned over the past two years on vast pandemic costs.

Elon Musk hands over first 'made in Germany' Teslas

By - Mar 22,2022 - Last updated at Mar 22,2022

Employees of the Tesla's 'Gigafactory' wearing yellow vests cheer during the start of the production at Tesla's 'Gigafactory' on Tuesday in Gruenheide, southeast of Berlin (AFP photo)

BERLIN — Tesla CEO Elon Musk danced for joy at the inauguration of his "gigafactory" electric car plant near Berlin on Tuesday, shrugging off two years of bureaucracy and delays to watch customers drive off with the first Model Y vehicles made in Europe.

"Danke Deutschland!" (Thank you, Germany) Musk tweeted after the red ribbon ceremony, where he joined workers in applauding the first 30 drivers to get behind the wheel of their new cars.

The US billionaire even broke into a little dance during the handovers, reviving memories of the slightly awkward jig he did at a launch event in Shanghai in 2020 that lit up the internet.

The factory opening caps an arduous two-year approval and construction process that saw Tesla run into a series of administrative and legal hurdles, including complaints from locals about the site's environmental impact.

Having started construction at its own risk, Tesla finally won the formal go-ahead from regional authorities to begin production earlier this month.

The "gigafactory" in Gruenheide, in Germany's eastern state of Brandenburg, is Tesla's first production site in Europe, and officials are hoping it will help the region position itself as a hub for electric vehicle production.

The Californian company aims to eventually employ some 12,000 workers at the site who will churn out around 500,000 Model Y cars annually, the firm's all-electric, compact SUVs.

Tesla's arrival is expected to jolt Germany's flagship car industry, setting the stage for fierce competition with rivals Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz as they pivot from traditional engines to cleaner electric vehicles.

"The new era in the auto industry has now arrived in Germany too," said analyst Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer from the Centre for Automotive Research.

Away from Russian oil 

Tesla's focus on Europe comes as the continent grapples with sky-high energy costs that have sent petrol prices soaring, prompting some drivers to take a closer look at electric alternatives.

The "Giga Berlin-Brandenburg" is "one of the biggest strategic endeavours for Tesla over the last decade and should further vault its market share within Europe over the coming years as more consumers aggressively head down the EV path", analysts at investment firm Wedbush said.

But Tesla has not been spared the pain from shortages of key materials and supply chain disruptions, linked in part to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, that are also plaguing other carmakers.

Last week, Musk tweeted that the company was seeing "significant recent inflation pressure" in raw materials and logistics.

'Special day' 

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who attended Tuesday's inauguration along with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said it was "a special day for Germany's mobility transformation".

In a nod to efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy, Habeck said electric cars took Germany "one step further away from oil imports".

He also called for more "Tesla speed" in other infrastructure projects, including the expansion of renewable energies.

Although Musk was frequently frustrated by the red tape that slowed down his Gruenheide plans, by German standards the factory was up and running in record time.

The inauguration was not universally welcomed, however, with environmental campaigners protesting near the site. 

Among their demands was a call for better and free public transport instead of "yet more cars", said spokeswoman Lou Winters from the Sand in the Gears environmental group.

Stocks climb, oil prices steady

Investors tracking US rate stance, Ukraine war

By - Mar 22,2022 - Last updated at Mar 22,2022

LONDON — Stock markets rose while oil prices steadied on Tuesday as investors tracked developments in the war in Ukraine and digested the US Federal Reserve (Fed) chief's warning of a possible sharp interest rate hike.

Crude futures had soared more than seven per cent on Monday on supply worries as European leaders debated banning imports from Russia, but they were more or less flat in Tuesday trading.

Wall Street advanced around 0.8 per cent in early deals, mirroring similar rises on main European markets.

Some EU states want to ramp up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin with energy sanctions, though others, including Germany — hugely reliant on Moscow's fuel — have been reluctant to target the key sector. 

Adding to the price pressure, Saudi Arabia warned that Yemeni rebel attacks on its oil facilities are a "direct threat" to global supplies, after Red Sea facilities belonging to giant Saudi Aramco were targeted.

"Despite some optimism seen across markets resulting from the potential of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, the oil market remains one of the most volatile," noted Walid Koudmani, chief market analyst at XTB.

Soaring oil prices have been a driver of turmoil on world markets in recent weeks as demand surges also as economies reopen from pandemic lockdowns.

That, along with a spike in the cost of other key commodities, such as metals and wheat on the Ukraine conflict, has sent global inflation rocketing and caused central banks to hike interest rates.

There is a growing fear that the global economy could endure a period of stagflation whereby prices soar but growth stalls.

Rising rate 

Fed chair Jerome Powell on Monday indicated the US central bank could lift borrowing costs faster than market expectations to keep a leash on inflation.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note — a proxy for interest rate expectations — jumped further above two per cent as traders bet on aggressive Fed rate hikes in the coming months.

"The battle of rate-hike expectations will be waged all year," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"Thus far, it has been the root of volatility in the capital markets as participants have been attempting to assess the ultimate impact of the Fed removing its policy accommodation on the path of the economy, inflation, and earnings," he said.

Regarding the Ukraine war, the Kremlin on Tuesday said it would like negotiations with Kyiv aimed at ending Russia's military action to have more substance.

The two sides are holding negotiations remotely after several rounds of talks between delegations meeting on the border between Belarus and Ukraine.

So far, the talks have yielded little progress, with both sides blaming the other, and none has been at the presidential level. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed an offer of direct peace talks with Putin late Monday.

In Asia, Hong Kong's main stocks index ended sharply higher, resuming last week's rally sparked by China's pledge to support the country's markets and indicated a tech crackdown was nearing an end.

Evergrande says lenders lay claim to around $2.1b in deposits

By - Mar 22,2022 - Last updated at Mar 22,2022

This photo taken on October 9, 2021, shows a sign of the Evergrande Centre in Shanghai (AFP photo)

HONG KONG — Chinese developer Evergrande said on Tuesday it is investigating how lenders have laid claim to deposits valued at more than 13.4 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) for its subsidiary, the latest black mark against the debt-ridden property giant.

Beijing's drive to curb excessive debt in the real estate sector has embroiled Evergrande, one of the country's largest developers, which has been struggling after racking up $300 billion in liabilities. 

It announced on Tuesday that one of its key units Evergrande Property Services Group had about $2.1 billion in cash that banks have laid claim to as security guarantees via a third party, a discovery made when the company was doing its annual report.

"In the review of its financial report for the year ended 31 December 2021, [the subsidiary] found that deposits of approximately RMB13.4 billion as security for third party pledge guarantees had been enforced by the relevant banks," the company said in an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 

"[Evergrande] considers that this is a major incident and has established an independent investigation committee to assess the implication of the incident." 

Another committee for the property subsidiary will "investigate the pledge guarantees" to its lenders.

The statement does not provide details on which banks had enforced the pledges. 

This revelation adds to the financial woes of Evergrande, which international ratings firms in December had labelled as being in default after it had failed to repay liabilities on time. 

The company also said on Tuesday it would not be able to publish its 2021 audited results by the end of March — as Hong Kong's listing rules require — blaming the delay on COVID-19.

"Due to the drastic changes in the operational environment of the Company since the second half of last year... coupled with the effect caused by the COVID-19 outbreak... the Company will not be able to complete the audit procedures on time," it said in a separate announcement.

It added that the suspension in its share trading — which had halted Monday — will remain in force until further notice. 

It urged investors to exercise caution "in view of the operational and financial challenges the group is facing and in particular the debt pressure it is experiencing".

Monday's suspension is the second one this year. 

The company has repeatedly said it will finish its projects and deliver them to buyers in a desperate bid to salvage its debts, and had asked its creditors to give them time. 

Earlier struggles to pay suppliers and contractors due to the crisis led to protests from homebuyers and investors at the group's Shenzhen headquarters in September.

Evergrande's woes have had knock-on effects throughout China's property sector, with some smaller firms also defaulting on loans and others struggling to find enough cash. 

In January, the International Monetary Fund warned that the property funding crisis could have spillover effects on the broader economy and global markets.

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