Gold Coast Jewel sale mooted and Wanda’s Hong Kong trading halted pending `substantial sale’

DALIAN Wanda Group, which has a 60 per cent share in the Jewel project at Broadbeach, is expected to announce the sale of the three-tower beachfront development, along with one in Sydney, this week.

GCB Jewel development artist impression.

DALIAN Wanda Group, which has a 60 per cent share in the Jewel project at Broadbeach, is expected to announce the sale of the three-tower beachfront development, along with one in Sydney, this week.

It sold its interest in London’s One Nine Elms project last week and its trading on the Hong Kong exchange was halted on Friday pending a “very substantial” sale.

The Gold Coast Bulletin has contacted Wanda for comment.

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Jewel development at Broadbeach, Gold Coast.

The flagship company of Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s reported a decline in revenue for a second straight year as it retreated from its ambitious expansion into entertainment and overseas property.

Wanda, a conglomerate with interests in real estate, cinemas and more, said on Saturday that its revenue was 227.4 billion yuan ($A44.44 billion) in 2017, down 10.8 per cent from a year earlier.

The decrease was mainly due to the sale of its assets in culture and tourism, it said.

Chairman of China's Wanda Group, Wang Jianlin.

Saturday’s statement offers a limited glimpse into Wanda’s finances because the privately held company isn’t required to report earnings. Its revenue in recent years had been steadily growing until 2016, when it reported a rare drop due to a decline in residential-property sales.

The company is closely held by Mr Wang, who spent billions of dollars in recent years to branch into theme parks, overseas real estate and US entertainment. His purchases have included theatre chain AMC Entertainment in 2012 and Hollywood film producer Legendary Entertainment in 2016.

Mr Wang was forced to curb his overseas ambitions last year as Chinese government officials determined Wanda and other private Chinese companies were spending too much money on questionable assets, hindering the government’s efforts to limit outflows of capital.

In recent months, three major credit-ratings firms have downgraded the commercial-property unit to junk status, which could lead to higher interest payments on the debt it already has. Tighter capital controls are also making it tougher for Wanda to transfer money overseas to repay offshore lenders.

The commercial-property unit owed about $41 billion in debt in 2016, according to its most recent regulatory filings.

- with The Wall Street Journal