Panda Green

It is back to the meeting room for beleaguered shareholders in the debt-saddled solar project developer, ahead of a proposed shares purchase by a Chinese coal and real estate company.

The heavily indebted solar project developer has revealed the state-backed element of two trailed fire sales of 636 MW of solar and wind project portfolios in China. The divestments will generate up to RMB450 million for the company while recognizing RMB200 million in losses on its investments.

The debt-saddled developer has announced it is now almost 63% owned by Chinese state entities and is seeking to refinance its debt pile with new long-term arrangements, take on fresh debt and issue more shares.

The debt saddled renewables project developer has signed off on the sale of two wind farms in Shanxi at a loss of RMB40 million on investment. The sale will contribute up to RMB251.5 million to help pay off the parent company’s debts.

The heavily indebted developer has cashed in two eight-project portfolios for an immediate $28 million windfall but accepted the sales recognize heavy losses as it continues to try and pay down debt.

With Singyes having already announced a plan to receive a cash injection and restructure its debt, fellow Hong Kong listed solar developer Panda Green today announced plans for a Beijing coal power company to ride to its rescue.

The Hong Kong listed developer is set to bank just south of $1.75 million from a Chinese state-backed partial stake sale in two PV projects, but will have to cut an awful lot more deals of that scale to keep creditors at bay.

Latest tirade may simply be a crude bid to up the ante with a high-profile Chinese deputation due to visit the U.S. in the latest round of trade talks this week but its timing is worrying for the Chinese solar companies struggling under huge debts.

Chinese solar plant operators must contend with higher financial costs than companies that run wind farms in the country. And delayed subsidy payments are only complicating their woes, the ratings agency reports.

Panda Green Energy has posted a loss of CNY 454 million ($67.6 million) for 2018, mere weeks before it starts to face deadlines to pay off a hefty amount of outstanding debt. By the end of December, the group’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by about CNY 928 million.