How short of money is Wang Jianlin?

Authors: Guo Ruyi, Yang Mei

Source: Business People (ID: biz-leaders)

Wang Jianlin studed.

On December 6, Wanda Film suddenly announced the news that control would change hands, and the theater giant was about to usher in a new boss.

can give up his beloved film and television business, Wang Jianlin should have made a big decision. Wanda Films is Wanda's high-quality asset, with a net profit of 1.1 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year, no less than a small cash cow. Now, the business is changing hands.

As the receiver of China Ruyi, the stock price soared that afternoon, although its performance was sluggish, but it could not stand the enthusiasm of shareholders for this gift. Wanda was left alone.

This is Wang Jianlin's fourth transfer of Wanda Film's equity, with only one purpose - to cash out as soon as possible. In the first three times, he accumulated as much as 6.7 billion yuan.

So a question that has been troubled for a long time arises again, how short of money is Wang Jianlin?

Since the beginning of this year, Wang Jianlin has embarked on the old road of selling and selling, and many of Wanda's assets have been taken out for sale. Although the family background seems to be huge, there are so many places to use money that even the former richest man can't bear it.

Roughly taking down several mountains on Wanda's head, Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management's listing of VAM repurchases, domestic and foreign bonds, and bank loans may be the places where money is most needed.

Let's take a look at the current business structure of Wanda, according to the official website, its business is divided into three major sectors - business management group, cultural tourism group and investment group. Among them, the business management group is mainly responsible for the operation of Wanda Plaza, the cultural tourism group is responsible for films, sports, baby kings, cultural tourism projects, etc., and the investment group is responsible for the construction of Wanda Plaza, Wanda hotels and residential projects.

Of course, Wanda's business has been changing in recent years, and the above is an approximation.

At present, there are only more than 20 days left before the end of the year, and the market is most concerned about Wanda's listing progress in Zhuhai Wanda. As a subsidiary of the Commercial Management Group, whether Zhuhai Wanda can be successfully listed is of great significance to Wanda, which is in urgent need of new financing channels. And if it can't go public before the end of the year, Wanda needs to pay more than 40 billion yuan in repurchases, which is too much pressure.

Once upon a time, Wanda Commercial Management Group has always created a kind of "not bad money" character for the outside world. It has been creating this sense of atmosphere in terms of net profit, speed of opening, wealth management products, bank credit, etc. The most intuitive thing is that its net profit in the first three quarters of this year was as high as 11 billion. Properly it is good news to release.

But it can only be said that those who have borrowed money basically understand the careful thinking - the financial pressure of Wanda Commercial Management is not small. As of the third quarter, Wanda Commercial Management had short-term borrowings of 1.6 billion yuan, non-current liabilities due within one year of 64.6 billion yuan, and only 13.2 billion yuan of monetary funds on the books.

Everyone knows that Wanda is short of money, but Wanda's ledger manuscript is still a mystery. Through the public Wanda Commercial Management and Wanda Film reports, we can get a glimpse of some of them.

In terms of Wanda Films, as of the third quarter, Wanda Films' total liabilities exceeded 18 billion, but they included some long-term payables, while short-term borrowings were 2.3 billion and non-current liabilities due within one year were 900 million. In comparison, Wanda Films had 4.1 billion monetary funds in its hands during the same period. It's not rich. With this change of control, it is unclear how Wanda Film's liabilities will be handled and whether it will be presented in the transaction consideration. Considering that it is cut meat and sold, Wanda may not have much advantage in terms of trading conditions.

As for the other businesses in the three major sectors, it is difficult to clarify the financial situation because they do not need to be disclosed. For example, in September this year, Wanda announced that it would sell its sports business, Infront of Switzerland, a deal that has not yet been completed, and Changbaishan International Resort, a former masterpiece of the cultural tourism project, was sold by Wanda as early as 2017 and is now only responsible for its operations.

In addition to the debt data in the financial report, the bond issuance of Wanda's companies is also another perspective on Wanda's debt pressure.

Based on WInd data and statistics from Shanghai Clearing House, it can be found that since 2020, Wanda Commercial Management has become the main body of Wanda's issuance of domestic and foreign bonds, including corporate bonds, medium-term notes, short-term financing bonds, ultra-short-term financing bonds and US dollar bonds.

Up to now, Wanda Commercial Management has a total of 9 domestic bonds, with a balance of about 6.9 billion, of which the balance of domestic bonds due within one year is 1.8 billion. The longest remaining maturity is to be paid by 2026.

There are 3 offshore US dollar bonds with a total balance of US$1.3 billion, and the issuers are subsidiaries of Wanda Commercial Management (Wanda Real Estate International and Wanda Real Estate Global). One of the $600 million bonds, which was due in January next year, was recently rolled over. The remaining two payments also need to be paid within a year or two.

Judging from these bond issuances, it seems that it is now more difficult for Wanda to issue domestic bonds, and only one has been successfully issued so far this year, but two US dollar bonds have been issued in the first half of the year. The interest rate on offshore debt is usually higher, but only as a last resort.

To sum up, adding up the bills of the Wanda system, the short-term financial pressure is still quite large. However, in terms of financing channels, Wang Jianlin may not be able to use more than other private real estate giants. He also relied on business fundamentals (such as the rental income of Wanda Plaza) and the sale of more assets, such as the sale of Wanda Plaza, which revealed that he would sell Wanda Plaza in the first- and second-tier cities after the transfer of Wanda Films. This is Wanda's core asset.

At present, Wang Jianlin should be busy negotiating with investors from all walks of life, and the outside world has raised the atmosphere of "tight money" to a high point. Otherwise, accustomed to seeing Wang Gongzi's spending, can you think that his father needs to pull down his face for a measly $600 million debt and ask for an extension? It seems that in addition to the news of Wang Jianlin's meeting with local officials that was publicized on Wanda's official website, finding money is still his central task now.

*The title image was purchased from Visual China