Today, the female billionaire repaid 2 billion debts! The country has restarted the quarantine policy, and the new crown variant is surging, how big is the impact?

It doesn't seem to be affecting everyone!

It is an indisputable fact that the real estate industry has been bleak in the past two years. However, Longfor Property may be an exception. On December 20, it was reported that the Longfor Group, a wealthy woman in Chongqing, repaid a HK$2 billion syndicated loan on the same day, with a total amount of HK$15.3 billion and due in January 2024. Previously, Longfor had repaid HK$13.3 billion in advance, and after this repayment, the loan has been fully repaid in advance in 2023.

When it comes to the general environment, we cannot deny the impact of the new crown epidemic on the economy. Now, the Covid variant is making a comeback. Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia have seen a recent surge in confirmed cases. Malaysia's Ministry of Health announced that people diagnosed with COVID must isolate for five days from the first day of symptoms and maintain indoor ventilation. People who have been diagnosed with the case should also wear a mask when going out after five days.

So, how big is the impact of this virus? The World Health Organization has also spoken out on this. Come and see the report!

Longfor Real Estate "Long Face"

On December 20, it was reported that Longfor Group repaid a syndicated loan of HK$2 billion in advance on the same day, with a total amount of HK$15.3 billion and due in January 2024. Previously, Longfor had repaid HK$13.3 billion in advance, and after this repayment, the loan has been fully repaid in advance in 2023.

In the secondary market, or affected by this news, Longfor Group once rose more than 3%. The relevant person in charge of Longfor Group then said that the above news was true. Longfor will have no offshore syndicated loans due to be repaid until 2025 and no US dollar bonds due until 2027. In addition, Longfor Group no longer has a surviving supply chain ABS, and the commercial bills have been cleared at present, so the pressure on debt repayment in the short and medium term is small.

According to the information disclosed in the company's 2023 interim results, short-term debt due within one year accounts for 18% of Longfor's comprehensive borrowings, and the average loan tenure has increased from 6.28 years to 7.19 years. Since the second half of 2023, Longfor has repaid a total of 8.488 billion yuan of corporate bonds, and the domestic corporate bonds due this year have been paid off. According to the Choice financial terminal, the bonds continuously paid by Longfor Group include 16 Longfor 06, 20 Longfor Development MTN001A, 18 Longfor 03, 20 Longfor 05, 18 Longfor 04, etc.

It is reported that Longfor's debt due next year may be around 23 billion yuan. Zhao Yi, chief financial officer of Longfor Group, said that it is expected that more than 10 billion yuan of development loans will be issued next year, operating property loans are expected to increase by more than 10 billion yuan, and China Debt Credit Enhancement may also raise 2 billion to 3 billion yuan to repay debts due next year.

At a time when many real estate development companies are still in a hurry, Longfor Real Estate's series of debt operations are really "long-faced". And this may be due in large part to the cautious operation of the company's owner, Wu Yajun. Born in 1964 in Hechuan, Chongqing, this rich woman graduated from the School of Navigation of Northwestern Polytechnical University in July 1984, and has worked as a mechanical engineer, reporter, editor, etc. In October 2022, Longfor Group announced that with effect from October 28, 2022, Ms. Wu Yajun resigned as an executive director, the chairman of the Board, the chairman of the nomination committee, a member of the remuneration committee, a member of the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee, a member of the Investment Committee and an authorized representative of the Company as stipulated in Rule 3.05 of the Listing Rules, and was appointed as the strategic development consultant of the Company.

The country has reinstated its quarantine policy

A new variant of the novel coronavirus is spreading rapidly around the world, and it is a subvariant of Omicron BA.2.86.

On Tuesday, Singapore's Ministry of Health announced that it would resume daily updates on the epidemic from now on. Singapore reported 56,000 coronavirus infections in the week ended Dec. 9, up 75% from the last week of November, with the average number of hospitalisations surging to 350 from 225 a week earlier. Cases of the JN.1 variant are said to account for about 60% of infections in Singapore. Indonesia has also seen a significant increase in COVID cases compared to November, with a 13% increase in infections. Its capital, Jakarta, is experiencing an average of 200 cases per day, but 90 percent of cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and hospitalizations are under control.

Malaysia's Ministry of Health announced on social media X that confirmed cases should still avoid staying in crowded places and visiting high-risk groups after five days of isolation, and must wash their hands frequently with hand sanitizer or soap until day 10. Those who have been diagnosed will receive a home quarantine order from MySejahtera, the Ministry of Health's mobile app for epidemic prevention, and will then complete a daily home assessment according to the procedure. Anyone who has been in close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 person should also take the initiative to isolate and undergo an antigen rapid test (ART) if they have symptoms such as fever, cough, and cold. "If the result is negative and the associated symptoms gradually lessen, the close contact can end the isolation. ”

Malaysian Health Minister Zulkifli Ahmad said at a press conference at the Ministry of Health on Monday (December 18) afternoon that the ministry has put in place a series of plans to deal with the growing coronavirus pandemic. In the 50th epidemiological week, from 10 to 16 December, the Ministry of Health notified 20,696 confirmed cases. He urged people to keep an eye on their health and get tested immediately if they have any suspected symptoms. The country's Ministry of Health had earlier predicted that Malaysia's confirmed cases would increase further after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Therefore, the authorities urged the public to take precautionary measures.

WHO speaks out

On the 19th local time, the World Health Organization listed the new crown JN.1 variant as a "variant of concern", and pointed out that the current evidence shows that JN.1 poses a low public health risk.

At least two experts told Reuters that while JN.1 is able to evade the immune system and is more transmissible than other currently circulating variants of the coronavirus, it is not showing any signs of more severe disease.

Pecos, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States, said that while there may be more people infected with JN.1, it does not pose a greater risk.

The WHO says current vaccines will continue to prevent severe illness and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said earlier this month that the JN.1 subvariant accounted for about 15 to 29 percent of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. as of Dec. 8, according to the CDC's latest projections.

According to WHO data last month, three variants of COVID are currently classified as "variants of interest" and six others as "variants of concern".

Editor-in-charge: Tactical Heng

Proofreading: Liao Shengchao