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How the fall of Evergrande spells doom for China’s property market

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How the fall of Evergrande spells doom for China’s property market


The shares of China’s most indebted property giant Evergrande have been taken off the Hong Kong stock market, marking the end of its life as a publicly traded company that symbolised the rise and fall of China’s real estate industry.

Valued at more than $50 billion (£37.1bn) at its peak, Evergrande was China’s biggest property firm. But it became the poster-child for the problems facing Chinese developers after it collapsed under the weight of massive debts in 2021.

“Evergrande’s demise highlights that no private company in China is too big to fail,” Julian Evans-Pritchard, Head of China Economics at Capital Economics told The Independent.

“But the fact that it has taken this long for the company to be delisted underscores the slow-motion nature of China’s property adjustment, with state intervention preventing a more abrupt resolution.”

Evergrande’s 2021 default on offshore bonds led to its shares being suspended in January 2024, after a Hong Kong court ordered liquidation when years of restructuring talks failed.

Last week, the stock exchange confirmed it would cancel the listing because the firm failed to meet the requirement to resume trading within 18 months.

It comes as China’s economy is grappling with a series of challenges, including Trump’s tariffs, weak consumer spending, unemployment, high local government debt and an ageing population.

Experts say the collapse of the property sector has hit the country hardest, as it accounted for roughly a third of China’s economy and provided crucial revenue for local governments.

“It is a symbolic moment given that Evergrande was the first major casualty of China’s property downturn,” Mr Evans-Pritchard said. “The delisting itself won’t have a big impact given that the company’s market capitalisation had already collapsed and trading in the stock was suspended last year.”

“Although the company is being wound down, work on its projects is generally still ongoing, with local governments stepping in to make sure buyers eventually get the homes they bought.”

Evergrande’s growth reflected the debt-fuelled nature of China’s property sector, which expanded rapidly following urbanisation and economic reforms in the 1990s (REUTERS)

The company’s fall was as dramatic as its rise. Its founder, Hui Ka Yan, went from living a humble rural life to becoming one of Asia’s richest men.

Evergrande’s growth reflected the debt-fuelled nature of China’s property sector, which expanded rapidly following urbanisation and economic reforms in the 1990s.

Its 2009 listing marked a pivotal moment in that surge, with the company borrowing an unprecedented $20bn on international bond markets.

But the $45bn fortune that put Mr Hui at the top of the Forbes list of wealthiest men in Asia plummeted to less than $1bn.

By March 2024, Mr Hui was banned from China’s capital market for life over Evergrande’s overstating of its revenue by $78bn and he was fined $6.5m.

At the time of its collapse, Evergrande had an empire of 1,300 projects under development across 280 cities, an electric car business and Guangzhou FC. Earlier this year, China’s most successful team was itself kicked out of the football league due to debt.

Built on more than $300bn (£222bn) of borrowed money, Evergrande struggled to meet interest payments after Beijing introduced borrowing limits for developers in 2020

Built on more than $300bn (£222bn) of borrowed money, Evergrande struggled to meet interest payments after Beijing introduced borrowing limits for developers in 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

Built on more than $300bn of borrowed money, Evergrande struggled to meet interest payments after Beijing introduced borrowing limits for developers in 2020.

Deep discounts on properties failed to prevent defaults on overseas debt, ultimately triggering liquidation.

The crisis wiped more than 99 percent from it stock market valuation.

Earlier this month, liquidators Alvarez & Marsal said they have so far recovered just $255m of assets, including a Claude Monet painting, out of the $45bn debt.

They also launched action against the firm’s auditors PwC China after authorities last March said it approved accounts despite inflated revenues in 2019 and 2020.

The housing crisis in China is far from over, with property firms like Country Garden still battling massive debt. Earlier this month China South City Holdings became the largest developer to be forced into liquidation since Evergrande.

“We think the property downturn is likely to continue for at least a couple more years, given that it will take time for the market to fully absorb excess supply as the backlog of unfinished projects are completed,” added Mr Evans-Pritchard.

Beijing launched a range of measures to revive the housing market and consumer spending, including incentives for new homeowners, stock market support, and purchases of electric cars and household goods.

Despite these efforts, China’s growth has slowed to around 5 percent, about half the rates seen in 2010.



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Dick’s Sporting Goods raises guidance after second-quarter earnings beat

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Dick’s Sporting Goods raises guidance after second-quarter earnings beat


A Dick’s Sporting Goods store is shown in Oceanside, California, U.S., May 15, 2025.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Dick’s Sporting Goods raised its full-year sales and earnings guidance after delivering fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations.

The company is now expecting comparable sales to grow between 2% and 3.5%, up from a previous range of 1% and 3% and ahead of analyst estimates of 2.9%, according to StreetAccount. 

Dick’s said its earnings per share are now expected to be between $13.90 and $14.50, up from a previous range of $13.80 to $14.40. Analysts were expecting $14.39 per share, according to LSEG.

Here’s how the company performed compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

  • Earnings per share: $4.38 adjusted vs. $4.32 expected
  • Revenue: $3.65 billion vs. $3.63 billion expected

The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended Aug. 2 was $381 million, or $4.71 per share, compared with $362 million, or $4.37 per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items related to its acquisition of Foot Locker and other costs, Dick’s posted earnings per share of $4.38.

Sales rose to $3.65 billion, up about 5% from $3.47 billion a year earlier. During the quarter, comparable sales also grew 5%, well ahead of expectations of 3.2%, according to StreetAccount. 

“Our performance shows how well our long-term strategies are working, the strength and resilience of our operating model and the impact of our team’s consistent execution,” CEO Lauren Hobart said in a news release. “Our Q2 comps increased 5.0%, with growth in average ticket and transactions, and we drove second quarter gross margin expansion.”

While Dick’s comparable sales guidance came in ahead of expectations, its full-year revenue outlook was slightly below estimates. The company said it’s expecting revenue to be between $13.75 billion and $13.95 billion, below estimates of $14 billion, according to LSEG.

Dick’s said its raised profit guidance includes the impact of tariffs that are currently in effect. In an interview with CNBC’s Courtney Reagan, Dick’s executive chairman Ed Stack said the company has implemented some price increases to offset the impact of higher duties but has been “surgical” in its approach.

“We’ve been able to do what we need to from a pricing standpoint, whether that’s from the national brands or from our own brands, and then other places where we’ve held price, we’ve been able to do that, and we’ve offset it someplace else, which is what you have to do in these in these situations, and the team’s done a great job doing that,” Stack said.

Hobart said during Thursday’s call with analysts that the retailer hasn’t seen its shoppers balking at the “small-level” price increases that have gone into effect.

Hobart said broadly Dick’s hasn’t seen any signs of a consumer spending slowdown as a result of tariffs. She said Dick’s saw growth across all of its key segments during the quarter.

Foot Locker tie-up

The company said its guidance doesn’t include any potential impact from its acquisition of Foot Locker, such as costs or results from the planned takeover, which is expected to close on Sept. 8. 

In May, Dick’s announced it would be acquiring its longtime rival for $2.4 billion, giving it a competitive edge in the wholesale sneaker market, most importantly for Nike products, along with a bigger global presence.

Nike is a critical brand partner for both Dick’s and Foot Locker and, at times, their performance is reliant on how well the sneaker brand is doing. During the quarter, Stack said new drops from Nike’s revamped running portfolio, including the Pegasus Premium and the Vomero Plus, are performing so well, it can’t keep the shoes in stock.

“Anything that’s new, innovative and kind of the cool factor, is blowing out,” Stack said.

However, the acquisition also comes with risks. Foot Locker’s business has been in the midst of an ambitious turnaround under CEO Mary Dillon but the company is still struggling.

In the quarter ended Aug. 2, Foot Locker’s sales fell 2.4% and it posted a loss of $38 million. The company faces a range of existential challenges, including its heavy mall footprint, its small online business and a core consumer that often has less discretionary income than the core Dick’s consumer. 

Once the businesses are combined, Foot Locker’s struggles could ultimately weigh on Dick’s overall results. On the other hand, the combined company will become the No. 1 seller of athletic footwear in the U.S., which will allow it to better compete against its next biggest rival, JD Sports. 

Stack acknowledged to CNBC that Foot Locker’s earnings “were not great” but said the company has a strategy.

“We have a game plan of how to turn this around,” Stack told Reagan. “We think that we can return Foot Locker to its rightful place in the top of this industry and we’re excited to roll up our sleeves and get started with that.”

Dick’s plans to operate Foot Locker as a separate entity. Moving forward, Stack said the company plans to break out details on how each brand is performing when releasing quarterly results. It’ll provide separate details on how Dick’s performed and how Foot Locker performed so investors can get a sense of what’s going on in each part of the business.

Hobart said during Thursday’s earnings call that as part of the acquisition, Dick’s plans to invest in Foot Locker stores and marketing. She also said Dick’s sees opportunities in merchandising and bringing in a new assortment of products.

“As Foot Locker becomes part of the Dick’s family, we are an even more important brand to our wholesale partners, and that’s part of the thesis,” Hobart said.

Earlier this week, Dick’s said it had received all regulatory approvals associated with the transaction. It’s unclear if it had to divest any stores to satisfy the FTC’s requirements.

— CNBC’s Ali McCadden contributed to this report.



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Ex-WH Smith finance boss delays Greggs board appointment amid accounting probe

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Ex-WH Smith finance boss delays Greggs board appointment amid accounting probe



Greggs has delayed the appointment of incoming board director Robert Moorhead due to a review into a major accounting error at his previous firm, WH Smith.

The high street bakery chain said Mr Moorhead – the former finance chief at WH Smith – had asked to delay his appointment until a review by Deloitte into the blunder at WH Smith is completed.

He had been due to start at Greggs on October 1 as an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee.

Mr Moorhead left WH Smith in 2024 after more than 20 years at the chain.

The delay to his appointment comes after WH Smith saw nearly £600 million wiped off its stock market value last week when it revealed a review of its finances had discovered trading profits in North America had been overstated by about £30 million.

It warned that annual profits would be lower than expected as a result, sending shares down by more than 40% at one stage during the day.

WH Smith said it had found an issue in how it calculated the amount of supplier income it received – leading it to be recognised too early.

It means the group is now expecting a trading profit for the US of about £25 million for the year to August – a cut from the previous £55 million forecast.

As a result, the company lowered its outlook for annual pre-tax profits to around £110 million.

Greggs said Kate Ferry will remain as a non-executive director and will continue as chair of the audit committee in the interim.



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Electric cars eligible for £3,750 discount announced

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Electric cars eligible for £3,750 discount announced


Pritti MistryBusiness reporter, BBC News

Ford A bright yellow Ford Puma parked beside a street. A person in a red jacket, black shorts, and white sneakers walks on the pavement in front of a green building with horizontal white slats. The car faces right, and its license plate reads 'HOI108'.Ford

The first electric vehicles (EV) eligible for the £3,750 discount under the government’s grant scheme have been announced.

The Department for Transport confirmed Ford’s Puma Gen-E or e-Tourneo Courier would be discounted as part of plans to encourage drivers to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles.

Under the grant scheme, the discount applies to eligible car models costing up to £37,000, with the most environmentally friendly ones seeing the biggest reductions. Another 26 models have been cleared for discounts of £1,500.

Carmakers can apply for models to be eligible for grants, which are then automatically applied at the point of sale.

More vehicles are expected to be approved in the coming weeks and the DfT said the policy would bring down prices to “closely match their petrol and diesel counterparts”.

The government has pledged to ban the sale of new fully petrol or diesel cars from 2030.

But many drivers cite upfront costs as a key barrier to buying an EV and some have told the BBC that the UK needs more charging points.

According to Ford’s website, the recommended retail price (RRP) for a new Puma Gen-E starts from £29,905 while a petrol equivalent is upward of £26,060. With the reduction applied, buyers would be looking in the region of £26,155 for the EV version.

The grants to lower the cost of EVs will be funded through the £650m scheme, and will be available for three years.

There are around 1.3 million electric cars on Britain’s roads but currently only around 82,000 public charging points.

Full list of EVs eligible for the £1,500 discount

  • Citroën ë-C3 and Citroën ë-C3 Aircross
  • Citroën ë-C4 and Citroën ë-C4 X
  • Citroën ë-C5 Aircross
  • Citroën ë-Berlingo
  • Cupra Born
  • DS DS3
  • DS N°4
  • Nissan Ariya
  • Nissan Micra
  • Peugeot E-208
  • Peugeot E-2008
  • Peugeot E-308
  • Peugeot E-408
  • Peugeot E-Rifter
  • Renault 4
  • Renault 5
  • Renault Alpine A290
  • Renault Megane
  • Renault Scenic
  • Vauxhall Astra Electric
  • Vauxhall Combo Life Electric
  • Vauxhall Corsa Electric
  • Vauxhall Frontera Electric
  • Vauxhall Grandland Electric
  • Vauxhall Mokka Electric
  • Volkswagen ID.3

The up-front cost of EVs is higher on average than for petrol cars.

According to Autotrader, the average price of a new battery electric car was £49,790 in June 2025, based on manufacturers’ recommended prices for 148 models.

The equivalent for a petrol car was £34,225, but the average covers a broad range of prices.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the grant scheme was making it “easier and cheaper for families to make the switch to electric”.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said drivers “frequently tell us that the upfront costs of new EVs are a stumbling block to making the switch to electric”.

“It is great to see some of these more substantial £3,750 discounts coming online because for some drivers this might just bridge the financial gap to make these cars affordable.”



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