Shares of mainland real estate giant China Evergrande Group plunged 16.89 percent to HK$9.94 (US$1.28) today after the group warned its profit will drop 50 percent in 2019 from a year earlier.

The property developer attributed the profit decline to the lower-priced clearance stock properties, which drove down the unit price of the property delivered in 2019. The group expected a 48 percent fall of its 2019 core business profit year-on-year to 40.8 billion yuan.

In February, the group offered a 25 percent discount for all property sales from Feb 18 to Feb 29 and lowered its housing deposit threshold from 5,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan as of March to lure customers.

Meanwhile, Evergrande Health Industry Group, a subsidiary of China Evergrande Group listed in Hong Kong, also issued a profit warning, saying the group estimates a net loss of 4.9 billion yuan in 2019.

The loss is due to the development of the new-energy vehicle business, which is in the investment stage, recording about 3.2 billion yuan.

Shares of Evergrande Health Industry Group fell 15.55 percent to HK$4.78 per share today.

Hong Kong stocks nose-dived on Monday to their lowest level in about two years as the rising number of novel coronavirus infections continues to weigh on investors.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index plunged over 1,122 points at one point during Monday trading, closing 4.86 percent, or 1,108.94 points, lower at 21,696.13. The market turnover totaled HK$137.5 billion.

Smaller and less-liquid airlines will be more exposed than the large airlines, which have adequate liquidity to handle a short-term disruption through June... There is potential for some airlines to collapse within a short period if they don’t get additional support from shareholders or the governments

Credit agency Moody’s Investors Service

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced in the afternoon that non-Hong Kong residents who fly into Hong Kong International Airport from foreign countries or regions will be barred from entry effective Wednesday. The airport also will halt transit services for 14 days on Wednesday.

Shares of airlines slumped. Cathay Pacific dropped 5.08 percent to HK$7.66; China Southern Airlines lost 8.52 percent; and Air China plummeted 10.45 percent.

Credit agency Moody’s Investors Service said in a report published today that global airline’s credits were weakened because of the spreading virus. The agency expected the capacity will be cut by 40 to 60 percent or even more in the second quarter this year.

Moody’s said smaller and less-liquid airlines will be more exposed than the large airlines, which have adequate liquidity to handle a short-term disruption through June. The credit agency warned there is potential for some airlines to collapse within a short period if they don’t get additional support from shareholders or the governments.

Global supply chain giant Li & Fung saw its shares soar 88 percent today after it said on Friday that a consortium of the Fung family and Singapore-based logistics warehouse operator and investor GLP has offered HK$1.25 per share in a privatization deal.

The novel coronavirus continues to spread globally, which brought the confirmed cases to over 340,000 and the death toll to more than 14,000 worldwide, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Another rating agency, S&P, said today that the pandemic will result in a total and permanent income loss for the Asia-Pacific economy of approximately US$620 billion. The agency estimated that the pandemic may peak in some countries in late June or in August, which will result in a global recession.