Affected by the Wuhan virus, CNOOC (0883) is reported to be having difficulty settling bills for liquefied natural gas suppliers, while China Evergrande (3333) has announced a halt to all development work in the mainland.
CNOOC has sent a force majeure notice to at least three suppliers, saying it won't take delivery of some LNG cargoes because the virus is affecting its ability to import the fuel, say people familiar with the matter.
This came after PetroChina (0857) was forced to delay discharge timings for multiple cargoes because it couldn't get enough workers to its LNG terminals to run them at full capacity.
China Evergrande was also reported to have extended the Lunar New Year holiday to February 27 and donated 200 million yuan (HK$223 million) to help tackle the Wuhan virus.
Other major mainland developers, including China Overseas Land & Investment (0688), Yuexiu Property (0123) and China Aoyuan (3883), recorded more than 10 percent year-on-year decreases in contracted sales last month.
Meanwhile, market consulting firm Strategy Analytics expects China's handset shipments in the first quarter may shrink 30 percent from a year ago as the virus outbreak hits demand and smartphone makers, including Xiaomi (1810), which has R&D centers in Wuhan.
Market watchers overall believe China's GDP growth in 2020 will be under 6 percent, with Fitch's forecast 5.2 percent for the whole year, if the virus is not contained until well into the second quarter. Economic growth in the first quarter may slow to 4 percent or 4.5 percent compared to the previous forecast of 6 percent due to the outbreak, said Dong Chen, senior Asia Economist of Pictet Wealth Management.
Moody's Investors Service said the virus outbreak will weigh on Chinese banks' asset quality this year, a credit negative. Moody's said the greatest initial impact on banks' asset quality will be for loans to industries most affected by the disruption and consumer caution.
S&P Global Ratings expects demand for commodities to be affected over the next few months due to the fast-spreading virus, with factories and construction sites in most provinces shut until at least February 9, and with travel significantly curtailed.
