China's Wanda Knocks Back Speculation on Bonds After Price Drop

China's Dalian Wanda Group Co., the real-estate giant owned by billionaire Wang Jianlin, dismissed online speculation that lenders had issued a notice to unload bonds tied to the conglomerate, apparently sparking a drop in its units' stock and bond prices Thursday.

Shares of Shenzhen-listed Wanda Film Holding Co. (002739.SZ), the group's entertainment arm, fell as much as 9.8% in late-morning trading, while the price of a property subsidiary's five-year bond dropped 2%. In the early afternoon, Wanda Film requested a trading halt of its shares, citing the possible effect of media reports on their performance.

"Today, someone on the Internet viciously speculated that some banks, including China Construction Bank, issued a notice to dump Wanda's bonds. Based on our understanding, banks such as China Construction have never received such notice, and speculations online are just rumors," the company said in a statement. Wanda added that its operations were fine.

An official from China Construction Bank Corp. (601939.SH) declined to comment.

A posting on Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging site, with language similar to the speculation described by Wanda in its statement specifically mentioned the company's property bonds.

Some of China's politically well-connected tycoons have recently become a focus for the country's leaders. Later this year, President Xi Jinping is expected to solidify his power base and usher in a new leadership lineup at a major Communist Party congress.

Earlier this month, Wu Xiaohui, chairman of the powerful Anbang Insurance Group Co., was detained by authorities investigating possible economic crimes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Anbang has said Mr. Wu is "temporarily unable to fulfill his role for personal reasons."

--Chuin-Wei Yap, Wayne Ma and Chao Deng contributed to this article.

Write to Shen Hong at hong.shen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 22, 2017 02:15 ET (06:15 GMT)