Trading in a bond issued by China’s HNA Group was suspended in a sign of how liquidity problems at the heavily indebted conglomerate have worsened after the coronavirus pandemic buffeted capital markets.

The Shanghai stock exchange said in a statement on Wednesday that trading in the seven-year, Rmb3bn ($425m) bond — issued by the company in 2015 — was initially halted shortly after the market opened due to “abnormal fluctuations”. After a brief resumption, trading was again stopped after the bond fell below 30 per cent of its par value. 

The volatility came after HNA called a last-minute teleconference on Tuesday night to tell its investors of its intention to delay by a year both principal and interest payments for a separate bond issued in 2013 that had been due on April 15. On Wednesday, HNA publicly apologised for failing to give advanced warning of the meeting.