An intensifying¹ shareholder² dispute at China Vanke has shaken investor³ confidence in the property developer, cut its access to bank lending and upended projects during the first half of the year, the group said.

万科(China Vanke)昨日表示，愈演愈烈的股东争端在今年上半年动摇了投资者对这家房地产开发商的信心，挤压了该集团获得银行贷款的渠道，还妨碍了项目。

China’s largest retail⁴ property developer, which reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in profit to Rmb5.35bn ($803m) for the first six months of 2016, said for the first time it was in dialogue with shareholders⁵ in the hope of resolving China’s first big hostile takeover.

中国最大零售房地产开发商报告2016年头六个月利润同比增长10%，至53.5亿元人民币（合8.03亿美元）。该集团首次表示，正与相关股东沟通，以求解决中国首宗大规模敌意收购。

Baoneng, a little-known Shenzhen-based company, grabbed headlines in December when it took a 24 per cent stake in Vanke, overtaking China Resources to become the largest shareholder. The battle has since devolved into a public dispute in which Baoneng has demanded the removal of Vanke’s directors, while Vanke has struck back with its own ripostes.

总部位于深圳、名气不大的宝能(Baoneng)在去年12月登上新闻头条，原因是该公司买下了万科24%的股份，这使其超越华润(China Resources)，成为万科最大股东。这场角力后来演变成一场公开纠纷，宝能要求罢免万科全体董事，而万科不客气地作出回击。

The tussle⁶ has recently attracted new shareholders with ambiguous loyalties⁷, such as Evergrande, which last week raised its stake in Vanke to 7 per cent, making it the third-largest shareholder and qualifying it to eventually nominate a director.

这场角力最近吸引了态度暧昧的新股东，如恒大(Evergrande)，该集团上周提高其在万科持股比例至7%，成为第三大股东，最终将有资格提名一位董事。

Anbang Insurance earlier this year also increased its holdings to earn the same privilege. A vote for new directors is scheduled for March.

安邦保险(Anbang Insurance)今年早些时候也把所持股份增至能够获得这一特权的水平。对新董事会人选的投票定于明年3月举行。

“Each shareholder’s request is different but we hope that eventually we can reach an agreement for Vanke’s long-term stability,” Zhu Xu, the secretary of the board, said in Hong Kong yesterday.

万科董事会秘书朱旭昨日在香港表示，每个股东的要求是不同的，但该公司“希望各方股东最终能为了万科稳定和长期健康发展走到一起”。

Company results were mixed. Revenue from property development grew almost 50 per cent year on year to Rmb68.2bn, but the group’s profit margin⁸ dropped 3.6 percentage points from a year earlier to 18.6 per cent.

该公司的业绩好坏参半。来自房地产开发的营收同比增长近50%，至682亿元人民币，但集团的利润率同比下降3.6个百分点，至18.6%。

The results dragged down its Hong Kong-listed shares half a percentage point to HK$5.22, underperforming the Hang Seng index.

这些业绩拖累其在香港上市的股票下跌半个百分点至5.22港元，逊于恒生指数(Hang Seng index)。

The corporate⁹ raid has brought on anything but stability for Vanke. The company disclosed a list of problems suffered in the first six months of the year that it said were due to dispute.

这场股权大战给万科带来种种问题，稳定无从谈起。该公司披露其在今年头六个月遭遇的一连串问题，称它们都是股权纠纷所致。

For example, its land acquisition efforts were shaken as “some partners worried that the advantages of the group’s brand, management and financing could not be sustained”, resulting in the delay or scrapping¹⁰ of 31 projects. Five other expansion projects were altered or abandoned.

例如，其获取土地的努力受到了冲击，原因是一些合作伙伴担心该集团的品牌、管理和融资优势无法持续，这导致31个房地产开发项目被暂缓或取消。万科物业5个洽谈合作项目暂缓、变更或考虑终止合作。

Banks have reduced Vanke’s access to loans, according to its interim¹¹ report, and global rating agencies have warned that the group’s corporate rating could be affected¹². Headhunters have also targeted employees, resulting in high staff turnover¹³ in June and July, after Baoneng proposed the removal of the company’s directors.

根据万科的中期报告，各银行收窄了该集团的贷款渠道，同时国际评级机构警告称，该集团的企业评级可能受到影响。猎头公司也把目光投向万科员工，宝能提出罢免该公司的董事后，员工流失率在6、7月偏高。

Mr Zhu noted¹⁴ that Wang Shi, Vanke chairman, did not attend yesterday’s press briefing because he was busy dealing¹⁵ with the “shareholder incident”.

朱旭指出，万科集团董事长王石没有参加昨日的记者会，是因为他忙于处理“股东事件”。

Vanke had hoped to sell $6.9bn in shares to Shenzhen Metro¹⁶, making it the company’s largest shareholder — a measure Vanke executives had insisted was not purely¹⁷ intended to defend itself from hostile parties. But that effort was shot down by Baoneng earlier this year.

万科曾希望向深圳地铁(Shenzhen Metro)出售69亿美元的股票，使其成为万科最大股东；万科高管们坚称，此举并非纯粹为了防御敌意收购方。但这一努力在今年早些时候被宝能否决。

The dispute has become a landmark¹⁸ case for China’s corporate sector¹⁹ and, depending on how the government reacted, could promote or dissuade²⁰ hostile bids for years to come, experts said.

专家们表示，这场争端已成为一个对中国企业部门具有里程碑意义的案例，取决于政府如何反应，它可能在未来许多年里促进或阻止敌意收购。