Trainee reporter Wen Yan
"At present, the two sides are only discussing the possibility of cooperation, and there is no specific plan or promotion plan. The matter is still in the planning stage and has significant uncertainties about the impact on the Company. On April 25, ST Zhongnan replied to the letter of concern.
According to market news, on the afternoon of April 20, led by the Haimen District Government of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, Zhongnan Urban Construction, the controlling shareholder of ST Zhongnan, negotiated cooperation with PAG Investment Group and Jiangsu Assets and other institutions on debt resolution and equity transactions.
On April 22, the first trading day after the above news was made public, ST Zhongnan (at that time, the securities was referred to as Zhongnan Construction) obtained a 10.53% daily limit, and the stock price closed at 0.84 yuan per share, alleviating the risk of its "face value delisting".
Subsequently, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange questioned the authenticity of the above-mentioned negotiations.
Although PAG declined to comment on this, a reporter from China Fund News learned that the above negotiations were held at a symposium organized by relevant governments, and the parties had preliminary exchanges.
Disclosure after regulatory challenge
The reporter found that ST Zhongnan and its controlling shareholder Zhongnan Urban Construction did not release relevant information through official channels in response to the above-mentioned negotiations, but ST Zhongnan confirmed to some media on April 21 that it was indeed true, which caused widespread concern in the market.
On April 25, the staff of ST Zhongnan Securities Department replied to reporters that this was the action of the company's controlling shareholder, and it was a preliminary negotiation, and the company did not need to disclose information in accordance with relevant rules.
However, the above-mentioned negotiations caused ST Zhongnan's share price to fluctuate sharply, especially on April 22.
The staff of ST Zhongnan Securities Department replied to reporters that based on the above situation, the company explained at the performance meeting on April 23 and explained it in the letter of concern.
On April 23, at the 2023 annual results meeting held by ST Zhongnan, its management responded to the above negotiations, saying: "The company's controlling shareholder has indeed negotiated with relevant institutions on cooperation matters, and the company has not received further information at present." ”
The management of ST Zhongnan further stated that if the relevant cooperation involves information disclosure related to the company, the company will urge the controlling shareholder to fulfill the information disclosure obligation in a timely manner.
The above-mentioned negotiations and the preliminary actions of ST Zhongnan and Zhongnan Urban Construction prompted the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to issue a letter of concern on the evening of April 22, requiring ST Zhongnan to explain the authenticity of the above matters.
In this regard, ST Zhongnan sent a letter to Zhongnan Urban Construction to obtain feedback: "On April 20, under the organization of the Haimen District Government of Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, it discussed the possibility of cooperation with PAG Investment Group and Jiangsu Asset Management on related matters including its company's debt restructuring, debt-for-equity swap, and strategic investment. ”
The risk of "delisting at par" has increased
Based on PAG's popularity, the above negotiations have attracted wide attention from the outside world.
On April 22, ST Zhongnan (at that time, the securities referred to as Zhongnan Construction) obtained a 10.53% daily limit, and as of the close of the day, it closed at 0.84 yuan per share, leaving only two 10% daily limits from the delisting "lifeline" of 1 yuan per share.
On April 19, on the eve of the start of the above-mentioned negotiations, ST Zhongnan closed at 0.76 yuan/share, down 9.52%, and was lower than 1 yuan/share for 11 consecutive trading days.
ST Zhongnan announced for the second time that the company may be terminated due to the closing price of the stock being lower than 1 yuan per share for a long time.
After the above-mentioned negotiation information was made public, a series of coincidences appeared.
On the evening of April 22, ST Zhongnan disclosed that the 2023 annual report showed that the company's net profit attributable to the parent company was -5.293 billion yuan, and the net profit after deducting non-profits was -4.627 billion yuan.
Since ST Zhongnan's audited net profit attributable to the parent company and net profit after deducting non-profits in 2021, 2022 and 2023 are all negative, according to Article 9.8.1 of the Stock Listing Rules of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the company's shares will be subject to other risk warnings, and the stock abbreviation will be changed to ST Zhongnan.
On April 25, ST Zhongnan disclosed the details of the above negotiations in the letter of concern, and the stock price fell by 5% on the same day, and the stock price was 0.76 yuan per share as of press time.
If the closing stock price on April 25 is 0.76 yuan/share, ST Zhongnan faces a situation where the closing price is lower than 1 yuan/share for 14 consecutive trading days.
ST Zhongnan wants to prevent the difficulty of "delisting at face value" from increasing sharply.
At present, ST Zhongnan rose and fell by 5%, and in order to avoid the state that the closing price is not less than 1 yuan / share for 20 consecutive trading days, it must be all limited in 6 trading days starting from April 26.
Editor: Huang Mei
Review: Xu Wen