Antong Holdings voluntarily issues risk warning on stock trading
Antong Holdings, the largest domestic container shipping company in China, has issued a risk warning on the company’s stock trading due to its controlling shareholder Guo Dongze’s illegal behaviour.
Antong Holdings has ongoing lawsuits with total claims of around RMB600m ($86.8m) against the company as a consequence of Guo provided large amount of illegal guarantees.
The company was also warned by China Securities Regulatory Commission last month for providing RMB2.476bn ($358m) funds to Guo for personal use. He has since returned all the funds and sent an open letter to all the shareholders and employees to apologise for his behaviour.
According to Antong Holdings, Guo has failed to deliver his promise of solving the illegal guarantees issue within one month from May 18, following the board urging Guo to resolve the disputes with creditors and guarantee holders.
The company has voluntarily applied with Shanghai Stock Exchange to implement risk warning on the company’s stock trading. Antong Holdings’ stock has been put into “special treatment” category which has a daily trading limit of 5%, from June 19.
The company said it is actively negotiating with creditors and courts to solve the debt issues and it has also asked the controlling shareholder to coordinate with further investigations.