TWO former senior employees of UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) were charged on Wednesday for allegedly lying to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to reports on a then Catalist aspirant. Lan Kang Ming, 38, and Wee Toon Lee, 34, each face three charges of providing MAS with false information in October 2018 in relation to due diligence reports on an unidentified company applying to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. MAS said in a media statement on Wednesday that it was performing an onsite inspection of UOBKH between June and August 2018, to assess the latter's controls, policies and procedures in relation to its role as an issue manager for Initial Public Offering (IPOs). During the examination, Lan and Wee were said to have provided different versions of a due diligence report relating to background checks on a company applying to be listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. UOBKH had acted as the issue manager
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Restaurant chain trims its fund-raising goal by one-fifth to make it more attractive to investors, nine months after the group shelved listing plans
Anita Lam
21 June 2012
Mainland restaurant chain Xiao Nan Guo Restaurants Holdings revived its initial public offering (IPO) yesterday, saying market sentiment had improved.
But the fast-growing company has cut its planned fund-raising size by one-fifth to boost its attractiveness.
The group, which operates Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo, Maison De L’Hui and the Dining Room, is among a handful of companies, including China Nonferrous Metal Mining and China Aluminum International Engineering, aiming to complete listing plans by the end of this month so they do not have to submit a new set of financial statements.
Xiao Nan Guo, which withdrew its IPO last September amid weak market conditions, lowered its offering price to a fixed rate at HK$1.50, allowing it to raise HK$512 million, about 20 per cent down on the amount targeted in the original IPO, based on the midpoint of its HK$1.65-HK$2.2 range for the IPO shelved last year.
Chief executive Kang Jie said he was confident that the IPO would be a success. “A number of private equity funds already bought our shares prior to our IPO,” he said. “If investors are willing to subscribe for our shares even in this economic situation, we know we have a very sound foundation.”
The group said net profit jumped 10.93 per cent year on year to 107 million yuan (HK$131.5 million) last year and was up more than half for the first quarter this year due to its rapid expansion. It opened 23 new restaurants last year, on top of 36 existing shops it had in 2010, bringing the total to 59. It planned to spend up to 85 per cent of its proceeds on opening 22 more shops this year and a further 58 by 2014.
Kang dismissed suggestions that the company could be expanding too fast, given slowing economic growth on the mainland, saying underlying demand was there.
“Among the 2.5 trillion yuan to 3 trillion yuan spent on the mainland’s catering industry last year, around two-thirds was spent on Chinese cuisine,” Kang said.
“In the Western sector, we’ve got big players like McDonald’s and KFC, but in the Chinese sector, there are very few large-scale chains.”
Even if the subscription amount fell below its target, Kang said it would still press ahead with expansion plans as the group already sought a loan facility of up to US$19 million from Standard Chartered Bank.
The group said its cash flow was sufficient, although the 100 million yuan debt due for repayment this year was almost at the same level as cash on hand. Vice-president Zhang Jun said the company would use HK$17 million of the IPO proceeds to pay down the debt.
While spiralling rents and wages ate into its net profit margin, Xiao Nan Guo expected to make a net interim profit of no less than 55 million yuan. But that would mean a 7 per cent drop in net profit in the second quarter over the previous quarter.
Subscriptions begin today and end next Tuesday, and trading is expected to begin on July 4.