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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Reuters in Hong Kong
05 July 2012
China’s best known local sportswear group Li Ning Company Limited, grappling with a slowdown that has halved its share price in recent months, replaced its chief executive on Thursday and said it will focus more on its business in China.
The company said founder and Olympic gymnast Li Ning and executive vice-chairman Kim Jin-Goon, who is a managing director at US private equity fund TPG Capital that invested in the retailer this year, will lead the firm during the search for a new CEO after the departure of Zhang Zhiyong.
Shares in the company, which have dropped abount 20 per cent this year, jumped on the news on hopes of more effective management and a clearer strategy for China.
“Investors put a bet on the new jockey. Kim has a strong track record in retail and comes from the private equity front, and that fuels hopes of better prospects going forward,” said Steve Chow, head of research of Kingsway Group Research.
“It’s set to strengthen the management team. At least the management is now facing the problems of the industry and trying to solve them.”
Li Ning, backed also by Singapore sovereign fund GIC, has struggled in recent months as China’s economy has slowed, leaving inventories bloated. Like many other local sportswear groups, it plans to cut back on new stores openings after an expansion blitz following the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“The first most important focus for us is to build a very clear and strong brand with clear brand strategy that focuses on the core businesses in China,” Kim said on a conference call.
“Secondly, to continue to make investments into this brand with a much clearer focus in building comparatively exciting products with much better design and technology, and shortern the development cycle to keep track with market changes.”
Li Ning said Zhang, who has been with the company for 20 years, had agreed the time was right for new leadership, but would continue as an executive director and adviser.
The change of management comes just three weeks after Li Ning, which competes with local player Anta Sports as well as Adidas and Nike, warned that profits for this year would be weaker than expected because of soft sales and high marketing costs.
Kim said it could take 6-12 months for inventories to return to a normal level, while it may be three years before the group’s earnings rise steadily.
Li Ning’s inventores of finished goods swelled to 1.25 billion yuan as of December last year, up from 872 million a year earlier.
Li Ning’s shares rose nearly 6 per cent to HK$4.96, outpacing a 0.4 per cent drop in the benchmark Hong Kong index. They have shed half their value since a mid-March peak.
“It brings new excitement and may help strengthen the management,” said Patrick Yiu, a director at Cash Asset Management. “It brings new hope of a potential breakthrough in a struggling industry.”
Kim has a successful track record in driving transformation at consumer and retail companies in South Korea and China, including Dell Korea, China Grand Auto and footwear and apparel distributor Daphne International Holdings Ltd.
He was previously an executive at Daphne, a family-run Taiwan shoe firm in which TPG invested through a convertible bond in 2009 and turned the company around.
TPG’s other investments in China have included Shenzhen Development Bank and Wumart.
TPG and GIC agreed in January to invest around $115 million in Li Ning through a convertible bond, giving much-needed capital to a company whose stock fell more than 60 per cent last year. TPG also acquired 5 per cent of existing stock of the company from a family trust.
Li Ning also appointed Samuel Su as an independent non-executive director. Su is Chairman and CEO of the China Division of YUM! Brands, Inc, a restaurant group with brands including Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell and Little Sheep.