Webb-site publishes a complaint we filed with SEHK and the SFC on 9-May-2015.

Hanergy (0566): a complaint
28 May 2015

While we wait for trading in Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Limited (HTFP, 0566) to resume, readers may be interested to read the following complaint, which your editor filed with the SFC and Stock Exchange on 9-May-2015:

I refer to the attached "Sponsored Feature" (the Advertisement) from [HTFP] in SCMP Business Post, page B3 Saturday 9 May. According to Webb-site Who's Who, Hanergy's ordinary shares are currently the 19th-largest stock by market value at HK$303.7bn.

The Advertisement is a blatant piece of stock promotion. The stock code is mentioned in the first sentence. In the last paragraph, it mentions that the market value exceeds HK$300bn, "making it the world's biggest solar enterprise in terms of market value". It then claims state-level endorsement, by stating the following as fact:

"Recently, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), through SAFE Investment in Hong Kong, bought a stake in Hanergy Thin Film Power that is worth billions of Hong Kong dollars".

It then says that "the deal" (what deal?) "serves as recognition of the overall strength of Hanergy Thin Film Power."

Such a claim of "recent" government purchases is implicitly an endorsement of the "recent" stock price. If the claim is true, it amounts to price-sensitive information which Hanergy has not disclosed in the proper way by announcement, while if it is not true, then it is a false and misleading statement promoted by the company.

HTFP has not made any announcement of a "deal" with SAFE. The Advertisement does not say whether the stock was acquired on the Stock Exchange or off-market from an existing shareholder. All I can find is an article in Bloomberg.com on 24-Apr-2015 making this claim based on unattributed sources ("people familiar with the matter") who "asked not to be identified because the stake hasn't been publicly disclosed". In my view, this claim probably came from Hanergy or its agents in the first place.

The SFC and Stock Exchange issued standard acknowledgements of our complaint on 11-May and 27-May respectively.

© Webb-site.com, 2015


Organisations in this story


Sign up for our free newsletter

Recommend Webb-site to a friend

Copyright & disclaimer, Privacy policy

Back to top