The Old Shoe Company, Fuguiniao: More Than 4 Billion Yuan In Debt

Fuguiniao, an old shoe company listed in Hong Kong stock market and known as "the king of real leather shoes in China", ushered in "the darkest moment".

On August 12, the latest information disclosed by the company showed that the last listing date of the company's shares would be August 23, 2019, and the listing status of the shares would be cancelled from 9:00 a.m. on August 26, 2019.

Previously, Fuguiniao was suspended for nearly 3 years. During the period, the turnover and profit of Fuguiniao kept falling: from nearly 3 billion to less than 500 million in 2017, the net profit also changed from profit to loss, and there was no update later. The company said that the business operation was affected mainly by the suspension of trading of shares and outstanding debts.

The data shows that Fuguiniao owes at least 4.229 billion yuan.

Fuguiniao's listing status was cancelled

The listing was suspended for nearly 3 years. After the failure of the former "Shoe King" Fuguiniao's plan to resume trading, it plans to cancel its listing status.

On August 12, Fuguiniao announced that on August 9, 2019, the Stock Exchange sent a letter to the company, informing that the final listing date of the company's shares would be August 23, 2019, and the listing status of the shares would be cancelled from 9:00 a.m. on August 26, 2019. The Company is now seeking legal advice and may submit the decision on cancellation of listing status to the Listing Review Committee for further and final review in accordance with Chapter 2B of the Listing Rules.

Previously, Fuguiniao had announced that due to the suspension of trading of shares and unpaid debts, which affected business operations, the company was undergoing bankruptcy reorganization, and the resumption plan was arranged according to the schedule of bankruptcy reorganization.

From 40000 yuan to "the king of real leather shoes in China"

The story of Fuguiniao starts with the founder Lin Heping.

Lin Heping was born in 1957. His family's economic conditions were very poor when he was young. At the age of 10, Lin Heping dropped out of school to help his parents do farm work. In 1976, the villagers in the village set up Wayao Agricultural Community together. Lin Heping served as cashier in the agricultural community and was elected factory director in 1982.

In 1984, with only 40000 yuan, Lin Heping, founder of Fuguiniao, founded Shishi Tourist Souvenir Factory with 19 cousins, which is the predecessor of Fuguiniao Group. After five years of struggling, only four cousins led by Lin Heping held the shares.

After learning from the bitter experience, the four brothers began to change their strategies, devoted themselves to the production of footwear products, and registered the trademark "Fuguiniao".

In 1990, Fuguiniao received the first export order of more than 10000 pairs of shoes. At that time, the workshop of the factory was transformed from a broken tile kiln, and the maximum production was 100 pairs of shoes a day. Unexpectedly, under such production conditions, Lin Heping delivered goods on schedule and guaranteed quality. The adjusted enterprise achieved a "good start" in the first year. In that year, 100000 pairs of casual leather shoes were sold, which is 10 times of the annual planned production and sales.

In 1991, "Fuguiniao" was officially founded, and began to produce men's leather shoes in 1995, and expanded its production line to women's shoes in 1997. From 1998 to 2012, the company's leather shoes won many titles and awards, such as "China's Real Leather Shoes King", "China's Famous Trademark", and "The Most Competitive Brand in the Market".

During this period, Fuguiniao also invited Chen Zhonghe, the head coach of the Chinese national women's volleyball team, and Lu Yi, the star, as brand spokesmen, which further expanded its popularity. According to the industry report, based on the retail revenue in 2012, the company is the third largest manufacturer of business casual shoes and the sixth largest manufacturer of brand shoes in China.

In December 2013, Fuguiniao was listed on the main board of Hong Kong. The above four brothers hold 68.9% of the shares.

Before the suspension, Fuguiniao's share price was HK $3.88 per share, with a total market value of HK $5.189 billion.

Trading suspended in 2016

Revenue and performance suffered Waterloo

Since September 1, 2016, Fuguiniao has suspended the trading of its shares. Fuguiniao said that due to the need for additional time to complete the preparation of interim results, the Board of Directors delayed and the publication of 2016 interim results was also delayed. Since then, investors have been waiting for a long resumption of trading.

In fact, according to the new listing rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Fuguiniao has received a "warning" for a long-term suspension of trading since last year, and it is expected that if the company has not reached the revised conditions for resumption of trading and resumed trading of shares by July 31, 2019, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will recommend the Listing Committee to cancel the company's listing status.

Previously, Fugui Nian was suspended for nearly three years. During this period, the turnover and profits of Fuguiniao kept falling: from nearly 3 billion to less than 500 million in 2017; The net profit in 2016 decreased by more than 50% to 195 million. In the first half of 2017, the profit turned into loss, and there was no subsequent update.

Compared with peers, it is at the bottom.

The company said that the business operation was affected mainly by the suspension of trading of shares and outstanding debts.

　　 Reduce employees by half from 10000

Transfer to half workshop for shutdown

In terms of the number of employees, the number of employees at the peak of the company is close to 10000. The complete annual report released after the listing in 2013 found that the number of employees of Fuguiniao has been declining. On June 30, 2014, the number of full-time employees of the company was 5729. By the end of the year, the number had decreased to 5170. By December 31, 2015, the company had employed 4401 full-time employees. At present, the data of 2017 has not been published.

Last year, some media visited the factory buildings of Fuguiniao and found that half of the factory buildings were shut down.

Liabilities exceed 4 billion yuan

The performance has declined year after year, and even net losses have occurred. The rich and noble birds have no choice but to start borrowing. However, Fuguiniao's credit rating has been downgraded from AA to CC. CC level indicates that "there is little protection available in bankruptcy or reorganization, and debt repayment can hardly be guaranteed".

However, Fuguiniao's business went from bad to worse, leading to an avalanche of its bond prices. On March 1 last year, Fuguiniao fell 83.14% in depth. The next day, it fell 14.29% again. On March 5 and 6, it dropped 12.53% and 34.76% respectively. In only four trading days, the product with a face value of only 100 yuan dropped sharply from 103.8 yuan per unit to 8.56 yuan, while the cumulative decline of 91.75% set a record for the lowest corporate bond product in the history of China's capital market.

A large number of institutional investors, such as public funds and securities companies, have been shocked by the sharp decline of bonds!

So far, the three bonds mentioned above, including 16 Fugui 01 and 14 Fuguiniao bonds, have actually defaulted.

Guotai Jun'an, as the trustee of creditor's rights, announced in February last year that Fuguiniao and its subsidiaries had large amounts of illegal external guarantees and fund lending. As of February 28, 2018, Fuguiniao's fund lending amount had totaled at least 4.229 billion yuan; At least 4.909 billion yuan of assets of the Issuer may not be recovered. As of December 31, 2017, the demand deposits and working capital available to the issuer were less than 100 million yuan. If the issuer could not recover and realize the relevant assets before the sale back date, there would be significant uncertainty in the redemption of the sale back capital.

It is a pity that the former shoe king has come to this stage.

For the founders of Fuguiniao, they once wanted their children to inherit the family business. Lin Heping once said in an interview: "Although he will not deliberately ask his children to engage in the shoe industry, he also hopes that the Lin family will have children to take over.". But in reality, in order to avoid inheriting huge debts, children have already avoided inheriting family property.

In June 2017, Lin Guoqiang, the co-founder of Fuguiniao, died unexpectedly. In December of that year, Lin Guoqiang's children even announced in court that they would give up inheriting all their father's property, which caused a sensation in the business world. It is reported that Lin Guoqiang has acted as a guarantor in 11 financial loan contract cases of Fuguiniao, involving up to 290 million yuan. The bank filed a lawsuit to claim that its spouse and children, as the first heir, should bear joint and several liability for repayment within the scope of inheritance.