Jetion dismisses four of its top staff

By David Blackwell
Published: June 17 2009 18:25

Confidence in Aim-quoted Chinese companies is likely to be dented after Jetion Holdings, a solar-cell manufacturer, dismissed its chief executive and three senior managers for alleged “breaches of their service contracts and fiduciary duties”.
The board believes the four are the operators of a solar-module producer and exporter that is in direct competition with Jetion. It says Roger Lijin Gai, Jetion chief executive, failed to disclose that “his wife was a shareholder in the competing business”. Public records also showed close relatives of the three managers were shareholders in the rival business.
Jetion shares, which were priced at 151p when the company raised £30.5m on joining Aim two years ago, fell 17¾p to 46½p.
John-Marc Bunce – analyst at Nomura, which last month published a “buy” note on Jetion – said the news was “likely to have a sentimental knock-on effect on other foreign-listed Chinese companies, as happened following the issues of Bodisen Biotech a couple of years ago”.
Once the biggest Chinese company on Aim, Bodisen, a producer of organic fertilisers, only last October shrugged off class actions by investors in US courts.
Jetion said investigations of the circumstances surrounding the dismissals were continuing. The company was taking further legal action. “However – as far as can be ascertained at this time – the board believes that the actions giving rise to their dismissals have not had a material impact on the finances and business operations of the company,” it said.
Nomura was already forecasting pre-tax profits for this year would to fall from £20.1m on sales of £250.9m, to profits of £17.4m on sales of £177.2m. The company warned on Wednesday that, while volumes were ahead, prices were about 40 per cent down on last year.
The company said the board was confident its action had averted any adverse effects “from these unhappy events” – but the trading conditions were still “very challenging”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009