Looking back on 2023, the capital market is not calm, and under the comprehensive registration system, the market clearing mechanism is further demonstrating its power, and many listed companies are "leaving the market". This week, *ST Oceanwide announced that according to the relevant regulations of the exchange, the company's ** price for 20 consecutive trading days has been lower than 1 yuan, and the conditions for termination of listing have been reached.
Under the "searchlight" of the new delisting regulations, the data shows that 47 "risk students" have been delisted from A-shares during the year, and the number of delistings has reached a record high.
In the first year of the comprehensive registration system, how can the capital market smooth the "exit gate" while doing a good job of the "entry gate"?What profound changes have taken place in the market ecology?
The number of A-share delistings reached a new high.
This year marks the first year of the full registration system. According to the data, under the normalized delisting mechanism, 47 companies have been delisted during the year, of which 44 were forced to delist, 1 was voluntarily delisted, and 2 were restructured and delisted.
Wu Yansheng, Partner of PwC China's Capital Markets Services Group, said that improving the normalized delisting mechanism is an important part of the registration-based reform, which will help optimize the overall ecology of the capital market.
According to the new delisting rules, there are four types of compulsory delisting of listed companies: financial delisting, trading delisting, regulatory delisting and major illegal delisting.
Analyzing the reasons for the delisting of companies delisted this year, 20 of them touched the "transactional forced delisting", accounting for the highest proportion. The reason for the delisting is that investors "vote with their feet" - the daily *** price has been below RMB 1 for 20 consecutive trading days.
Since 2023, with the continuous promotion of the comprehensive registration system and the strict implementation of the new delisting regulations, the value of shell resources has declined sharply. The quality of fundamentals has gradually become an important criterion for determining whether a company should be delisted. Kaiyuan** pointed out that it is expected that the number of companies delisted due to the "1 yuan delisting" rule will gradually increase in the future.
On the export side, listed companies that are no longer able to bring returns to investors should be cleared as soon as possible. Wu Yansheng pointed out that now the market is looking forward to improving the A-share capital market from the investment side, and a fair, just and open delisting mechanism will be a powerful measure.
The data shows that since the beginning of this year, there has also been a significant increase in the number of companies involved in major illegal delisting, such as Amethystum Storage and Zeda Yisheng, which were delisted due to major violations due to suspected fraudulent issuance.
Amethystum Storage and Zeda Yisheng are both companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2020. The disclosed information shows that from 2017 to 2019, Amethystum Storage has accumulated more than 4300 million yuan, with a total inflated profit of more than 2100 million yuan. Zeda Yisheng has accumulated an inflated operating income of 3 from 2016 to 20194.2 billion yuan, inflated profit of 18.7 billion yuan.
In 2023, A-share also gave birth to the first non-loss-making voluntary delisting company - Jingwei Textile Machinery, for the reason for the voluntary delisting, Jingwei Textile Machinery did not give a specific explanation, only stated that "due to market changes, the company's operation is facing major uncertainties, which may have a significant impact on the company".
As a "barometer" of the economy, A-share companies delisted this year also reflect macroeconomic changes from the side. In terms of the industry in which the delisted companies are located this year, the real estate industry accounts for the highest proportion, including 8 companies such as ST Sunshine City, ST Tahoe, and *ST Jiakai;The computer industry followed with a total of 7 companies.
The reform of the registration system has been deepened and solidified.
From an average of only single-digit companies delisted every year to more than 40 companies delisted for two consecutive years, the ecology of the A** market is undergoing new changes.
According to the research report previously released by Haitong**, compared with the US ** market, which has a more mature delisting mechanism, there is still room for further broadening of the delisting path of A-shares. Measured by the ratio of the number of delistings to the total number of listed companies in the current year, the average delisting rate of U.S. stocks from 2010 to 2022 has reached 67%, while A-shares were only 03%。
Industry insiders pointed out that "difficulty in delisting" was once a representative feature of A-shares. According to the data, since the delisting of PT Narcissus in 2001, up to now, only 187 A-shares have been forcibly delisted. In line with the basic dynamic equilibrium of the number of listings and delistings in the mature international capital market, the number of A-share delistings is obviously insufficient.
Nowadays, with the advancement of China's comprehensive registration-based reform, the value of shell resources has shrunk significantly, irrational market behaviors such as restructuring and speculation have been significantly suppressed, and problems such as "difficult delisting" and "slow delisting" are becoming history.
For example, Guan Qingyou, president of the Institute of Financial Research, said that it is necessary to continue to increase the intensity of delisting, and there are both in and out, so as to promote metabolism. A-shares should strictly implement the principle of multi-standard delisting like mature markets, which will play a very important role in the activation and purification of the entire capital market.
The time for problematic listed companies to stay in the secondary market is getting shorter and shorter, that is, the time for being eliminated by the market is getting shorter and shorter, which means that the capital market ecology is gradually optimized. Li Youxing, vice president of the ** Law Research Association of the China Law Society, professor and doctoral supervisor of Zhejiang University, pointed out.
In recent years, the national regulatory authorities have continuously revised and improved the delisting system of listed companies, and the delisting system under the comprehensive registration system has become highly adaptable and effective, and some problematic listed companies are more likely to trigger delisting conditions.
In November 2020, the Shenzhen Reform Commission deliberated and approved the "Implementation Plan for Improving the Delisting Mechanism of Listed Companies", proposing a series of reform measures such as improving delisting standards, simplifying delisting procedures, and expanding diversified exit channels, emphasizing the improvement of the normalized delisting mechanism, promoting the delisting of trading indicators such as stock price and market value to play a greater role, and accelerating the formation of a market ecology of survival of the fittest.
While the regulatory authorities are focusing on the supervision of the IPO financing end, they are also effectively supervising the delisting side, and behind the normalized delisting mechanism is the financial supervision industry for the capital market is becoming more efficient. Li Youxing pointed out that in recent years, the regulatory authorities have shown their swords in a timely manner, taken multiple measures to urge relevant companies to verify the risk of delisting, and made rapid inquiries about the forced delisting of major violations of the law, and the rapid inquiry of the launch of the "shell" action, which also verifies the accurate identification of problem enterprises by the current delisting standards from the side, and a new market ecology of survival of the fittest is gradually being built.
Investors are becoming more rational and mature.
In the context of the normalization of delisting, small and medium-sized investors are also changing their concepts, gradually strengthening their risk awareness and value investment concepts, and consciously staying away from "shell zombies" and "black sheep". Since 2023, the ST sector of the market has accumulated more than 10%.
One of the signs of investors' gradual rational maturity is to be able to choose excellent listed companies to invest in, and to touch less or no problematic listed companies, as well as listed companies with the risk of elimination and delisting. Li Youxing pointed out.
The delisting period, which was previously regarded by many investors as "licking blood at the tip of the knife", is also showing a new atmosphere. Kaiyuan** said that since 2023, under the combined effect of the comprehensive registration system and the new delisting regulations, the average number of daily limits and down limits during the delisting period of delisted stocks has been significantly reduced, which means that the concept of normalized delisting is gradually being fully recognized.
The normalized delisting mechanism has also raised the requirements for listed companies. "In view of the delisting of the face value, in the case of extreme market performance, listed companies should also respond to the irrational stock price in a timely manner, such as the timely introduction of share repurchase measures, and timely block some of the forces of short securities lending of listed companies, including blocking the lending of individual shareholders of listed companies for profit, and the refinancing of securities lending, so as to ensure that the company's stock price matches the value of the enterprise. Li Youxing said that listed companies should have measures and capabilities to block malicious short-sellers in the market and ensure that the company's stock price is reasonable.
At the same time, Li Youxing pointed out that listed companies should focus on the high-quality development of their main business, fully repay investors and attract long-term investors in the process of growth, such as being able to have good dividend returns. In addition, listed companies should also operate in compliance with regulations, abide by information disclosure rules, and become a trustworthy, honest and safe company for shareholders.
Southern ** reporter Zhou Meilin.