Blue Whale News, September 9 (Reporter Xu Xiaochun) On the evening of September 6, Transsion Holdings, the "King of African Mobile Phones" with a market value of 87 billion yuan, announced that its CFO Xiao Yonghui was detained, sparking heated market debate. Last year, Xiao Yonghui earned approximately 3.86 million yuan in salary from Transsion Holdings, and was also awarded an additional 80,000 restricted shares, with an award price of only one-third of the company's year-end share price.

The busy mid-year reporting season has just ended, but CFOs of listed companies earning millions of yuan in salary have been active. According to incomplete statistics from Blue Whale News, at least 12 listed companies have announced personnel changes among their CFOs in just 9 days since September. On the same day that Transsion Holdings announced Xiao Yonghui's detention, at least 4 listed companies experienced changes in their CFOs.

Transsion Holdings CFO detained with a market value of 87 billion yuan

On the evening of September 6, Transsion Holdings announced that its CFO Xiao Yonghui had been detained and placed under investigation by the Zhen'an District Supervisory Committee in Dandong City. It is understood that Xiao Yonghui was born in 1969 and is currently 55 years old, holding a college degree. Since January 2014, Xiao Yonghui has served as CFO of Transsion Holdings for a full decade.

In 2023, Xiao Yonghui earned 3.8556 million yuan in salary from Transsion Holdings, ranking among the top 5 highest-paid executives out of 25 executives who received salaries last year. Additionally, Xiao Yonghui held 200,000 restricted shares at the beginning of 2023. Last year, Transsion Holdings awarded Xiao Yonghui an additional 80,000 restricted shares at a price of 48.2 yuan per share. On the last trading day of December 29, 2023, Transsion Holdings closed at 138.4 yuan per share.

On August 28, Transsion Holdings held an online performance briefing, where Xiao Yonghui participated as the CFO. In its September 6 evening announcement, Transsion Holdings stated that it was not yet aware of the progress or conclusions of the investigation, and that other directors, supervisors, and senior management personnel continued to perform their duties normally. The detention of the CFO would not have a significant impact on the company's normal operations.

On September 9, Transsion Holdings opened lower, and its share price fell by more than 8% intraday. In the middle of the day on September 9, Transsion Holdings directors and deputy general managers Zhang Qi, Yang Hong, and board secretary Zeng Chun jointly increased their shareholdings, with a combined increase of approximately 6.5402 million yuan. According to Transsion Holdings' senior management shareholding increase plan announced in July, the aforementioned three senior executives, along with CFO Xiao Yonghui, will increase their shareholdings by no less than 10.8 million yuan and no more than 14 million yuan within six months.

By the close of trading in the afternoon, Transsion Holdings' share price was 77.05 yuan per share, with a final decline of 4.99%, giving the company a market value of approximately 87 billion yuan.

Transsion Holdings is primarily engaged in the design, research and development, production, sales, and brand operation of smart terminals centered on mobile phones. The company's main products are TECNO, itel, and Infinix brand mobile phones, including feature phones and smartphones, with sales concentrated in emerging markets such as Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. In September 2019, Transsion Holdings was listed on the STAR Market.

In the first half of this year, Transsion Holdings ranked second among global mobile phone brands, maintaining its position as the "King of African Mobile Phones" by ranking first in the smartphone market in Africa, South Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh), and other regions.

In the first half of this year, Transsion Holdings achieved total operating revenue of approximately 34.558 billion yuan, an increase of 38.07% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of approximately 2.852 billion yuan, an increase of 35.71% year-on-year. However, in the first half of the year, Transsion Holdings experienced a net outflow of cash flow from operating activities of 1.392 billion yuan, which the company attributed to a temporary mismatch between sales and procurement payments, with larger procurement payments and increased year-on-year payments in the first half.

12 listed company CFOs have resigned in 9 days

The 2024 mid-year reporting season concluded in August, but since entering September, multiple listed companies have collectively submitted resignations from their CFOs, with some companies not having suitable candidates to replace them and temporarily assigning general managers, chairmen, or others to oversee financial-related work. According to incomplete statistics from Blue Whale News, as of September 9, at least 12 listed companies have experienced changes in CFOs and related positions.

On September 2, *ST Youshu first announced that due to personal reasons, CFO Zhang Xiufang applied to resign from her position. After resigning, Zhang Xiufang will no longer hold any positions in the company or its subsidiaries. *ST Youshu, with cross-border e-commerce as its core business, saw a slight 3.04% decrease in revenue in the first half of the year, with net profit attributable to shareholders narrowing to a loss of 47.59 million yuan over the same period. Last year, Tianjian Certified Public Accountants issued an unqualified audit opinion with significant uncertainties related to the company's continuing operations for *ST Youshu. In February 2024, creditors applied for the reorganization and pre-reorganization of *ST Youshu due to the company's inability to repay maturing debts, severe insolvency, and lack of solvency. Currently, the pre-reorganization work for *ST Youshu is still ongoing.

On the same evening, Li Yuan, the internal audit head of Yixintang, also submitted a written resignation letter due to personal reasons.

On September 3, Rifeng Precision Machinery announced that due to personal reasons related to Miao Jia, the company's board of directors agreed to dismiss Miao Jia from her position as CFO. Last year, Miao Jia earned 1.5394 million yuan in salary from Rifeng Precision Machinery. At the same time, the board of directors of Rifeng Precision Machinery appointed Zhuang Aihua as the new CFO. According to her resume, Zhuang Aihua previously served as the manager of the planning and finance department of the company's controlling shareholder, Rifa Group, as well as the supervisor and investment manager of Wudu Investment, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Rifa Group.

On September 5, Foton Automobile adjusted its CFO position, replacing Song Shushan with Li Qinghua. It is understood that Foton Automobile's former CFO Song Shushan entered the company after graduating with a degree in accounting in 2003 and has held positions such as vice president of finance for Foton Automobile's overseas business department and director of the company's headquarters' financial planning department. Last year, Song Shushan, who concurrently served as Foton Automobile's deputy general manager, staff representative director, and CFO, earned approximately 2.0468 million yuan in salary. On the same day, Niu Yueqian, president and CFO of Qinghai Huading, also submitted a resignation letter due to internal work adjustments, and the following day, Qinghai Huading appointed Wu Jiahao, the company's internal control and internal audit head, as its new CFO.

On September 6 alone, at least four listed companies experienced personnel changes among relevant personnel.

On September 6, Tong Xiaogang, who concurrently served as vice president, board secretary, and CFO of Tianlu Technology, resigned due to personal reasons. After resigning from these positions, Tong Xiaogang continued to hold other positions within the company. Currently, Tong Xiaogang directly holds 2.49% of Tianlu Technology's shares and earned approximately 732,800 yuan in salary last year while holding all three positions. Subsequently, Xiao Mingdong was nominated by the general manager to succeed Tong Xiaogang as Tianlu Technology's new CFO, and Xiao Mingdong concurrently serves as Tianlu Technology's vice president and board secretary.

On the same day, Jinjian Rice Industry announced that it had received a resignation letter from CFO Li Jun. On September 6, Jinjian Rice Industry appointed Huang Simiao as the new CFO. Huang Simiao previously served as the financial head (concurrently serving as the director of the discipline inspection and supervision office) of CITIC Real Estate's Hunan branch and the deputy director of post-investment management for Ping An Real Estate's South China (Central) region. From 2019 to 2021, Huang Simiao concurrently served as the financial head of Ping An Real Estate's Changsha branch.

On September 6, Du Liyan, director, vice president, CFO, and member of the Remuneration and Assessment Committee of the Board of Directors of Jinfu Technology, resigned from all positions at the listed company. Regarding the reasons for the job change, the chairman of Minmetals Capital, Zhu Kebing, general manager Zhao Ligong, and CFO Chen Hui also resigned on September 6. On this day, Transsion Holdings announced that it had received a "Detention Notice" and "Case Filing Notice" issued by the Zhen'an District Supervisory Committee of Dandong City, stating that CFO Xiao Yonghui had been detained and placed under investigation.

After a brief weekend, the wave of CFO resignations from listed companies continued. On the evening of September 8, Heilan Home announced that Qian Yaping had resigned from her positions as director, vice president (vice chairman), CFO, and member of the Remuneration and Assessment Committee of the Board of Directors. After resigning, Qian Yaping no longer held any positions in the company, and last year, she earned over one million yuan in salary from Heilan Home. Before appointing a new CFO, Chairman and General Manager (President) Zhou Lichen will temporarily perform the duties of CFO.

After the close on September 9, Li Minghui, CFO of Zhideli, resigned from his position due to personal reasons and will no longer hold any positions in the company. Before the board of directors formally appoints a new CFO, Chairman Wu Jiawei will temporarily perform the duties of CFO.