Financially troubled Chinese PET film manufacturer Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co. Ltd. announced Dec. 3 that its longtime chairman and CEO has been replaced by an executive with ties to Fuwei's new owners.
Fuwei, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange, said in the statement that Xiaoan He is stepping down as its chairman and CEO, posts he has held since 2005, to be replaced by Zengyong Wang, an executive from Shandong SNTON Group Co. Ltd.
Companies affiliated with Shandong SNTON Group Chairman Wang Xiusheng bought a 52.9 percent stake in Fuwei in an auction in China earlier this year for $896,000, Fuwei disclosed in a July 15 SEC filing.
They bought it from the Weifang State-Owned Assets Operation Administration Co. in Shandong, which had tried unsuccessfully to sell the company in another auction in 2013.
Wang becomes chairman and CEO of Fuwei, which is based in Weifang City, Shandong province, on Jan. 1.
Wang has been a director and vice president of Shandong SNTON Group since 2006, according to Fuwei's statement. From 1995-2003 he was the general manager of SNTON Hualu New Materials Co. Ltd., a SNTON unit that produces glass-fiber reinforced plastic pipe.
Shandong SNTON, based in Dongying City, Shandong province, has more than 5,000 employees and is one of China's largest steel cord manufacturers, as well as having business units in real estate, fine chemicals and machinery.
Wang takes over in what Fuwei said in its statement is a “challenging” time in China's biaxially oriented PET industry.
The company said sales dropped 8.8 percent, to 69.2 million Chinese yuan ($11.3 million) in its most recent fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30, with most of that decline from a drop in sales volumes.
As well, Fuwei was hit with a notice from Nasdaq in early November threatening it with delisting from the exchange unless it raised the total value of its outstanding shares above $5 million within 180 days.
