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On the evening of August 14, A-share listed companiesXiaocheng Technology(300139) released its 2024 semi-annual report, which disclosed the latest developments in the "gold theft incident" of its overseas subsidiaries.

It was disclosed that on April 18, 2024, Ghana time, Akroma Gold Company, a subsidiary of Xiaocheng Technology in the Republic of Ghana, suffered an armed robbery and attack.

"So far, through the efforts of the National Police Agency, the Ministry of State Security, and the release of a reward for clues, a total of 5-6 people have been arrested and detained by the police," Xiaocheng Technology's announcement showed. However, the search for the whereabouts of the gold is still ongoing.

According to a report by Securities Times e-company on August 14, a staff member of Xiaocheng Technology's securities department said: "Although 5-6 people have been arrested, the final result has not yet been obtained. Because the information was reported by an overseas company, we may not fully understand the situation at the time. We will announce any progress later."

About 12kg of gold was stolen

Still searching for the destination

Xiaocheng Technology's 2023 annual report disclosed on April 25 showed that at around 5:20 in the morning on April 18, 2024, Ghana time, the company's subsidiary Akroma Gold Company in the Republic of Ghana suffered an armed robbery and attack.

In this incident, 11 masked local personnel armed with standard weapons broke into the AKROMA concentrator mining area from the undeveloped area of ​​the mining area to commit robbery, and fled before the arrival of the police. In the process, they subdued the security personnel, causing injuries to some local and Chinese employees of the mining area, but no deaths, and about 12kg of gold was stolen.

"We had agreed with Customs to export and sell the products on the same day, which resulted in direct economic losses of approximately US$900,000," Xiaocheng Technology announced.

Xiaocheng Technology said that after the incident, the staff of the AKROMA mine had taken emergency response measures, the injured had been sent to the hospital for treatment, and they tried their best to recover the losses caused by the incident and strengthened security measures again. The company has complained to the local Chinese Embassy, ​​the General Police Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.

On August 14, Xiaocheng Technology stated that as of now, through the efforts of the General Police Department, the Ministry of State Security, and the issuance of bonus rewards for clues, a total of 5-6 people have been arrested and detained by the police. Although they have verbally admitted to the fact of robbery, relevant weapons and other tools used in the crime still need to be found, and the whereabouts of the gold are still being searched for.

It is worth noting that on May 24 this year, Xiaocheng Technology received an annual report inquiry letter from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which required it to explain the specific circumstances and relevant progress of the incident in which about 12kg of gold was stolen, the specific impact on the company's subsequent daily operations, the recovery measures that have been taken or are planned to be taken, and further verify whether the above matters meet the information disclosure standards, whether there is a situation where regular reports are used instead of interim reports, and fully alert to relevant risks.

In response to this, Xiaocheng Technology responded on June 12 that after the incident, the staff of the AKROMA mine had taken emergency response measures and strengthened security measures again. In addition, the company has complained to the local Chinese Embassy, ​​the General Police Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, and reported the case to the local police station in a timely manner. At present, the daily business activities of the mine have returned to normal. The local police attach great importance to this matter and are in the process of handling the investigation. They have also locked up and arrested some people. The final result of the police's handling is still to be seen.

Owns three gold mines in Ghana

Net profit fell by nearly 50% in the first half of the year

According to the data, Xiaocheng Technology's main businesses include gold mining and sales, solar power generation and integrated circuit design. Regarding the gold business, Xiaocheng Technology said that the company's gold business is located in the Republic of Ghana in Africa. Ghana is rich in mineral resources, which provides favorable conditions for the company's gold mineral resource reserves.The company owns three gold mines in Ghana, namely AKROMA gold mine, AKOASE gold mine and FGM (NAFORMAN_NOYEM) gold mine.The company's solar power generation business is mainly located in Ghana. It has invested in and built a 20MW photovoltaic power station in Ghana, which has been in operation for more than 10 years. In addition, the company's solar power generation projects include the AVIC International Power Supply Project and the VodafoneSolarProject, distributed photovoltaic project, Kumasi signal light project, Tanzania photovoltaic project, etc. The actual controller of the company is Cheng Yi.

The company is still in its infancy in this industry. It has always maintained a prudent business attitude, combined with local actual conditions, and continuously improved its business chain, business management model, etc., gradually enhancing its capabilities in large-scale production and operation and increasing gold production.

In terms of performance, in the first half of 2024, Xiaocheng Technology's revenue was 132 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.31%;The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 19.817 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 49.19%.The company's gold business revenue during the period was 108 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.12%, and the gross profit margin was 44.91%, an increase of 14.48 percentage points year-on-year.

It is worth mentioning that Xiaocheng Technology's sales expenses increased by 24.69% year-on-year to 2.9331 million yuan, and management expenses increased by 25.03% year-on-year to 40.7088 million yuan. The company said that gold export handling fees increased; the preliminary exploration fees of the mining area and the processing fees of the mining rights certificate increased.

In the secondary market, as of the close of August 14, Xiaocheng Technology was priced at 14.17 yuan per share, and the company's total market value was 3.9 billion yuan.

Disclaimer: The content and data of this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investors who act accordingly shall bear their own risks.

edit|||Cheng Peng Gai Yuanyuan

Proofreading|He Xiaotao

Cover image source: Visual China (data image and text are unrelated)

Daily Economic News compiled from company announcements, China News Service, Securities Times e-company (reporter: Mei Shuang), Dahe Financial Cube

Daily Economic News