Directors of London-quoted Chinese sports shoemaker Naibu "have been forced to admit that they have lost all contact with the company’s chairman and senior executive, in the latest controversy to hit Aim," according to Johnson & Agnew of the FINANCIAL TIMES.
Naibu, which once said that "it was China’s 10th largest sportswear brand," listed four years ago on Aim -- the London Stock Exchange’s market for fast-growing but often high-risk companies, which was once labeled "a casino" by U.S. regulators.
On Wednesday, Naibu’s U.K.-based non-exec directors said that "they had received no responses to their enquiries" from Naibu co-Founder & Chair Lin Huoyan and its Exec Dir Lin Congdeng -- and, as a result, "could not assess the company’s financial performance." Walbrook Investor Relations Dir Paul Cornelius:
"I have never seen an announcement like this before and it’s very alarming. This is detrimental to the reputation of Aim and may put off investors." A spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange "declined to comment" (FT, 2/18).
