LNG Group 0931

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LNG fumes over `malicious' report by Macau Mak

The boss of China LNG Group (0931) said he will fight Glaucus Research Group through any means possible, dismissing its claims that his firm is 18 times overvalued as unfounded.

Chairman Billy Albert Kan Che-kin said the report about the energy firm was based on old data.

Kan described Glaucus, a US-based independent research firm, as "gang members" who did not bother to approach China LNG for its latest data.

He welcomes a direct and public discussion with it.

Glaucus described the business plan of China LNG as flawed on the grounds 18 framework agreements signed with mainland government departments and firms are non-binding declarations.

However, Kan said nine of them are already being executed, while the remainder will be launched in the second half of the year. He expects the share price to rise in the short term, and hit HK$3 this year. He does not dismiss the possibility of increasing his own stake.

Glaucus valued the energy firm at 8 HK cents per share in the report.

Kan denounced this as impossible as the company currently holds HK$1.5 billion in cash, while even a shell company is worth around HK$500 million.

China LNG halted trading on Tuesday, after Glaucus said the firm is even more overvalued than Hanergy Thin Film Power Group (0566), the solar panel maker under investigation over questionable loans.

China LNG refuted the report and resumed trading on Friday. The stock once slumped 32 percent, but recovered to close at HK$1.21, down 17.1 percent from the previous last trading day.

Glaucus issued a rebuttal, saying China LNG's response is "non-sensical, contradictory and logically deficient."

Kan has labeled the Glaucus report as "malicious" and reserved the right to take legal action.

Source: The Standard HK