Dali Foods Group has accused a US hedge fund of relying on “selective and biased” information to make “inappropriate and misleading” comments about the China-based food and beverage company’s finances.
Hong Kong-listed Dali hit back after FG Alpha Management CIO Dan David claimed in a tweet the group’s capital and operating expenditure figures “don’t make sense” and had “tax inconsistencies”.
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Shares in Dali fell nearly 9% following the tweet, prompting the company’s chairman, Xu Shihui, to “categorically deny and refute” the allegations in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Xu said Dali also rejected an allegation that the group “took questionable cash advances from its controlling shareholder in the years leading up to its IPO“.
Xu said “no director or senior management” of FG Alpha had approached the group “to address or clarify the allegations prior to publication”.
“The board confirms that it is not aware of any information which must be announced to avoid a false market in the company’s securities or of any inside information that needs to be disclosed,” Xu added.
The chairman said Dali “will consider and adopt all reasonable measures to protect the interest of the shareholders, including but not limited to take necessary legal actions against FG Alpha management for the publication of the allegations”.
Last March, Dali reported a 7.7% rise in net profit to CNY3.14bn (US$462m). EBITDA grew 6.9% to CNY4.52bn.
