An annual report inquiry letter, regarded as an "investment book" by professional investors, is only one of the "achievements" of the supervision of the annual report of the 20 18 Shanghai Stock Exchange. On the afternoon of June 6th, the Shanghai Stock Exchange released a summary of the audit work of the 20 18 annual report, which clarified the regulatory thinking of "grasping at both ends and taking the middle belt" and focused on some problems exposed by some listed companies in the process of economic restructuring.
According to an insider familiar with the supervision of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, after years of accumulation and polishing, the supervision of annual reports with inquiry letters as an important starting point has become increasingly mature. The goal of "returning investors to truly transparent companies" is not only to excavate the company's risk points one by one, but also to remind the market to pay attention, which makes it possible for the market to understand quality companies more clearly.
As an important means of capital market supervision, the supervision concept of "returning investors to real and transparent companies" is in the same strain as promoting the sustained and healthy development of the capital market. Only by allowing investors to clearly identify the company's texture, holding good companies and abandoning poor companies can the capital market be turbulent and clear, and more companies can develop well.
Discover value and see through a good company.
"When I first saw the annual report inquiry letter, I always felt uncomfortable. Small and medium investors don't understand. They kept calling to ask if something had happened to the company. After these years, we all understand that the inquiry is to hope that the company will introduce the situation more clearly, which is good for the company and good for investors. " The secretary-general of a listed company told reporters.
This view has been recognized by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The Shanghai Stock Exchange clearly pointed out that the purpose of inquiry is to improve the transparency of information disclosure of listed companies and help investors to understand the company more comprehensively and objectively and make better investment decisions. Inquiry itself is a relatively neutral way of supervision, which does not mean that the inquired company has illegal behavior.
For example, the profit rate of listed companies has always been higher than the average level of the same industry. It is easy to ask people whether the company is competitive or profitable. As a result, the Shanghai Stock Exchange sent an annual report inquiry letter to the company, asking the company to disclose various information such as finance, customers and related parties, and explain the reasons for the high profit rate.
It is also in line with the basic situation of companies in Shanghai stock market to let high-quality companies be seen by more investors. Judging from the operating data of companies in Shanghai stock market, high-quality companies account for the vast majority. In 20 18, the company of Shanghai Stock Exchange achieved an annual operating income of 33.5 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1 1%, accounting for about 30% of GDP in the same period; * * * realized a net profit of 2.80 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4%. At the same time, most companies focus on their main business. Take the net profit after deduction, which reflects the quality of their main business, as an example. From 20 16 to 20 18, there are about 1 100 companies, accounting for nearly 80% of the total number of companies in Shanghai.
The above-mentioned insiders said that many companies have done well, but due to the short time to market, they have not fully understood how to do a good job in information disclosure and better face investors. The Shanghai Stock Exchange hopes to help the company do a good job in the disclosure of annual reports and maintain good communication with investors through various means, including inquiries.
"At the same time, in the inquiry and reply, we can also understand the practical difficulties existing in the operation of related companies and help companies find solutions together." The person familiar with the matter said.
Why is the inquiry letter so useful? The answer lies in the specialty. Since 20 15, Shanghai Stock Exchange has implemented industry supervision, with industry groups as the main body and financial and legal professional groups as the auxiliary, to create an all-round supervision system without dead ends. "After years of experience polishing, the inquiry letter basically hit the nail on the head and went straight to the core issues, which is conducive to the company to find and solve problems and is also conducive to investors' reference investment. "
Reveal risks and prevent bad companies from fishing in troubled waters.
Since 20 18, some listed companies have encountered some difficulties in their operations due to the influence of macroeconomic environment and other factors. In desperation, some illegal acts began to surface. Faced with this situation, the Shanghai Stock Exchange acted quickly, and in the inquiry of the 20 18 annual report, it focused on the authenticity of performance, operational risks, goodwill of mergers and acquisitions, capital contribution by major shareholders and other issues.
In terms of the authenticity of performance, a company with rapidly expanding assets is concerned by the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The original value of fixed assets of the company's main product is as high as 5 billion yuan, which is nearly three times that of similar products of listed companies in the same industry and region, but the growth rate of the company's revenue is far less than that of fixed assets.
"When the annual report was disclosed, it was found that the scale of the company's fixed assets grew too fast. We haven't figured out the reason yet, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange directly compared with its peers and asked questions, which gave us a good reminder. " An institutional industry researcher said.
In addition, the phenomenon of improper earnings management still exists in individual companies in Shanghai stock market, such as changing the scope of company merger through voting entrustment or agreement arrangement under the condition of unchanged shareholding ratio. Some companies change the bad debt accrual policy at will, and may even take advantage of goodwill impairment to "take a big bath".
In order to understand these problems, the Shanghai Stock Exchange combines financial analysis with industry supervision, and pays attention to the mutual verification of financial and non-financial information, the cross-checking relationship between financial indicators and the cross-comparison of companies and products in the same industry. Through a comprehensive scan of the company's financial information, we can discover doubts and ask questions, and urge the company to fully and truly disclose its operating results.
In addition, the Shanghai Stock Exchange also focuses on the capital occupation and illegal guarantee behavior of the controlling shareholder, which rose in 20 18, and delves into the possible improper interest transfer such as capital occupation and illegal guarantee. On the basis of verifying the facts, the company and relevant shareholders are required to rectify within a time limit. If it is not resolved on time, other risk warnings (that is, ST treatment) will be implemented for the company according to laws and regulations.
A person close to the regulator said: "Most investors tend to focus only on revenue and net profit, but if you want to see through a company, you need to know more than that. Regulators hope that listed companies will explain to investors in detail how profits are generated and how funds flow, so that investors can truly understand the company's operations, rather than just seeing single-point data. "
It further stated that only when listed companies do a good job in information disclosure and investors read company announcements can they form the concept of value investment and common growth in the capital market, and form a good atmosphere that encourages focusing on the main business, pragmatic development, abandoning concept speculation and blindly crossing borders. "Let good companies be better, poor companies return to valuation, and ultimately promote the healthy development of the capital market."