Trading in China Green (Holdings) was suspended yesterday after the release of a securities firm's report questioning whether sales of the mainland fruit and vegetable producer's corn products were authentic.
According to a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which was circulated to investors and fund managers on January 20, analysts said they failed to find corn products in stock in the outlets that were supposed to distribute grain beverages under China Green's own brand Cu Liang Wang.
China Green's financial report stated that corn milk accounted for more than 50 per cent of beverage sales last year.
The revenue of this product line was 200 million yuan (HK$235.9 million), constituting 11 per cent of China Green's 2010 turnover.
BAML analysts visited 25 outlets in Xiamen, Fujian province, where China Green's headquarter is located, but none of them stocked the company's corn products.
The company yesterday filed a statement with the Hong Kong stock exchange saying that it stopped selling corn milk products to supermarkets and hypermarkets channels in August last year.