Internal conflict within NVC Lighting Holding, the mainland's largest maker of lighting products, escalated yesterday after the company's management, distributors and suppliers urged the board to reinstate Wu Changjiang, the founder and former chairman who resigned in May.
The company, which suspended trading of its shares on Friday, applied to the Hong Kong stock exchange at 12.15pm yesterday for a resumption in the afternoon. But less than an hour later it told the exchange that the trading halt would continue until further notice.
'There must be some major problems unsettled inside the company,' said Felix Kwok, an analyst with Core Pacific-Yamaichi Securities.
In a separate filing yesterday, which was issued before the other two, NVC Lighting's current chairman Andrew Yan said the board was considering several requests from senior management, distributors and suppliers. They included re-electing Wu as chairman and executive director, appointing management members and distributors as additional board directors, granting share options to senior management and core employees and asking some managers to step down.
Those making the requests said they would 'take further action if the board failed to satisfy their demands', according to the filing.
Workers at dozens of NVC factories and offices on the mainland went on strike on Friday, voicing discontent over the company's recent leadership change and urging the board to reinstate Wu as chairman. A number of distributors also suspended their orders for lighting products.