Shares in Yaohan International Holdings plunged for a second successive day, taking to 84 per cent the amount wiped off its market value in the past two days. The counter tumbled 34 per cent to 9.8 cents yesterday, its second day after resuming trading for the first time in six months. The company's market capitalisation has fallen to almost $97 million in the past two days, from $603 million. Brokers said investors were dumping the shares amid fears the company would be forced into liquidation. The company warned on Monday of a possible liquidation if a financial restructuring proposal failed to materialise. Yaohan's 42 per cent-owned retailing associate Yaohan Hongkong Corp is in liquidation, after its 10 stores in Hong Kong and Macau folded last November. Yaohan said it was suffering serious financial difficulties and that former executives were the subject of a police investigation into the alleged inappropriate use of the company's money and assets during the past two years. A spokesman for the police public relations bureau yesterday confirmed Yaohan had filed a case.
