Real Gold Mining, an Inner Mongolian company boasting an HK$8.1 billion market capitalisation, appears to have filed different sets of accounts with the Hong Kong stock exchange and the central government.
Real Gold reported just over one billion yuan (HK$1.2 billion) of revenue to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing for 2009, the last date for which accounts lodged with the central government are available for comparison. In contrast, its only three operating subsidiaries during 2009 reported only 3.45 million yuan of sales between them to the State Administration of Industry and Commerce that year, according to filings obtained for the South China Morning Post by Qingdao Inter-Credit.
Real Gold said in its annual report to Hong Kong shareholders it made a 543 million yuan net profit in 2009.
The three units listed in Real Gold's annual report as involved in the mining and processing of gold ore reported a combined 7.5 million yuan loss for that year, according to the documents supplied by Qingdao Inter-Credit, an organisation that instructs mainland lawyers to source State Administration of Industry and Commerce filings.
Mining and processing gold ore was Real Gold's only revenue-producing business activity in 2009, according to its annual report.
Real Gold, whose majority shareholder is mining and telecommunications entrepreneur Wu Ruilin, joined the HKEx in February 2009, raising HK$1 billion in an initial public offering. In October 2009 and July 2010, the miner sold a further HK$2.2 billion of stock in placings. Citi and Macquarie worked on the offer. The two banks worked together on the company's October 2009 placing, while Citi handled last July's share sale alone. The company's auditor is Deloitte, which declined to comment, as did Citi and Macquarie.