New | Sunac CEO in China steps down but holds onto chairman role
The storied leader of property developer Sunac China Holdings announced his resignation as chief executive on Monday, the company said in a stock filing.
Sun Hongbin stepped down from the top spot but will remain chairman of the board and several other roles. Wang Mengde, the former executive president, has been appointed to the chief executive position.
Sun has been hailed somewhat of a corporate hero in China for his comebacks from adversity.
Early in his career at computer giant Lenovo, he was touted as one of the most promising business stars in China and was put in charge of the corporate development department of the firm.
However, he was found guilty of embezzling 130,000 yuan (HK$160,000) and sentenced to five years in prison. After he was released in March 1994, he appealed against his conviction, and in 2003 a judicial review found him innocent of the charge.
Sun stepped down as chief executive of Sunac so that he could “devote more of his time as the chairman of the board”, according to the filing.
Sunac China reported a 2 per cent decline in its core profit to 1 billion yuan for the six months ended June. Revenue fell by 40 per cent year on year to 5.44 billion yuan, primarily due to the slow growth of property sales because of fewer deliveries in existing projects.
Earlier this year, the company proposed a multibillion-yuan takeover of another Chinese developer, Kaisa Group Holdings, but the plan was derailed because of Kaisa’s refusal to agree on a debt-restructuring deal.
Sun said at the time that Sunac would continue working with Kaisa, likely through project-based partnerships in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
