China Trip: What's Next for Fuqi?

By Eric Jackson
RealMoney Contributor
4/8/2010 1:30 PM EDT
Click here for more stories by Eric Jackson

Of all the companies I met with during my recent two-week trip to China, none generated more reader interest than Fuqi International (FUQI - commentary - Trade Now), which has had a tough month.

Check out Eric Jackson's previous story on Fuqi.

Four weeks ago, the Shenzhen-based jewelry supplier to China's emerging middle-class consumer delayed filing its 10-K, after noticing some accounting discrepancies across the company's operations. The stock took a 40% hit on the news. It bottomed out in the low-$10s, and has been trading above $11 a share these past few days.

The question from all readers: Hang on, or dump it?

I don't own Fuqi, and I won't buy the stock until I hear more from the company about the restatement. For those of you who still own the stock, you will likely have a binary outcome in the next month or so, which either will lead to a surge or another sharp drop in the shares. I can't predict the outcome, so you need to decide your risk level.

However, I do want to describe my meeting with Fuqi.

I met with the CFO, Fred Wong, and EVP of Finance, Charlene Hua. Both are based in Hong Kong and commute across the border two to three days a week to the corporate office in Shenzhen. Wong has been CFO since 2004. Hua, a U.S.-educated former banker, has been with the company a little more than a year. I get the feeling she was hired to do M&A, but has been taking the lead in corporate communications since the accounting issues emerged last month because she's a very polished speaker.

Our meeting last week came at the end of the day and lasted around three hours. I credit the two executives for taking the time to answer all our questions. They were in an impossible position. Some investors have complained to me: Why did they spend the time with you? They should be spending every waking hour cleaning up their numbers. But if they had refused to meet us, other investors would have asked: Why were they scared to meet you and answer your questions?

We had some initial difficulty setting up the meeting. The staff in Shenzhen didn't seem to know how to respond to our request, and we were stonewalled. When we finally got in contact with Hua, the meeting was immediately scheduled. She apologized for the delays and said the company was taking steps to train their staff to deal better with investor requests made directly to the company, rather than coming through Fuqi's U.S.-based investor-relations company.

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FUQI: Fool's Gold

By Eric Jackson

RealMoney Contributor

3/17/2010 12:30 PM EDT

Click here for more stories by Eric Jackson

Fuqi International (FUQI - commentary - Trade Now) announced last night a major restatement of its 2009 numbers and other accounting irregularities, which will delay the filing of its 10-K with the SEC. The stock dropped 35% in early trading today. Some have asked me if this is a buying opportunity. My verdict: I'd steer clear for now. It's just too risky.

I wrote a positive piece about FUQI in early January, saying that the stock was undervalued and that the growing market for jewelry in China would aid the stock. While I'm still convinced about the Chinese jewelry market, my valuation was based on the assumption that the company's numbers were correct. We know now that they weren't.

And this is one of the great risks of investing in smaller, growth-oriented Chinese companies: governance standards are not the same as for smaller American companies. When I talk about governance standards, I mean the composition and conduct of the board of directors, as well as the implementation of proper accounting standards -- and a curbing of related-party transactions.

Related-party transactions seem to have been part of the problem here with Fuqi, as well as with another high-flying Chinese growth stock,Yuhe International (YUII - commentary -Trade Now), which saw its stock take a haircut a week ago.

I sold my Fuqi long position and calls last week. I had been a believer in the stock and expected the company to do well this year. I'll be going to China in a few days for two weeks to meet with several management teams of companies I believe have a chance of seeing their stock prices double this year. Fuqi was one of the companies I had looked forward to meeting.

Several weeks ago, Chinese-speaking employees of my firm, based in Hong Kong and within China, started to reach out to the companies of interest to us. We introduced our firm and expressed our interest in their companies. We disclosed our stock position in them (usually long) and said we wanted to meet with them to better understand their business and potentially increase our position in their company.

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Score Some Beijing Bling With Fuqi

By Eric Jackson

TheStreet.com Senior Contributor

1/8/2010 6:59 AM EST

Tremendous wealth has been created over the past four years due to China's boom, with the property market being particularly heated, and that trend looks likely to continue throughout 2010. Seeing opportunity in these newly found fortunes, armies of Chinese retailers are seeking to entice the nouveau riche with their goods.

Compared to North America, high-end luxury brands in Asia have been raking in huge margins for years, and those companies are now lining up to take advantage of China's growth. Naturally, jewelry is part of that group, but rather than play an expansion of a larger Western brand into China, consider directly investing in Chinese high-end jewelry wholesaler Fuqi International (FUQI - commentary - Trade Now).

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