Page 28 - CCFA Journal - Second Issue

企业上市 Listing
2、中概股为什么被频繁做空
近年来，在美中概股被频繁做空，从做空手段看，做空机构通
常从四个方面入手：1）财务报表，如某些盈利指标与国内同
行业或者与境外同行业差距过大；2）公司业务，如关注关联
交易、大量业务外包和复杂的股权架构等；3）管理层异动，
如重点关注股东与高管的减持行为以及管理层重大变动等；4）
审计环节，如重点观察审计中介是否配合公司财务造假、是否
存在欺诈风险等。
中概股被频繁做空既有自身质量、自身特点的原因，也与中美
文化差异以及大博弈背景下中概股生存环境恶化等有关。具体
主要体现在以下几个方面：
首先，在美中概股本身质量参差不齐，且小市值公司居多。中
国公司选择美国股票市场融资的主要原因是由于在内地或香港
上市需要达到较高的上市标准，成本较高，而美国市场对拟上
市的公司设立的门槛相对较低，对一些想短时间融资的公司来
讲更有吸引力。由于门槛相对偏低就导致了公司本身质量参差
不齐。目前，在美中概股中有近一半企业处于亏损状态，该比
例远高于美股平均水平。从盈利能力看，中概股也表现出两级
分化的特点，257 家公司中有 112 家净资产收益率（ROE）为负，
有 79 家公司 ROE 大于 10%，ROE 分布于中间区间的公司数量较
少，如图 8 所示。
其次，中概股本身的差异化特点及信息不对称使境外投资者对
中概股的信任度相对较低。中概股普遍采用 VIE 架构，这些公
司注册地大多不在美国的管辖范围内，而且在转移资金时可能
在中国受到惩罚性征税，使境外投资者追诉赔偿损失时面临更
大障碍。同时，中概股的股权结构更为集中化，如前三大股东
的股权比例的中位数均高于美股全市场同比的中位数，特别是
第一大股东在持股比例上和全部美股的偏差更为显著：中概股
第一大股东的持股比例的中位数为 31.79%，平均数为 34.68%，
而美股的中位数是 14.59%，平均数为 19.96%。中概股的股权高
度集中也加重了投资者对大股东或者管理层有可能利用高持股
的优势操纵股价的信任危机。另外，中美两国在会计准则、监
管法律、税收制度、营商环境等方面存在不少差异，以及语言
壁垒、信息不对称等问题，投资者无法进行特别准确的判断和
实地考察。
1.
图 8：中概股净资产收益率分布
数据来源：Wind，中国银河证券研究院
CCFA JOURNAL OF FINANCE
加中金融
2. Why Are CCS Frequently Shorted
In recent years, CCS listed in the U.S. have been frequently shorted.
Short-selling agencies usually follow four rules: 1) financial report
mismatching, such as a large difference in profit indicators from the
same industry between the U.S. and China; 2) the company’s
business, such as related transactions, large-scale business
outsourcing and complex equity ownership structure; 3) the
abnormal changes of major shareholders and senior management; 4)
the audit process, such as focusing on observing whether the audit
intermediary cooperates with the company’s financial fraud and
whether there is fraud risk, etc.
The frequent shorting is not only due to their own quality and
characteristics, but also attributes to the political and economical
conflicts between China and the United States. Specifically, the
following aspects reflect the situation:
Firstly, the quality of U.S. listed Chinese companies varies, and most
companies are of small cap. The main reason why Chinese
companies go public in the U.S. market is that listing in the Mainland
or Hong Kong needs relatively higher standards and higher cost.
However, because of the relatively low threshold, the quality of the
company itself varies. Currently, nearly half of the U.S. listed
Chinese stocks are suffering from losses, which is a higher
percentage compared to the average performance in the U.S. market.
As for the profitability aspect, CCS also show the polarized
characteristics: among 257 companies, 112 companies have a
negative ROE and 79 companies have ROE greater than 10%. The
number of companies with ROEs in the middle range is relatively
small, as shown in Figure 8.
Secondly, differences and information asymmetry of CCS make
foreign investors have relatively low trust in CCS. CCS generally
adopted VIE structure so that most of these companies’ registration
places are not within the jurisdiction of the United States and may be
subject to the transfer of capital in China. When it confronts punitive
taxation, foreign investors will face even more obstacles to pursue
compensation for losses.
At the same time, the equity structure of CCS is more concentrated.
For example, the median shareholding ratio of the top three
shareholders is higher than the median calculated from the entire U.S.
stock market, especially the deviation of the shareholding ratio of the
first shareholder between CCS and all U.S. stocks – which is even
more significant. The median shareholding ratio of the largest
shareholder of CCS is 31.79%, and the average is 34.68%. As for
U.S. stocks, the median is 14.59% and the average is 19.96%.
The high concentration of equity in CCS has also raised concerns that
the controlling shareholders may use their superior shareholding
advantages to manipulate stock prices. In addition, there are
significant differences in accounting standards, regulatory laws,
taxation systems, business environments, to name a few, between
China and the United States. At the same time, problems of language
barriers and information asymmetry still exist so that investors are
unable to make accurate decisions or do on-site inspections.
Figure 8: The Distribution of ROE of CCS
DECEMBER 2020
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