Financial Services Association, March 13 (Reporter He Fan) Is the actual controller and chairman of a listed company manipulating its own stocks? After a lapse of ten months, Qin Benjun, chairman of Rhine Biotech, who was investigated by the Securities Regulatory Commission on suspicion of manipulating the securities market in May of last year, revealed through an announcement last night that he had received an advance notice of administrative punishment. Qin Benjun will be fined more than 2.07 million for using private equity products to “sit down” on his own shares, and the Securities Regulatory Commission plans to ban him from entering the market for 5 years. This is not good news for RheinBio, whose net profit was already “declining” last year.

Rhine Biotech announced on May 11, 2023 that Qin Benjun, the company's actual controller, chairman and general manager, notified that it had received a “Notice of Case Filing” from the Securities Regulatory Commission. The notice stated that the CSRC decided to file a case against Qin Benjun because the latter is suspected of manipulating the securities market.

On May 11, 2023, RheinBio announced that on the day the actual controller was investigated, the company's stock price fell to a standstill and continued to plummet on the second day, closing down nearly 9%.

The matter ushered in new developments today. Tonight, Rhine Biotech announced that Qin Benjun received the “Advance Notice of Administrative Penalties and Market Bans” from the Securities Regulatory Commission, and that Qin Benjun met **** through an introduction from others. In 2021, Qin Benjun invested 120 million yuan to subscribe for 4 private equity products including “Dahua Preferred 2” and handed them over to **** for operation and management. From April 14, 2021 to November 15, 2021, **** controlled the use of 28 securities accounts including “Chen Liming” to focus on continuous trading of “Rhine Biotech” using financial advantages and shareholding advantages, affecting stock trading prices and trading volume.

A Financial Services Association reporter noticed that in recent years, Qin Benjun has been pledging some of his shares in Rhine Biotech, and the pledges have been extended. According to the latest disclosed data, the shares pledged by Qin Benjun already account for close to 70% of his holdings.

Tonight's announcement shows that according to the “Securities Law”, the Securities Regulatory Commission will confiscate the illegal proceeds of **** and Qin Benjun's manipulation of “Rhine Biotech” and impose a fine of 4.145,500 yuan. Among them, **** and Qin Benjun were each fined 2,072,800 yuan. Furthermore, the Securities Regulatory Commission plans to decide to ban **** and Qin Benjun from entering the market for 5 years, respectively.

Rhine Biotech said in the announcement that the proposed penalty decision only involves Qin Benjun personally, has nothing to do with the company, and will not have a significant impact on the company's daily operations.

However, according to regulations, from the date the decision is announced, during the ban period, apart from continuing to engage in securities business, securities service business, or the position of director, supervisor, or senior manager of the original securities issuer, they are also prohibited from engaging in securities business, securities service business, or holding the position of director, supervisor, or senior management of other securities issuers in any other institution.

Since Qin Benjun is currently still the chairman and general manager of Rhine Biotech, the Financial Services Association reporter will continue to pay attention to the final penalty results and possible changes in the company's directors and supervisors.

This penalty is not good news for RheinBio, whose net profit showed a “decline” last year.

Rhine Biotech is an enterprise engaged in natural health products and is involved in the field of extracting plant functional ingredients. Its main products include natural sweeteners, industrial hemp extract, and tea extract.

Looking at the 2023 annual results forecast previously released by the company, the company's performance last year was also unsatisfactory. During the reporting period, operating income is expected to increase by more than 5% year on year, but net profit due to mother is expected to be 71.4982 million yuan to 107.2 million yuan, down 40% to 60% year on year; net profit after deducting non-net profit is 22.361 million yuan to 7266,900 yuan, down 75%-85% year on year.

The company attributed the decline in net profit to a sharp year-on-year decline in gross margin due to falling prices for some products, etc. At the same time, some inventory depreciation and depreciation costs for industrial hemp projects increased significantly compared to the previous year. However, with the end of inventory removal in the industry and the gradual recovery of customer demand, the company's revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 increased by more than 40% year-on-year, and gross margin clearly rebounded from the average gross margin of the previous three quarters.