Lex專(zhuān)欄：趣店股價(jià)過(guò)山車(chē)

Private companies in China are practised at staying one step ahead of their government. Western investors are less sure-footed. A Chinese crackdown on new online lenders extended the selloff in shares of micro-lender Qudian, which listed in the US last month. The stock closed more than a fifth below its listing price on Tuesday.

中國(guó)的民營(yíng)企業(yè)都深諳始終比政府先行一步的道理。西方的投資者們卻沒(méi)這么有備無(wú)患。中國(guó)一份停止審批新的網(wǎng)絡(luò)貸款公司的通知，令上個(gè)月在美國(guó)上市的小額貸款公司趣店(Qudian)的股票進(jìn)一步暴跌。周二趣店股票收盤(pán)價(jià)較發(fā)行價(jià)下跌了20%多。

The Alibaba-backed credit service announced a $100m buyback programme amounting to less than 2 per cent of the public float on the same day that the news broke. Given it only just sold stock to the US public, and had negative equity of $357m as of June, this is a curious use of the proceeds. The move may, however, help prop up the value of chief executive Min Luo’s billion-dollar stake in the controlling share class.

消息爆出同日，這家阿里巴巴(Alibaba)支持的信貸服務(wù)公司宣布了一項(xiàng)1億美元的回購(gòu)計(jì)劃，該計(jì)劃擬回購(gòu)的股票數(shù)量不及公眾持股量的2%。考慮到趣店才剛剛在美國(guó)公開(kāi)上市，而且截止到今年6月其股東權(quán)益為負(fù)3.57億美元，如此處置上市籌得的資金頗為奇特。不過(guò)，這樣做可能有助于支撐其首席執(zhí)行官羅敏所持有的十億美元控股類(lèi)別股票的價(jià)值。

China has not banned online lending for existing companies. But even if Qudian benefits from reduced competition, its business model is exposed to other regulatory headwinds. The People’s Bank of China on Friday said it would prohibit asset-management products that guarantee investment returns from next summer. The group relies on similar funding channels for its own lending activity. It records service fees for facilitating loans by trusts and banks, but remains liable for principle and interest shortfalls.

中國(guó)并未禁止既有網(wǎng)絡(luò)貸款公司繼續(xù)運(yùn)營(yíng)網(wǎng)貸業(yè)務(wù)。但即使趣店因?yàn)楦?jìng)爭(zhēng)減少而獲益，它的商業(yè)模式仍面臨其它監(jiān)管阻力。中國(guó)人民銀行(PBoC)表示，從明年夏天開(kāi)始，將禁止那些承諾保本保收益的理財(cái)產(chǎn)品。趣店自己的貸款業(yè)務(wù)依靠的正是類(lèi)似的融資渠道。根據(jù)趣店招股書(shū)，一些信托機(jī)構(gòu)和銀行為其助貸并收取費(fèi)用，但如果借款人逾期未能全額償還本金和利息，趣店仍有責(zé)任代為補(bǔ)足。

Qudian’s IPO occurred a day before the congress of China’s Communist party. As expected, scrutiny regarding financial leverage soon intensified. Peer-to-peer lending platforms such as Ping An’s Lufax were already subjected to tougher rules earlier this year. Qudian’s bad loan ratio has also been called into question, after comments by Mr Luo that delinquent debt had been written off as charity payments to borrowers.

趣店在今年的中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨全國(guó)代表大會(huì)召開(kāi)前一天首次公開(kāi)發(fā)行(IPO)。正如預(yù)期的那樣，對(duì)財(cái)務(wù)杠桿的審查很快就收緊了。今年早些時(shí)候，像平安(Ping An)旗下陸金所(Lufax)這樣的個(gè)人對(duì)個(gè)人(P2P)借款平臺(tái)就受到了更嚴(yán)格的管控。趣店的不良貸款率也已引發(fā)質(zhì)疑，此前羅敏表示，過(guò)期不還的款項(xiàng)都一筆勾銷(xiāo)，就當(dāng)福利送給借款人了。

Investors should give the company a wide berth. A better bet is Ping An Insurance, which is refashioning itself as a financial data sponge. After a 120 per cent year-to-date rally it is the world’s second-largest insurer after Berkshire Hathaway. Even if the Chinese fintech frenzy fizzles, Ping An has a strong and legitimate business to fall back on.

投資者應(yīng)該對(duì)這家公司敬而遠(yuǎn)之。平安保險(xiǎn)(Ping An Insurance)是一個(gè)更好的選擇，它正將自身重塑為一個(gè)金融數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)。今年至今，在實(shí)現(xiàn)了120%的反彈后，平安已成為全球僅次于伯克希爾哈撒韋(Berkshire Hathaway)的第二大保險(xiǎn)公司。哪怕要是中國(guó)的金融科技狂潮以失敗告終，平安仍有強(qiáng)大且合法的業(yè)務(wù)可以依靠。