Trading in KVB Kunlun shares halted in relation to resignation of exec director

Hong Kong-focused retail Forex broker KVB Kunlun Financial Group Ltd (HKG:6877) has earlier today announced a halt in trading in its shares.

At the request of KVB Kunlun, trading in its shares has been halted with effect from 9:00 a.m. on July 29, 2019, pending the release of an announcement in relation the resignation of an executive director who is also the chief executive officer and an authorised representative of the company.

About a fortnight ago, KVB Kunlun issued a profit warning for the first half of 2019.

Based on the preliminary review of the latest unaudited consolidated management accounts of the Group for the six months to the end of June 2019, it is expected that the Group would incur a substantial loss for the first six months of 2019 as compared to the net profit for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

The Board attributed the loss to the following factors:

• a reduction in leveraged foreign exchange and other trading income earned from external customers due to reduced volatility which led to decrease in trading volume of the Group’s customers in the Relevant Period;
• regulatory authorities in different countries, including Australia and Hong Kong, tightened the regulations on leveraged foreign exchange trading which led to investors’ re-consideration on their investment portfolio; and
• the global economy has entered a synchronized slowdown during the Relevant Period which affect investors’ attitude towards investment in leveraged foreign exchange and commodity products.

Let’s recall that the brokerage has issued a similar warning for the first quarter of 2019. Back then, the brokerage also blamed the gloomy forecast on a reduction in leveraged foreign exchange and other trading income earned from external customers due to reduced volatility.