Ten thousand people watching without anyone making a move, why did West King Food's 200 million shares fail to sell at auction?

How does AI · Audit institution early warning affect the delisting risk of Xiwang Food?

On March 31, Xiwang Food Holdings’ Xiwang Group’s approximately 200 million shares were auctioned off by judicial auction but ended without bidders.

This auction, split into 43 parts on the auction platform and watched by over 10k people, ended in failure due to no bids.

Before the auction began, a warning from the audit firm Zhongming Cheng pushed “the first stock of corn oil” Xiwang Food to the edge of delisting risk—if Xiwang Food’s internal control audit report for 2025 is issued with a negative opinion, the company’s stock trading will be subject to other risk alerts after the 2025 report is disclosed; if the 2025 audit report is issued with an opinion of unable to express or a negative opinion, the stock trading will be subject to delisting risk alerts after the 2025 report is disclosed.

After the disclosure of the news that Xiwang Food might be ST, the company’s stock price dropped accordingly. On March 30, Xiwang Food’s stock hit the limit down; on March 31, it fell more than 6%; on April 1, it fell more than 7%. Calculations show that over these three trading days, Xiwang Food’s total market value decreased by approximately 755 million yuan. As of the close on April 1, Xiwang Food’s stock price was 2.5 yuan per share, with a total market value of about 10k yuan.

On April 1, staff from Xiwang Food’s securities department told Shell Finance that the subsequent disposal plan for the auctioned shares will be based on official announcements. The company is actively communicating with the audit institution to try to eliminate risks affecting the opinions of the 2025 audit report and internal control report. “The company’s current production and operation are normal, and management and staff are relatively stable.”

Ten thousand people watching the fun, no one bidding

Xiwang Food’s about 200 million shares auctioned

At 10 a.m. on March 30, Xiwang Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Xiwang Group”), which holds 200,065,333 shares of Xiwang Food, representing 99.01% of its holdings and 18.53% of the company’s total share capital, conducted a public auction on JD.com.

Shell Finance noticed that the auction platform split the approximately 200 million shares into 43 parts, with the smallest part being 1.6 million shares, priced at 4.1888 million yuan; the largest part was 5 million shares, priced at 13.09 million yuan, with 34 lots of 5 million shares each.

It is worth noting that if this share auction is completed, Xiwang Group’s holdings of 20,100,48 shares of Xiwang Food, accounting for 0.19% of the company’s total share capital, and its concerted action partner Shandong Yonghua Investment Co., Ltd., holding 14,028,262 shares (1.30%), and Wang Di directly holding 4,104,062 shares (0.38%), will together hold 20,142,372 shares, accounting for 1.87% of the total share capital, which could lead to a change in the company’s controlling shareholder and actual controller.

Xiwang Food shares auctioned.

As of March 13, 2026, the auction situation of Xiwang Group and its concerted action partners’ holdings of Xiwang Food shares (including this auctioned portion).

Relevant announcements show that the shares of Xiwang Food held by Xiwang Group and its concerted action partners have been auctioned before.

The auction announcement mentioned that in August 2019, Xiwang Group pledged its holdings of Xiwang Food shares to obtain a loan of 2.7B yuan from Binzhou Key Enterprise Development Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), with a maturity date of August 30, 2022.

On March 31, the auction results were announced. Despite over 10k viewers, no bids were made. This auction of about 200 million shares of Xiwang Food ended in a no-bid failure on the first attempt.

On April 1, a staff member from Xiwang Food’s securities department told Shell Finance that whether the auctioned shares will continue to be subject to other judicial procedures by the Intermediate People’s Court of Jinan, Shandong Province, remains uncertain. “Please refer to the announcement.”

According to Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, Xiwang Food currently faces multiple risks, and the failure to bid is an inevitable result. He told Shell Finance, “For the acquirer, this is not just buying a ‘shell,’ but taking over a business quagmire. Capital’s cautious stance is entirely reasonable.”

Four consecutive years of losses

Xiwang Food may be ST

The controlling shareholder’s shares are frequently auctioned, and as a listed company, Xiwang Food’s recent days have not been easy.

Xiwang Food was once known as the “Number One Corn Oil Stock” in the A-share market. Financial reports show that the company began nationwide promotion and sales of its corn oil brand in 2010. From its inception, it adopted a three-step strategy: “First, become China’s number one corn oil brand; second, create China’s top high-end edible oil brand; third, shape China’s leading health food brand.”

In 2016, Xiwang Food successfully acquired Kerr Canada, marking its transition from a billion-level small variety oil industry into a trillion-market-scale health industry. In 2018, Nielsen retail research data showed that Xiwang corn germ oil held nearly 30% market share, firmly occupying the top position in the corn germ oil market.

In recent years, Xiwang Food’s performance has been poor. It has experienced continuous losses from 2022 to 2024, with a forecasted loss in 2025. In 2025, Xiwang Food expects a net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company between -1.32 billion and -880 million yuan, and a net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses between -1.3 billion and -880 million yuan.

Xiwang Food stated that the main reasons for the performance change in 2025 are the rising prices of raw materials like whey protein and increasing competitive pressure, which led to underperformance in the sports nutrition segment. According to relevant regulations and prudence principles, the company plans to recognize an impairment loss of about 950 million to 1.5 billion yuan on intangible assets, with the final amount to be determined after an audit by qualified auditing institutions hired by the company.

Recent performance of Xiwang Food.

On March 27, Xiwang Food announced that its 2025 audit firm, Beijing Zhongming Guocheng Certified Public Accountants (Special General Partnership) (“Zhongming Guocheng”), communicated with the company. The audit firm believes that “the company failed to provide sufficient and appropriate audit evidence, which will lead to a non-unqualified audit opinion on the company’s financial statements. The final opinion type of the audit report, based on the audit procedures performed and evidence obtained as of the audit report date, will be determined; and a negative opinion will be issued on the internal control effectiveness of the financial report as of December 31, 2025.”

According to relevant regulations, if Xiwang Food’s internal control audit report for 2025 is issued with a negative opinion, the company’s stock trading will be subject to other risk warnings after the 2025 report is disclosed; if the 2025 audit report is issued with an opinion of unable to express or a negative opinion, the stock trading will be subject to delisting risk warnings after the 2025 report is disclosed.

On the evening of April 1, Xiwang Food issued a notice stating that the audit work for the 2025 annual report is still ongoing. The company is actively cooperating with the auditors and making every effort to eliminate risks that could affect the opinions of the 2025 audit report and internal control report.

Beijing News Shell Finance Reporter Yan Xia, Editor Chen Li, Proofreader Mu Xiangtong