After cashing out at the low end for 9 months, the former general manager of BEYIN LEFEN announced a share buy-in; the current general manager now plans to increase holdings by up to 200 million yuan, and despite declining performance, it has drawn attention from multiple institutions!

Ask AI · Why is Biyin Leifen—whose performance has declined—being favored by institutions even against the trend?

Our reporter: Yan Fengfeng Our editor: Wu Yongjiu

Biyin Leifen’s employee-representative director and former general manager, Shen Jindong, reduced his stake and cashed out nearly 80 million yuan at the beginning of mid-2025 with a relatively low selling price of 16 yuan per share. However, nine months later, he announced that he would increase his holdings with an investment of up to 100 million yuan, while Biyin Leifen’s stock price has now risen to 17.34 yuan.

Shen Jindong’s share-buying plan is not an isolated case. One month ago, the company’s de facto controller’s son, Xie Yong, the current general manager, also launched a share-increase plan with an amount of up to 200 million yuan. Behind the back-to-back purchases by two key figures is the fact that the company’s net profit in the first three quarters of 2025 fell by nearly 20%, and that the company’s stock has noticeably lagged the broader market in this bull market. However, this has not prevented multiple institutions from showing optimism about the company.

Former general manager releases an increase plan again after selling shares at a low level for 9 months

On the evening of March 24, Biyin Leifen released a newsworthy announcement: the company’s employee-representative director and former general manager, Shen Jindong, plans to increase the company’s shares over the next 6 months by means of centralized bidding transactions. The amount of the increase will be no less than 50 million yuan and no more than 100 million yuan.

This news drew attention in the capital market, not only because the purchase amount is large, but also because of Shen Jindong’s special identity—an employee-representative director—and his previous large-scale disposal when the stock price was relatively low.

Publicly available information shows that Shen Jindong was born in 1975 and holds an EMBA degree from Jinan University. He previously served as the deputy chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Garment & Apparel Industry Association. His career is tightly linked to Biyin Leifen: from March 2003 to February 2012, he served as the company’s executive vice general manager. From February 2012 to April 2025, he served as the company’s general manager; he has served as a director since February 2012. He is currently the company’s employee-representative director and Chief Strategy Officer.

During his tenure as general manager, Shen Jindong’s 2024 compensation was 1.1753 million yuan. This figure is in the lower-middle range among general managers of listed companies in Guangdong. According to a compilation by a reporter from The Economic Daily and data provided by Hexun through a Wind-Style platform, the average annual salary of general managers of Guangdong listed companies in 2024 was 1.68 million yuan, and the median compensation was 1.16 million yuan.

However, compensation is only the tip of the iceberg of Shen Jindong’s wealth. What truly places him among “wealthy employee-representative directors” is his equity stake in the company.

According to the announcement, before this share-increase is carried out, Shen Jindong held 14.739 million shares, representing 2.58% of the company’s total share capital. Using the closing price of 17.34 yuan on March 25, the market value of this portion of equity is approximately 256 million yuan.

What is even more noteworthy is Shen Jindong’s actions last year. From June 10 to June 26, 2025, he reduced his holdings by 4.913 million shares through centralized bidding transactions, with the sale price range being 15.4 yuan/share ~ 16.81 yuan/share. Based on the average sale price of 16.06 yuan, the amount of cash generated from this reduction in holdings is approximately 78.90 million yuan.

It is worth noting that Shen Jindong’s average selling price last year was 16.06 yuan (if the company’s dividend payments after the sale are considered, the post-adjustment average selling price with forward adjustment is 15.54 yuan), while Biyin Leifen’s current stock price is around 17.34 yuan—right at a relative high over the past year. This means that after completing his reduction, Shen Jindong may need to buy the company’s shares again at a price higher than his last selling price.

Judging by the company’s stock performance, it has clearly underperformed the broader market. In a bull market context, the company’s stock price also hit a new low of 14.74 yuan on January 29 this year. From that date to now, the cumulative return of the stock has been 16.30%.

One month ago, the company’s current general manager released a large share-increase plan that has attracted attention from multiple institutions

Shen Jindong’s increase plan is not an isolated event. Just one month earlier, the company’s controlling shareholder’s concerted action party and current general manager, Xie Yong (the actual controller Xie Bingzheng’s son), also announced a share-increase plan: it planned to increase its holdings with an amount of no less than 100 million yuan and no more than 200 million yuan during the next 6 months starting from the date of the announcement (February 28).

The announcement shows that Xie Yong had cumulatively increased his holdings by 4.1853 million shares between March 6, 2026 and March 16, and this represented 0.73% of the company’s total share capital.

Although there are two major shareholders increasing their holdings, the company’s net profit in the first three quarters of 2025 still declined. In the first three quarters of 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 3.201 billion yuan, up 6.71% year on year; however, attributable net profit was 620 million yuan, down 18.70% year on year.

For the decline in Biyin Leifen’s net profit in the first three quarters of 2025, a research report from Northeast Securities believes that, besides the overall relatively weak apparel retail market, it is also compounded by the company’s short-term surge in expenses brought about by “youth-oriented transformation” of the main brand, cultivation of new brands, and the development of e-commerce. However, Northeast Securities expects that with the gradual improvement of terminals and the gradual stabilization of expense spending, the company’s operations will return to a trend of steady growth starting in 2026.

Although Biyin Leifen’s third-quarter performance declined, the share-increase plans of the company’s controlling shareholder’s concerted action party clearly gave the market a lot of confidence. This can be seen from the sheer number of institutional research reports. Since the controlling shareholder released its share-increase plan, within less than one month, no fewer than 7 institutions have issued research reports saying they are optimistic about the company.

Publicly available information shows that Biyin Leifen’s core business is the R&D design of high-end apparel, brand operations, marketing network construction, and supply-chain management. It is committed to meeting the clothing needs of elite groups across multiple scenarios and their pursuit of a refined and better life.

Disclaimer: The content and data in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Before using it, please verify. The risk is borne by the party acting on this basis.

The Economic Daily News