Professor steps down, alumni take over, Huadian Everbright races toward Beijing Stock Exchange: 2024 revenue and net profit both decline, and by the end of Q3 2025, the funding gap exceeds 120 million yuan

Ask AI · Why did Professor Dong Changqing choose to transfer control in 2019?

Reporter: Chen Qing Editor: Huang Bowen

Beijing Huadian Guangda Environmental Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Huadian Guangda”), a producer of new catalytic materials, is sprinting towards its IPO (Initial Public Offering) on the Beijing Stock Exchange.

The company is closely related to North China Electric Power University: its office is located in the main building of the university, and the former actual controller, Dong Changqing, is a professor at the school. However, in 2019, Dong Changqing quietly exited, and alumnus Jia Wentao took over as the actual controller.

After taking over, Jia Wentao did not experience a smooth development trajectory. The company’s operations were unstable, and in 2021, it suffered a loss (after correcting accounting errors), only returning to profitability in 2022, and again facing a situation of declining revenue and net profit in 2024.

In addition to performance pressures, the pressure to collect payments is also significant. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, the funding gap between Huadian Guangda’s short-term loans and cash has exceeded 120 million yuan, and liquidity pressure continues to rise.

Recently, the Beijing Stock Exchange sent an inquiry letter to Huadian Guangda regarding the stability of control, the authenticity of performance, and sustainability issues.

Professor “gives way” to alumnus

The public transfer prospectus disclosed by Huadian Guangda in 2017 shows that Professor Dong Changqing of North China Electric Power University and his wife Zhang Junjiao are the actual controllers of the company. Public resumes indicate that Dong Changqing is a leading talent in the national “Ten Thousand Talents Program” for technology entrepreneurship, and his deep academic background has given the company a strong “research gold edge.” At that time, Dong Changqing and Zhang Junjiao indirectly controlled more than 55% of Huadian Guangda’s shares through holding Huadian New Energy and Zhongji Xinyou.

A turning point occurred in April 2019. At that time, Dong Changqing transferred 33.07% of his shares in Huadian New Energy to Jia Wentao, who was then the company’s general manager, and entrusted the voting rights of the remaining 21.68% of shares to Jia Wentao. Thus, Jia Wentao, a graduate of North China Electric Power University, became the actual controller of Huadian Guangda. Even after the termination of the voting rights entrustment agreement between the two parties in August 2020, Jia Wentao still firmly grasped the decision-making rights of the company’s shareholders’ meeting through Huadian New Energy and its concerted parties Zhongji Puhui.

As of now, Huadian New Energy directly holds 35% of Huadian Guangda’s shares, making it the controlling shareholder of Huadian Guangda. Jia Wentao holds 51.46% of Huadian New Energy’s shares and controls 68.42% of the voting rights of the company through Huadian New Energy and its concerted parties; Dong Changqing holds 16.31% of Huadian New Energy’s shares; the asset management company wholly owned by North China Electric Power University holds 20.00% of Huadian New Energy’s shares.

This shareholding structure and the process of change have drawn significant attention from regulatory authorities. The Beijing Stock Exchange pointed out in its inquiry letter: Is Dong Changqing’s transfer of control genuine? Does Jia Wentao have independent control over the company? Is there a situation of avoiding regulatory requirements through the identification of actual controllers?

From a performance perspective, the transition of control has not been smooth. Data shows that before Jia Wentao became the actual controller, from 2015 to 2018, the company’s revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company continued to grow; however, after Jia Wentao took over in 2019, the company’s net profit declined for three consecutive years, and in 2021, it even suffered a loss. After turning a profit in 2022, the company again faced a decline in both revenue and net profit in 2024.

Of greater concern is that actual controller Jia Wentao carries significant “betting pressure.” In November 2023, Jia Wentao and board member and manager Shen Dun signed a “betting agreement” with the investor Kaiyuan Chuying, which included repurchase clauses. Although these special investment clauses, including the “repurchase right,” automatically become invalid after the company submits its listing application to the Beijing Stock Exchange, if the company terminates or abandons its listing plan, the relevant clauses will automatically restore their validity. Furthermore, as agreed, if Huadian Guangda fails to achieve a qualified IPO in China by December 31, 2027, Jia Wentao is obligated to repurchase the shares held by Kaiyuan Chuying.

Core product prices have dropped more than 10% over two years

Huadian Guangda’s main business is the research, production, and sale of catalytic materials for air pollution control, such as SCR denitrification catalysts and CO oxidation catalysts. The company’s denitrification catalyst products include plate-type SCR denitrification catalysts and honeycomb-type SCR denitrification catalysts. During the reporting period (2022, 2023, 2024, and the first three quarters of 2025), the revenue proportion of plate-type catalysts decreased from 94.27% in 2022 to 71.94% in the first three quarters of 2025, yet it remains the absolute revenue pillar of the company.

Currently, the benefits of ultra-low emission retrofit in the power industry are diminishing. Data from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment shows that over 95% of coal-fired power units nationwide have completed ultra-low emission retrofits, and the market for thermal power denitrification has shifted from “incremental construction” to “replacement of existing stock,” leading to intensified industry competition.

Against this backdrop, Huadian Guangda’s core product, plate-type catalysts, is facing double pressure: on one hand, the average price of the product has dropped from 10,600 yuan per cubic meter in 2022 to 9,200 yuan per cubic meter in 2024, a decline of over 10%, followed by a slight rebound in the first three quarters of 2025; on the other hand, the capacity utilization rate of the product has also fallen from 85.56% in 2022 to 78.62% in 2024, and further down to 71.20% in the first three quarters of 2025.

Performance differentiation further highlights the difficulties: in 2024, Huadian Guangda’s catalyst revenue decreased by 13.77% year-on-year, while the average year-on-year growth rate of related product revenue from comparable companies in the same industry was 27.29%. In response, the company explained that the products of peer companies are mostly honeycomb-type SCR denitrification catalysts, while the main product of the company is plate-type SCR denitrification catalysts.

To break through the growth bottleneck, Huadian Guangda began the research and trial production of honeycomb-type SCR denitrification catalysts in 2020; at the same time, the CO oxidation catalyst product is expected to officially achieve commercialization in 2025.

According to the company, the net profit attributable to the parent company, following a year-on-year decline of over 30% in 2024, has recovered growth in the first three quarters of 2025, largely thanks to revenue from CO oxidation catalyst products and the honeycomb-type SCR denitrification catalyst business turning profitable.

However, the new business’s scale is still small. In the first three quarters of 2025, the sales revenue of honeycomb-type SCR denitrification catalyst products accounted for only 10.09% of the main operating revenue.

Additionally, CO oxidation catalyst products are also facing scrutiny: the Beijing Stock Exchange requires the company to clarify whether CO oxidation catalysts have “low production thresholds or are mainly sourced from external purchases,” and whether there is a situation of “piling up performance.”

As of the end of the third quarter of last year, the funding gap exceeded 120 million yuan

Most of Huadian Guangda’s customers are large and medium-sized coal-fired power plants, steel mills, biomass power plants, waste incineration plants, and environmental engineering companies serving the aforementioned industries.

Currently, the company is facing challenges in collecting payments. Huadian Guangda’s accounts receivable balance has risen from 114 million yuan at the end of 2022 to 195 million yuan at the end of the third quarter of 2025, with the proportion of accounts receivable to revenue increasing from 42.27% to 71.56%.

Huadian Guangda stated that the main reason is that its customers mainly include state-owned enterprises and other large and medium-sized companies, which have strict internal control processes for payment procedures, requiring a certain period for payment settlement and approval processes.

Even more concerning is that overdue accounts receivable are also increasing year by year, with the proportion of overdue accounts receivable in the total accounts receivable balance rising from 40.86% in 2022 to 58.02% in the first three quarters of 2025.

The difficulty in collecting payments directly impacts the company’s cash flow. During the reporting period, the net cash flow from operating activities was -26.4866 million yuan, 4.0138 million yuan, 10.3944 million yuan, and -37.0398 million yuan, respectively.

Most notably, in the first three quarters of 2025: against the backdrop of a 47.75% year-on-year increase in revenue, the operating cash flow saw a significant outflow of over 37 million yuan.

The tight cash flow is directly reflected in the balance sheet. As of the end of September 2025, the company had only 15.2423 million yuan in cash, while short-term loans amounted to 140 million yuan, resulting in a funding gap exceeding 120 million yuan. The company admitted that if it cannot continue to strengthen accounts receivable management, it will face “operating capital shortage pressure, increasing reliance on external financing.”

Regarding related issues, the “Daily Economic News” reporter called Huadian Guangda on March 18 and sent an interview email. The company responded that it would adhere to the public information such as the prospectus.

Daily Economic News