CVTE Electronics Makes Third Attempt at HKEX Listing: Overtime Culture Under Scrutiny Amid Lingering Controversy Over Employee's Sudden Death

Reporter Qu Hui, Guangzhou Bureau, Sing Tao Daily

Recently, Guangzhou CVTE Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CVTE") updated its Hong Kong IPO prospectus, making its third bid for a main board listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and GF Securities serving as joint sponsors.

After 21 years of development, Seetron Electronics has become the global leader in LCD display main control boards. The company now plans to raise funds through a Hong Kong listing to bolster R&D and expand globally. However, its prospectus also highlights challenges such as rising revenues without corresponding profit growth, margin pressure, and high inventory levels.

Sing Tao Daily has noted thatOn the day after Seetron Electronics filed its prospectus (July 8), the court formally began hearing the lawsuit filed by the family of Gao Guanghui, an employee who died suddenly.

Employee’s sudden death sparks scrutiny of corporate culture

On Saturday, November 29, 2025, Gao Guanghui (32 years old), manager of the Software Division II at Guangzhou Shikun Electronics—a wholly owned subsidiary of Seetron—died suddenly while working overtime at home. Subsequently, Gao’s family and local human resources and social security authorities gathered evidence pointing directly to Seetron’s pervasive and boundary-less excessive overtime practices.

Moreover, Gao Guanghui’s sudden death crystallized multiple societal concerns—including workplace overwork, corporate indifference, and difficulties faced by employees in seeking redress—triggering widespread public empathy over the plight of 'ordinary workers' and drawing significant social attention.

The Standard also learned from Seetron employees that the company has long maintained a culture of extensive overtime, with high work intensity and a persistently imbalanced ratio between base salary and performance-based pay. Gao Guanghui’s death has further fueled intense online debate about Seetron’s work culture and employment practices.

According to the prospectus, as of the end of March this year, Seetron employed 6,671 full-time staff, of whom 55.8% were in technical roles.

Seetron stated in its prospectus,The company places great emphasis on employees’ occupational health and safety, continuously improving its safety management system and enhancing safety management capabilities to create a safe working environment. The company lawfully enrolls employees in work injury insurance and additionally purchases commercial insurance such as employer liability insurance and public liability insurance to safeguard employees’ occupational health and personal safety.

The Standard also sent a letter to Seetron regarding its fundraising target, R&D focus, overseas expansion strategy, and employment practices, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Started with LCD main control boards, now with a market cap of RMB 32.1 billion

CVTE was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Guangzhou. It initially specialized in developing main control boards for LCD displays used in TVs, monitors, and similar devices. Later, it launched its own smart terminal brands, Seewo and MAXHUB, and in recent years has further expanded into white goods controllers.

CVTE was originally established by Wu Caiping, Zhou Kaiqi, Chen Liwei, Yu Wei, and Ren Rui, each contributing 20% of the initial capital. Throughout its growth, the company underwent multiple rounds of capital increases and financing, and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in January 2017.

As of July 23, CVTE’s A-share closed at RMB 45.90 per share, giving it a total market capitalization of RMB 32.09 billion.

To date, six early shareholders—Huang Zhengcong, Wang Yiran, Sun Yonghui, Yu Wei, Zhou Kaiqi, and You Tianyuan—have formed a concert party that collectively controls approximately 47% of CVTE’s voting rights. This concert party agreement remains valid until January 2028.

Among them, the largest shareholder is former chairman Huang Zhengcong, who stepped down from day-to-day management after his term as chairman expired in December 2017 and now serves only as a non-executive director involved in corporate decision-making.

Currently, CVTE is led by 43-year-old Wang Yang. A 2005 graduate of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Wang Yang is a homegrown successor cultivated by CVTE. He joined the company at age 24 as a software engineer for TV motherboards and steadily rose through the ranks to become its current leader, serving as Executive Director and Chairman.

Revenue growth without profit growth; inventory surges

With over two decades of deep expertise in the LCD display sector, CVTE has long been a global leader among suppliers of display main control boards.

According to Frost & Sullivan data,In 2025, CVTE held a 24.4% shipment share in the global LCD display main control board market, with nine of the world’s top ten television brands as its customers.

Seewo, an interactive education display terminal brand that began expanding in 2009, has now become the industry leader. In 2025, Seewo ranked first globally in the interactive education display terminal market with a 17.0% share, and held an even higher 50% market share in China.

Additionally, CVTE launched its MAXHUB meeting display terminal brand in 2017. By 2025 revenue, MAXHUB ranked first in China's interactive smart meeting display market (with a 25% share) and second globally (with an 8.7% share).

Financially, CVTE has maintained steady revenue growth, but its gross margin and profits have shown a declining trend with fluctuations.

CVTE’s revenue was RMB 20.173 billion in 2023, RMB 22.401 billion in 2024, and RMB 24.354 billion in 2025, reaching RMB 6.203 billion in the first quarter of 2026.

CVTE’s overall gross margin declined from 24.5% in 2023 to 19.6% in 2025. Although it slightly rebounded to 20.3% in Q1 2026, the overall downward trend remains evident.

Its net profit was RMB 14.00 billion in 2023, RMB 10.36 billion in 2024, and RMB 11.46 billion in 2025; net profit for Q1 2026 stood at RMB 2.53 billion.

Moreover, due to sharp increases in the prices of upstream raw materials such as memory chips, CVTE significantly increased its inventory purchases, causing inventory pressure to rise rapidly. Inventory balance rose from RMB 2.238 billion at the end of 2023 to RMB 6.497 billion by the end of Q1 2026, and inventory turnover days lengthened from 53 to 104 days.

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Editor: Mei Yi Wu

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