(Yicai Global) Jan. 26 -- Shares in Ofilm Group edged into positive territory today, ending a four-day slump that had wiped 20 percent of its stock price, on the news that the Chinese electronic component maker is planning to divest four subsidiaries, probably as a result of being struck off from US tech giant Apple’s supply chain last year.

Ofilm’s stock price [SHE:002456] closed up 1.08 percent today at CNY11.24 (USD1.74), with a market capitalization of CNY32 billion (USD5 billion).

The four units include Guangzhou Delta Imaging Technology, one of the firm’s biggest earners, the Nanchang, southeastern Jiangxi province-based company said yesterday. It denied that one of the buyers was Apple supplier Luxshare Precision Industry and gave no reasons for the sale.

Last September, there were reports in the foreign media that California-based Apple had removed Ofilm from its supply chain. Ofilm refuted the reports at the time, but it is likely that the company, which used to supply Apple with touch products and camera modules, has no orders for this year.

The four units accounted for almost a quarter of Ofilm’s revenue of CNY52 billion (USD8 billion) in 2019, according to its annual report. If the subsidiaries are sold, it will greatly hamper the firm’s money generating ability. Delta Imaging, part of Ofilm’s compact camera module business unit, contributed a third of Ofilm’s profit in the first half of last year.

Last July, the US Department of Commerce put 11 Chinese companies, including Nanchang O-Film Tech, in which Ofilm owns 49 percent, on its list of entities subject to export controls, imposing new restrictions on their access to US-made goods and technologies.

Editor: Kim Taylor