(Yicai Global) Dec. 18 -- Listed companies are resorting to extraordinary means to beautify their annual reports for the looming year's end, but Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary's bid to part with a famous painting for CNY200 million (USD29 million) to turn losses into profits is still quite a spectacle for investors.

The company will sell an oil painting it owns, The Fool who Moved the Mountains by the famous painter Xu Beihong, to its affiliated party and former actual controller Hunan Broadcasting System for CNY209 million, the firm said in a Dec. 15 statement.

"This transaction is occurring based on our business development needs. We can recoup the full cost of the artwork and reap a certain investment profit via the sale," Hunan TV & Broadcast explained in the statement.  

The news pushed its share price [SHE:000917] up 2.4 percent yesterday at opening, but then it gradually slipped again, closing up almost one percent at CNY6.3.

Payment will reportedly unfold in two installments, with the first tranche of CNY100 million disbursed within five working days after the agreement takes effect, and the balance within five days after delivery. Settlement will conclude by Dec. 28 once the deal goes through. Sale proceeds will be just enough for the firm to declare a profit and emerge from the red.

Xu (1895-1953) was a legendary modern Chinese painter who integrated Chinese and Western brush techniques. Created in 1940, the painting is 46cm wide and 107.5cm long and is deemed one of his classics. It passed from place to place for its protection during World War II. 

Hunan TV & Broadcast acquired the painting at auction for CNY28 million in 2007. The company lost CNY464 million last year and CNY135 million in the first three quarters, per its financial data. It now faces the specter of compulsory delisting if it is unable to stem its fourth-quarter losses. 

This is not the first time that Hunan TV & Broadcast has sought to sell the painting, however. It went on the block as the centerpiece at Guardian Auction's Spring Sale on June 18 at a starting bid of CNY120 million. The price reached CNY189 million after over 10 bids, but the auctioneer declared the sale void as it failed to reach the seller's floor price.

The painting Cultivation on the Peaceful Land, also by Xu, sold at a public sale for CNY232 million and CNY267 million in 2011, setting a record for Xu's works.

Editor: Ben Armour