(Yicai Global) Aug. 22 -- Shares in Gome Retail Holdings plummeted today on the first day of trading after a month's halt after the beleaguered Chinese electronics retail chain said it will buy two shopping complexes and a logistics firm from its owner and founder as part of a new three-year plan to return to its previous success.

Gome’s share price [HKG:0493] plunged 17.5 percent to trade at HKD0.23 (USD0.03) as of 12 noon China time today. Trading was suspended on July 21 for a month.

Gome will take over Eagle Delight Properties Overseas from disgraced business Huang Guangyu through the transfer of shares at a preferential price, Gome said on Aug. 19. Eagle Delight owns Gome Commercial Capital, an eight-storey shopping complex with ancillary facilities in the Zhongguancun Fengtai Science Park Industrial Base in Beijing, and No. 9 Xiangjiang, a six-floor shopping mall in Changsha, central Hunan province.

In addition, Gome will consider buying a controlling stake in Anxun Logistics, also owned by Huang, who was released from a 10-year prison stint for graft and insider trading last year.

Gome hopes to improve its asset quality and profitability by buying into Gome Commercial Capital, No. 9 Xiangjiang and Anxun Logistics, Huang said in an open letter on his Weibo account on Aug. 19. The previous plan to restore Gome’s original market position in 18 months was too ambitious, he added.

Instead, Huang, who was the richest man in China from 2004 and 2006, laid out a new three-year plan. Gome should achieve high profitability in 2023 by returning to its past success, attain its best-ever results in 2024, and do even better in 2025.

Gome, which used to be China’s largest electrical appliance retailer, will create a new profit model and spin off, sell or discontinue loss-making or unrelated businesses after the acquisition, Huang said. The group will rely on its other capital platforms to integrate and reorganize projects and assets spun off from the Beijing-based firm, he added.

But it will be uphill work. Gome racked up losses of CNY4.4 billion (USD644.6 million) last year, on revenue of CNY46.5 billion (USD6.8 billion). There were rumors that it was unable to pay suppliers, laying off staff and withholding wages.

Retailers are under huge pressure amid the slack market this year, a company insider told Yicai Global earlier. The company is in active communication with banks and is pushing sales to get back to normal operations.

Editor: Kim Taylor