SHOUGUANG, China, Dec. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gulf Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: GURE) ("Gulf Resources", “we,” or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of bromine, crude salt and specialty chemical products in China announced that the Company has entered into a stock repurchase agreement dated as of November 30, 2022, in which the Company agrees to purchase 80,000 shares from each of CEO Xiaobin Liu, COO Naihui Miao, and CFO Min Li in a privately negotiated transaction based on the closing price of the stock of $3.5931 per share on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.The closing of the repurchase transactions is expected to occur in December 2022 and subject to customary closing conditions.

Over the past year, the Company has received communications from many investors who have been concerned about the potential overhang on the market from insider selling. This insider selling has been caused primarily by the fact that management returned more than 11 years of portion of their cash compensation earned for their services with the Company, agreed to work for nominal or no cash compensation, and needed money for living expenses.

In 2021, the Company management had expected the Company’s stock price to improve, but COVID-19 circumstances and supply chain disruptions have caused the delay in opening some facilities of the Company, while political tension between the U.S. and China may have caused U.S. listed Chinese stocks to underperform. Despite the strong and above guidance earnings in the first nine months of 2022, Gulf’s shares have not performed as well as the Company expected.

The Company concluded that the threat of insider sales may had also contributed to the underperformance of the stock price. But while the Company is unable to get money out of China to buy back stock in the U.S., the Company could try to remove some of the potential overhang by buying some stock from management in China.

The Company met with management and suggested that buying a block of stock from each of the three senior leaders may relieve some of the potential overhang. Accordingly, each of the three senior executives agreed to sell 80,000 shares of stock at this time to the Company. The retirement of these shares may also positively impact earnings and help to limited reduce some of the pressure from market.

The Company remains optimistic about its future. However, the Company wants to show investors that it is willing to respond to their concerns. While the Company wishes it was able to take money out of China, it believes this transaction may demonstrate that the Company may try its best to respond to the investors.

About Gulf Resources, Inc.

Gulf Resources, Inc. operates through four wholly-owned subsidiaries, Shouguang City Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited ("SCHC"), ShouguangYuxin Chemical Industry Co., Limited ("SYCI"), Daying County Haoyuan Chemical Company Limited (“DCHC”) and Shouguang Hengde Salt Industry Co. Ltd. (“SHSI”). The Company believes that it is one of the largest producers of bromine in China. Elemental Bromine is used to manufacture a wide variety of compounds utilized in industry and agriculture. Through SYCI, the Company manufactures chemical products utilized in a variety of applications, including oil and gas field explorations and papermaking chemical agents, and materials for human and animal antibiotics. Through SHSI, the Company manufactures and sell crude salt. DCHC was established to further explore and develop natural gas and brine resources (including bromine and crude salt) in China. For more information, visit www.gulfresourcesinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release contain forward-looking information about Gulf Resources and its subsidiaries business and products within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. The actual results may differ materially depending on a number of risk factors including, but not limited to, the general economic and business conditions in the PRC, the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, future product development and production capabilities, shipments to end customers, market acceptance of new and existing products, additional competition from existing and new competitors for bromine and other oilfield and power production chemicals, changes in technology, the ability to make future bromine asset purchases, and various other factors beyond its control. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Cautionary Statement and the risks factors detailed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gulf Resources undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.