The Insider | Directors' buying of shares in Hong Kong flat for third consecutive week

Buying was flat for the third consecutive week while selling among directors rose based on exchange filings last week.

Forty-five companies recorded 229 purchases worth HK$472 million versus 16 firms with 54 disposals worth HK$173 million.

The number of companies and trades on the buying side were consistent with the previous week's three-day totals of 42 firms and 186 purchases. The buy value, however, was sharply up from the previous week's HK$246 million.

On the selling side, the number of companies and trades were sharply up from the previous week's 10 firms and 23 disposals with value down to HK$215 million.

There were several significant insider trades last week with rare purchases in Bank of East Asia and Beijing Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine. Meanwhile, there were bearish signals in Comba Telecom Systems and Glory Flame Holdings, with directors unloading shares following sharp falls in their prices.

Vice-chairman and non-executive director Arthur Li Kwok-cheung recorded his first on-market trade in blue-chip banking and financial services provider Bank of East Asia since his appointment in January 2008, with 109,000 shares bought on September 29 at HK$25.06 each. The trade increased his holdings to 37.177 million shares or 1.41 per cent of the issued capital.

The acquisition was made on the back of a 30 per cent drop in the share price since May from HK$35.65. The stock closed at HK$28.15 on Friday.