Pacific Textiles buys back stock; Longrun Tea chair ups stake in firm

Buying by listed companies' directors fell for the second straight week while selling was flat, according to stock exchange filings last week. Some 20 companies recorded a combined 119 purchases worth HK$282 million. Some 10 firms declared a combined 39 disposals worth HK$39.7 million. The number of companies and trades on the buying side dropped from the previous week's 39 firms and 210 purchases, but their value increased from the previous week's HK$246 million. Sales were not far off from the previous week with 11 companies making 46 disposals worth HK$38 million.

Aside from directors, buy-back activity fell for the second consecutive week with 11 companies reporting 41 repurchases worth HK$98.4 million. The figures were down from the previous week's 14 firms making 56 purchases worth HK$188 million.

The bulk of the purchases last week were in stocks that recorded price falls with a buy-back by Pacific Textiles Holdings and insider buys in Longrun Tea Group and China Minsheng Banking.

Knitted fabrics manufacturer Pacific Textiles recorded its first buy-back since October 2012 with 110,000 shares bought on July 26 at HK$9.17 each. The trade was made after a 10 per cent drop in its May share price level of HK$10.22. The buy-back happened at a sharply higher share price than its one and only previous one, when it bought 604,000 shares in October 2012 at an average price of HK$5.08 each. The stock listed in May 2007.

The firm's chairman, Wan Wai-loi, bought 273,000 shares from June 25 to 27 at an average price of HK$8.60, increasing his holdings to 117.831 million shares, or 8.16 per cent of the issued capital. He acquired 666,000 shares from June September of 2012 at an average price of HK$4.85 and 768,000 shares in September 2011 at an average price of HK$4.30.

The chairman of tea and food products distributor Longrun Tea, Chiu Ka-leung, recorded his first trade in the company since December 2010 with purchases of 1.59 million shares from July 10 to 24 at an average price of 30.1 HK cents. The trades, which accounted for 37 per cent of the stock's trading volume, increased his holdings to 765.455 million shares, or 52.8 per cent of the firm. The moves came after the 34 per cent drop in the share price from its July 2012 level of 45.5 HK cents.

The share price in January 2011 was 69 HK cents. In previous trades, the chairman acquired 22 million shares, in the September-to-December period of 2010, at an average price of 72.2 HK cents.