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Carrie Lee

CHINA concept stock Pacific Concord Holding may continue its share repurchase programme after its recent run of buy-backs, according to chairman Wong Sai-chung.

  The company bought back 1.5 million ordinary shares at $3.25 each on Wednesday, accounting for 67.87 per cent of the stock's total volume of 2.21 million shares traded on the day.

  That was after its repurchase of 10.51 million shares last month, which represented 24.08 per cent of the counter's February trading volume.

  The buy-back exercise has raised concerns among analysts, but Mr Wong said yesterday the move was simply to take advantage of the low share price.

  Pacific Concord's price rose 7.5 cents to $3.35 on a volume of 1.32 million shares yesterday, a price which analysts say is reasonable.

  ''The share buy-back exercise indicates the company board's confidence in itself,'' said one analyst.

  But another said: ''When a stock's liquidity is low, buyers should be cautious. It can be difficult to offload the shares later.''   The company has interests in property, telecommunications and retail operations, with analysts most bullish on its property business.

  It holds development projects in major cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenyang, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Zhuhai.

   Most of them are commercial complexes with shopping space and offices.

  Mr Wong expected the developments in Beijing and Shanghai to be the most lucrative.

  It expects to sell three million sq ft of mainland property a year from next year, with a plan to sell two million sq ft this year.

  ''It is better to let than to sell as demand is ever rising. On offices, for instance, mainlanders didn't use to have them, but now everybody needs an office,'' Mr Wong said.

  ''Different from many other companies, we focus on shopping areas at good locations,'' he added.

  He expects to let four million sq ft of shopping area in China at 80 yuan (about HK$70) a square foot in 1997.

  In Thailand, the company aims to sell one million sq ft of a 15 million sq ft development this year.

  As a retailer, the group plans to open department stores in Beijing and Shanghai in June to add to its existing seven stores in other cities.

  It also intends to open two supermarkets this month to spearhead the set-up of eight more this year.

  The company also sells watches at 1,200 outlets and cosmetics at 400 stores in China.

  It makes watches worth $350 million and cosmetics worth $120 million every year.

  On its telecommunications business, Mr Wong said the company would benefit from the potential in China.

  ''In Hong Kong, 60 per cent of the people have a pager. In China, it is less than 0.5 per cent. The potential is great,'' he said.

  He predicts the country would need US$30 billion worth of telecommunications products by 2000.



Pacific Concord may continue to buy back shares