WILL Hong Kong's investment community ever accept or, for that matter, understand Semi-Tech (Global) Co, the investment and corporate restructuring boutique overseen by unassuming chairman James Ting.
Despite a growing track record of successful turnarounds, analyst coverage of Semi-Tech remains hit and miss, with responsibility either shifted on a regular basis or dropped from research files.
Semi-Tech's stock has done little to excite investors, hovering between $13.60 and $17.40 during the past seven months after hitting a high of $20.50 in July last year when the company sold its 51 per cent stake of Singer for US$847.9 million to Toronto-based parent International Semi-Tech Microelectronics.
Semi-Tech's fundamental problem is that it is an unusual investment vehicle, distinctly different from any other publicly listed company in Hong Kong.
The company's business is to identify weak or money-losing businesses, implement restructuring programmes and, after turning them around, sell their position for profit which is paid out to shareholders.
This can be a risky business because there is no guarantee that management's best efforts will be rewarded.
As a result, the stock holds little interest for institutional investors who are more risk averse and prefer companies with future earnings more visible than Semi-Tech's.