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Opinion
Robert Halili
Robert Halili

Directors make rare buys as share purchases hit a high

Insider sales are also high for the fourth straight week, with 13 companies reporting 90 disposals

Buying of their own company shares by directors was high for the first time in the past six weeks, with 22 companies reporting 122 purchases worth HK$87 million based on filings made to the stock exchange for the last week of November.

The figures were up from the previous week's 21 companies that reported 85 purchases worth HK$34.2 million.

Insider sales were high for the fourth straight week, with 13 companies reporting 90 disposals worth HK$56.2 million. The number of companies and trades were up from the previous week's 11 companies and 76 disposals, but the value was sharply down from the previous week's sales worth HK$99.5 million.

There were rare buys by directors of Arts Optical International, Lifestyle International, and High Fashion International following the fall in their share prices; but the chairman of Pearl River Tyre acquired more shares despite the sharp increase in the company's share price. The buys were made ahead of the companies' year-end results in the first quarter of 2013.

Executive director Ng Kim Ying recorded his first purchase in optical products manufacturer Arts Optical since 2008, with five million shares bought on November 22 at HK$2.14 each. The trade increased his holdings by 30 per cent to 21.65 million shares, or 5.64 per cent of the issued capital.

The acquisition was made after the stock fell by 14 per cent from HK$2.40 on October 11. The stock is also sharply down since his previous trade, the sale of three million shares in July 2010 at HK$3.91 each.

Another shareholder who has bought shares this year is David Webb, with a purchase-related filing on March 12 of five million shares at HK$2.30 each, which boosted his stake to 30.766 million shares or 8.02 per cent. He previously reported a purchase-related filing in December 2006 of 110,000 shares at HK$2.41 each.

The stock closed at HK$2.14 on Friday.

Managing director Thomas Lau Luen-hung recorded his first on-market trade since September 2011 in department store operator Lifestyle International, with 2.565 million shares purchased on November 28 at HK$16.40 each. The trade increased his holdings to 1.222 billion shares or 73.47 per cent.

The acquisition was made on the back of a 12 per cent drop in the share price since July from HK$18.60. The counter is also sharply down since March from HK$21.25.

Investors should note that the company bought back 8.7 million shares from May 23 to August 14 at an average of HK$16.22 each. It previously acquired 61.1 million shares from September 2008 to December 2011 at HK$3.96 to HK$19.98 each or an average of HK$9.27 each.

The stock closed at HK$16.46 on Friday.

Chairman and managing director Lam Foo-wah recorded his first on-market trades since September 2011 in garment manufacturer High Fashion International, with 486,000 shares purchased from November 9 to 23 at an average of HK$2.70 each.

The trades, which accounted for 93 per cent of the stock's trading volume, increased his holdings to 147.112 million shares or 49.5 per cent. The acquisitions were made after a 10 per cent drop in the share price since April from HK$2.99.

Lam previously acquired 2.9 million shares in September 2011 at HK$3.25 each, 4.2 million shares from April to June 2007 at an average of HK$2.96 each, and 6.6 million shares from April to May 2006 at an average of HK$1.60 each.

The stock closed at HK$2.70 on Friday.

Chairman Goh Nan-kioh returned to car tyre maker Pearl River Tyre after buying in May, with 216,000 shares purchased from November 23 to 27 at an average of HK$3.54 each. The deals accounted for 67 per cent of the stock's trading volume and increased his holdings to 37.67 per cent.

The stock closed at HK$3.50 on Friday.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Directors make rare buys as share purchases hit a high
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