The Insider | Buying by directors plunges, reversing the buying trend of previous three weeks

The buying by directors plunged after rising for three straight weeks with 30 companies that recorded 103 purchases worth HK$108 million based on filings on the Exchange from April 18 to 22. The figures were sharply down from the previous week’s 40 firms, 178 purchases and HK$257 million. The selling, on the other hand, rose for the first time in the past three weeks with 11 companies that recorded 45 disposals worth HK$4.27 billion. The number of firms was unchanged but the number of trades and value were sharply up from the previous week’s 20 disposals worth HK$54 million.

The bulk of the disposals last week were made following the sharp rebound in share prices this year with sales in Tencent Holdings, Feiyu Technology, China Merchants Holdings and Guotai Junan International.

Chairman & CEO Pony Ma Huateng recorded his first trades in internet business giant Tencent Holdings this year with 25.94 million shares sold from April 12 to 15 at HK$159.82 to HK$167.00 each. or an average of HK$162.94 each. The trades, which accounted for 32 per cent of the stock’s trading volume, reduced his holdings to 829.508 million shares or 882 per cent of the issued capital. The disposals were made on the back of the 25 per cent rebound in the share price since February from HK$133.30. He previously sold 68.9 million shares from April to December 2015 at an average of HK$149.39 each and 57 million shares from July 2005 to December 2014 at HK$6.20 to HK$130.30 each or an average of HK$70.85 each. Also negative this year is Tencent Executive Director Martin Lau Chi Ping with 1.4 million shares sold from March 23 to 30 at an average of HK$158.71 each. The trades reduced his stake to 45.618 million shares or 0.48 per cent. He previously sold 4.5 million shares from March to November 2015 at an average of HK$148 each and 7.52 million shares from September 2007 to August 2014 at an average of HK$136.73 each. The sales by these two

executives this year are not unusual as directors of Tencent have yet to record a purchase since listing. Overall, six directors have sold 208.5 million shares worth nearly HK$23 billion since 2005 with insider sales recorded in every year during that 12-year period. The blue chip closed at HK$162.80 on Friday.

CTO Sun Zhiyan recorded the first trades by a director in video-game developer and mobile games operator Feiyu Technology since the stock was listed in December 2014 with 1.6 million shares sold from April 12 to 14 at an average of HK$2.32 each. The trades, which accounted for 42 per cent of the stock’s trading volume, reduced his holdings to 127.892 million shares or 8.15 per cent of the issued capital. The sales were made on the back of the 37 per cent rebound in the share price since January from HK$1.69. Despite the rebound in the share price, the counter is still down since May 2015 from HK$4.16. The Director’s sale price was within the IPO prices of HK$1.85 to HK$2.55. Sentiment is not entirely negative this year as the company bought back 8.6 million shares from January 4 to February 19 at an average of HK$1.83 each. The Group previously acquired 12.7 million shares from August to December 2015 at HK$2.08 to HK$1.65 each or an average of HK$1.87 each. The stock closed at HK$2.19 on Friday.