The InsiderShare buy-backs dominate market in 2015

It was a very active year for buybacks in the Hong Kong market with 143 companies that posted 2,211 filings worth HK$23.534 billion in 2015. The figures are up from the previous year’s 124 firms, 1,865 filings and HK$15.293 billion in 2014.

The most significant statistic is the value as the turnover last year is the highest yearly total since 1992, easily surpassing the previous high of HK$17.49 billion during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.

The huge value last year was mainly due to three firms, namely Evergrande Real Estate Group, Want Want China Holdings and Huishan Dairy, with buybacks worth a combined HK$14.56 billion. The buybacks by these three firms accounted for 62 per cent of the total turnover last year.

Investors should note that the buyback totals last year are higher than the yearly averages of 124 firms, 2,085 filings and HK$9.96 billion from 2008 to 2014 and significantly more than the yearly averages of 90 companies, 1,433 filings and HK$4.79 billion from 1992 to 2014.

Breaking down the buyback activity in 2015, the most active period was the third quarter with 107 companies that posted 893 filings worth HK$12.532 billion. The number of filings and value accounted for 40 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively, of the totals last year.

The most active month in terms of number of companies and value was in July with 65 firms that posted HK$8.2 billion worth of repurchases. In terms of number of filings, the most active month was September with 421 filings.

In terms of performance, gainers and losers were split with 67 companies that saw their stock ending higher than their average buyback prices in 2015 versus 66 firms with price falls. The gainers posted an average price increase of 22 per cent at the end of 2015 while the losers posted an average drop of 18 per cent.