The Insider | Buyback activity surges to HK$866m in last week of June

Buyers outnumbered sellers in every trading category last week with 47 companies that recorded 206 director purchases worth HK$217 million versus 15 firms with 71 disposals worth HK$107 million based on filings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the last week of June.

Meanwhile, the buyback activity surged with 28 companies that posted a whopping 173 repurchases worth HK$866 million based on filings from June 23 to 29. The figures were sharply up from the previous 5-day totals of 21 firms, 111 trades and HK$509 million.

The top buyer among directors last week in terms of value was Yang Jiye, chairman of iron ore concentrates producer China Hanking Holdings, with buys worth HK$34.4 million from June 21 to 28 at an average of HK$1.18 each. The trades increased his holdings to 679.473 million shares or 37.13 per cent of the issued capital. He previously acquired 2.9 million shares from April 28 to May 4 at an average of HK$1.27 each and 23 million shares from October to November 2016 at HK$0.974 each. The stock closed at HK$1.20 on Friday.

There are four significant points on Yang’s recent purchases:

● The purchases from June 21 to 28 accounted for 68 per cent of the stock’s trading volume

● The chairman resumed buying in June after the stock fell by 23 per cent from HK$1.54 in the second half of May