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Why CK Asset’s share buy-backs do not guarantee Li Ka-shing’s property flagship a smooth ride ahead

  • CK Asset fell 11 per cent this week, as investors remain jittery over the company’s exposure to the UK amid a drop in the value of the pound
  • CK Asset has conducted 28 buy-backs since August, with total for the year amounting to 35.4 million shares, exchange filings show

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A CK Asset Holdings sign is seen at a construction site in Hong Kong. The company’s stock has taken a beating recently. Photo: Bloomberg
Zhang Shidongin ShanghaiandPearl Liuin Hong Kong
CK Asset Holdings, the flagship property developer of tycoon Li Ka-shing, will probably face more volatility ahead despite spending at least HK$1 billion (US$127 million) on stock buy-backs this year.
Investors have been offloading shares in the company, sending them 11 per cent lower this week and making it among the worst-performing constituents on the Hang Seng Index. With the group deriving 26 per cent of its revenues from the UK, a slump in the British pound is clouding its earnings outlook.

The tumult came even as CK Asset spent about HK$448.6 million on three repurchases this week, according to exchange filings. That brings to 28 the tally of buy-backs the company has conducted so far in 2022, amounting to 35.4 million shares or roughly 1 per cent of its outstanding shares.

The biggest repurchase of the year took place on Monday, when CK Assets bought back 4.37 million of its shares. That coincided with the day when the pound slid to its all-time low against the US dollar.

The British pound fell to an all-time low on Monday. Photo: Reuters
The British pound fell to an all-time low on Monday. Photo: Reuters

“The British pound will be the key that holds sway over CK Asset’s stock performance and investors are still gauging whether the slump of the pound will be a long-running issue or a short-lived one,” said Wang Chen, a partner at Xufunds Investment Management.

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