Opinion | Buys down for a third week as bosses hold on to shares
David Li and Dickson Poon raise stakes in their own companies; disposals are flat at HK$23.4 million
The buying fell for a third straight week while selling among directors was flat, based on filings to the exchange from August 6 to 10.
A total of 15 companies recorded 59 purchases worth HK$22.7 million versus four firms with 11 disposals worth HK$23.77 million. The buy figures were down from the previous week's 21 companies, 77 purchases and HK$40 million. On the negative side, the number of trades was sharply down from the previous week's 20 disposals. Despite the steep fall in disposals, the number of firms and value were consistent with the previous week's five companies and HK$23.4 million.
Two well-known Hong Kong tycoons recorded rare buys last week, with chairman David Li Kwok-po recording his first purchases in BEA this year while chairman Dickson Poon acquired more shares of Dickson Concepts. On the funds side, Aberdeen Asset Management acquired more shares of conglomerate Swire Pacific 'A' and energy play PetroChina. On the negative side, Value Partners unloaded more shares of Royale Furniture after the stock plunged by 50 per cent.
Chairman and CEO Li recorded his first on-market trades in blue chip Bank of East Asia since October 2011 with 430,000 shares purchased from August 7 to 8 at an average of HK$27.96 each. The trades increased his holdings to 63.704 million shares or 3.03 per cent of the issued capital. The purchases were made on the back of the 12 per cent drop in the share price since January from HK$31.82.
The acquisitions were also made after BEA announced on August 2 a 10.2 per cent gain in first-half profit to HK$2.988 billion. The chairman previously acquired 300,000 shares from August to October 2011 at an average of HK$27.74 each and 155,000 shares from March to April 2011 at an average of HK$33.16 each. The stock closed at HK$28.65 on Friday.
Chairman Poon picked up where he left off in luxury goods retailer Dickson Concepts (International) in April with 728,000 shares purchased on August 6 at HK$4.19 each. The trade increased his holdings to 153.535 million shares, or 41.24 per cent. He previously acquired 3.39 million shares on April 17 at HK$4.09 each. The purchases since April were made on the back of the drop in the share price since November 2010 from HK$6.80. Despite the fall in the share price, the stock is still up since November 2008 from 97 HK cents. Prior to his trades this year, the chairman sold one million shares from October to December 2005 at an average of HK$11.78 each and purchased one million shares from March to April 2005 at an average of HK$13.60 each. The stock closed at HK$4.29 on Friday.
