The Insider | Insiders accumulate shares in AIA Group, while selling seen in Samsonite International

The buying surged for the third straight week while the selling among directors remained high based on filings during the three-day trading week from April 3 to 6. Buyers outweighed sellers with 56 companies that recorded 241 purchases worth HK$203 million (US$25.89 million) versus 12 firms with 32 disposals worth HK$50 million

The buy-back activity remained high with 15 companies that posted 42 repurchases worth HK$180 million based on filings from April 3 to 4. The number of firms was unchanged while the number of trades and value were consistent with the previous five-day totals of 15 companies, 67 trades and HK$266 million.

The trading was spread out across several sectors with rare purchases in automotive distributors China ZhengTong Auto Services and China Yongda Automobiles Services, health care provider Universal Medical Financial and financial services provider AIA Group. On the negative side, there were rare disposals in luggage manufacturer and retailer Samsonite International.

Automotive distributor China ZhengTong Auto Services bought back for the first time since listing in December 2010 with 10.9 million shares purchased from April 3 to 4 at an average of HK$5.97 each. The trades, which accounted for 21 per cent of the stock’s trading volume, were made after the stock fell by as much as 41 per cent from HK$9.88 in November 2017. Despite the fall in the share price, the counter is still up since December 2016 from HK$2.23. The buy-backs were also made after the company announced on March 21 a 141.6 per cent gain in annual profit to 1.211 billion yuan (US$192,08 million). The stock closed at HK$5.96 on Friday.

Chairman Cheung Tak-on recorded his first on-market trade in new and used vehicles distributor China Yongda Automobiles Services since July 2017 with 1 million shares purchased on March 29 at HK$8.43 each. The trade increased his holdings to 630.383 million shares or 34.35 per cent of the issued capital. The acquisition was made on the back of a 31 per cent drop in the share price since September 2017 from HK$12.30. The purchase was also made after the company announced on March 20 a 77.4 per cent gain in annual profit to RMB 1.51 billion. He previously acquired 6.5 million shares from May to July 2017 at an average of HK$7.22 apiece. The stock closed at HK$8.40 on Friday.

CEO Guo Weiping recorded the first trade by a director of integrated health care provider Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services since the stock was listed in July 2015 with 1 million shares purchased on March 28 at HK$6.92 each. The trade increased his holdings by 7 per cent to 16.235 million shares or 0.95 per cent of the issued capital. The purchase was made on the back of the 16 per cent drop in the share price since October 2017 from HK$8.24. Despite the fall in the share price, the counter is still up since July 2017 from HK$6.05. The purchase was also made after the company announced on March 27 a 31.7 per cent gain in annual profit to 1.149 billion yuan. The CEO’s purchase price was lower than the IPO price of HK$8.18. The stock closed at HK$6.79 on Friday.