The Insider | Hong Kong directors buy more of their companies’ shares in Lunar New Year holiday week
Share buy-backs by companies rise for a second week, with Fairwood Holdings and Tianda Pharmaceuticals among firms repurchasing stock
Buying of shares in their own companies by Hong Kong directors surged during the holiday-shortened week of February 12 to 15, after falling for three straight weeks, while selling plunged, based on filings to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
A total of 18 companies recorded 102 purchases by directors worth HK$126 million (US$16.1 million), versus a paltry three firms with 10 disposals worth HK$3.7 million.
The buy figures were sharply up from the previous week’s five-day totals of 15 companies, 64 purchases and HK$38 million. The sales, on the other hand, were sharply down from the previous week’s five firms, 26 disposals and HK$41 million.
Share buy-backs by companies meanwhile rose for a second straight week, with 21 companies posting 76 repurchases worth HK$214 million, based on filings from February 9 to 15. The figures were up from the previous five-day totals of 13 firms, 60 trades and HK$87 million.
Among director buying and selling, the chief executive of investment and property development firm Winfull Group, Lee Wing-yin, bought 107.5 million shares on February 13 at HK$0.16 each. The trade increased his holdings to 135.68 million shares, or 2.45 per cent of the issued capital. The stock closed at HK$0.17 on Thursday.
It was Lee’s first on-market trade since his appointment in November 2011 and came after a 78 per cent drop in the share price since June 2015, when it stood at HK$0.74, and after the company announced on February 12 a rise in first-half profit to HK$150.17 million.
