WHEN THE market was especially volatile in the past 2 weeks, corporate insiders and funds accumulated certain stocks.
One of these stocks was Man Wah, whose chairman Wong Man Li and his spouse, Hui Ying, snapped up 3.7 million shares through their investment vehicle, Man Wah Investments.
At their average purchase price of 47.63 cents a share, the stock was bought at a PE ratio of 4.9X current year (ending March ’08) earnings, based on DBS Vickers' forecast.
For 3Q FY2008 (period ended 31 Dec 2007), Man Wah reported a 60.4% increase in revenue to HK$403.4 million.
Despite the slowdown in the US economy, Man Wah’s sales to that market have jumped 52.5% to HK$174.9 million due to its success in marketing directly to large US retailers, bypassing wholesalers.
Sales in the PRC boomed too, more than doubling from HK$39.9 million to HK$91.2 million with the increasing awareness of the company’s Cheers brand.
25 new Cheers specialty stores were opened in 3Q FY2008, bringing the total number of such stores to 195 as at 31 Dec 2007.
| Date of purchase | No. of shares purchased | Average price/share (S$) | Total value (S$) | |
| Man Wah Investments Limited | 29-01-2008* | 302,000 | 0.488 | 147,376 |
| 28-01-2008 | 498,000 | 0.478 | 238,044 | |
| 25-01-2008 | 780,000 | 0.4794 | 373,932 | |
| 24-01-2008 | 220,000 | 0.4445 | 97,799 | |
| 23-01-2008 | 1,000,000 | 0.462 | 462,000 | |
| 18-01-2008 | 921,000 | 0.492 | 453,132 | |
| Total: 3,721,000 | 0.4763 | 1,772,283 |
*Updated on Jan 30
Recent NextInsight story: MAN WAH target price is $1.18: DBS Vickers
*****
CHINA WHEEL
Over at China Wheel, Chairman Zang Ligen, Executive Directors Zang Lizhong and Zang Liguo bought 700,000 shares through their investment vehicle Li Zhong Investment Ltd.
As a result of this purchase, Li Zhong Investment Ltd’s stake in China Wheel went up from 63.93% to 64.23%.
Separately, independent Director Zhao Qinghua purchased 200,000 shares.
For the 9 months ended 30 September 2007, China Wheel’s revenue rose by 22.1% to RMB673.4 million on robust demand from the PRC automotive industry.
Net profit rose 49.7% to RMB80.7 million. Basic earnings per share also rose in tandem from RMB22.94 cents to RMB34.36 cents.
| Date of purchase | No. of shares purchased | Average price/share (S$) | Total value (S$) | |
| Zhao Qinghua | 21-01-2008 | 100,000 | 0.5775 | 57,750 |
| 23-01-2008 | 100,000 | 0.4927 | 49,270 | |
| Li Zhong Investment Ltd | 22-01-2008 | 700,000 | 0.5306 | 371,420 |
| Total: 900,000 | 0.5316 | 478,440 |
Recent NextInsight story: CHINA WHEEL'S visionary leader
*****
HONGWEI TECHNOLOGIES
It did not state its average purchase price but it’s probably in the early 20-cent range.
That price is substantially lower than the 32.5-cent-a-share that Tembusu paid in April 2007 for a 5% stake through an issue of 11,250,000 new shares.
Tembusu’s chairman and founder is Andy Lim, the husband of Lim Hwee Hua, Minister of State, Ministry of Finance & Ministry of Transport.
Tembusu’s senior adviser is Tan Kim Seng, founder and former chairman of KS Energy Services.
Hongwei has reported that its net profit surged 60% to RMB 29.3 million for the six months ended 30 June 2007.
Revenue grew 83.7% to RMB 152.8 million, mainly due to strong demand for its synthetic cotton, whose sales grew 156.7% to RMB 56.0 million, thereby contributing about 37% to the group’s revenue.
Sales are expected to rise following the completion of a new factory late last year, which doubled Hongwei's production capacity of synthetic cotton to 16,000 tonnes.
| Date of purchase | No. of shares purchased | Average price/share (S$) | |
| Tembusu Growth Fund | 25-01-2008 | 794,000 | N.A. |
8TELECOM
Executive chairman and CEO Ye Tian Yun was particularly active in buying his company’s shares in December.
The total: 8.2 million shares.
His company is a leading PRC telecommunications infrastructure developer and equipment manufacturer.
For the three months ended 30 September 2007, its net profit increased by 21% to RMB 7.5 million. Revenue increased 48.5% to RMB 116.6 million.
| Date of purchase | No. of shares purchased | Average price/share (S$) | Total value (S$) | |
| YE TIAN YUN | 26-12-2007 | 135,000 | 0.11 | 14,850 |
| 21-12-2007 | 245,000 | 0.11 | 26,950 | |
| 19-12-2007 | 299,000 | 0.11 | 32,890 | |
| 17-12-2007 | 500,000 | 0.105 | 52,500 | |
| 14-12-2007 | 960,000 | 0.11 | 96,000 | |
| 13-12-2007 | 2,300,000 | 0.11 | 230,000 | |
| 12-12-2007 | 1,000,000 | 0.11 | 110,000 | |
| 06-12-2007 | 1,000,000 | 0.11 | 110,000 | |
| 05-12-2007 | 1,740,000 | 0.105 | 182,700 | |
| Total: 8,179,000 | 0.1046 | 855,890 |
Recent NextInsight stories:
Insider buying: CHINA SUNSINE, SUNVIC CHEMICAL
Funds and CEO step up buying of INNOVALUES
