The Straits Times / The Business Times News on Cosco

Directors' Trades
Director of Cosco unit cuts holdings

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A DIRECTOR of a unit of Cosco Corp, which makes oil rigs and has a huge ship-repair arm, has pared his stake following the recent strong run-up in the share price.

Mr Chen Yong, a director of Cosco Marine Engineering (Singapore), sold 100,000 shares at an average price of $2.08 on Wednesday, according to a statement to the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The sale pared his direct stake in Cosco from 130,000 shares or 0.006 per cent, to 30,000 shares, or 0.001 per cent.

Mr Chen had earlier sold 100,000 Cosco shares each on two separate occasions - Nov 7 and Nov 13 - at $2.02 and $2.09 apiece respectively.

Besides Mr Chen, other directors of Cosco subsidiaries have been cashing in.

Mr Lee Fook Choy, who is also a director of Cosco Marine Engineering, sold 148,000 Cosco shares at an average price of $2.01 earlier this month.

More than 10.5 million Cosco shares changed hands yesterday. Cosco's stock rose seven cents to $2.16, after the company won six ship conversion deals worth US$106 million (S$165.7 million).

The contracts are worth between US$5 million and US$38 million each and involve conversions of oil tankers, container ships and other types of vessels.

Besides Cosco-linked directors, institutional investors have also been selling their Cosco stakes.

The firm said on Tuesday that Temasek Holdings' deemed stake has been pared from 8.99 per cent to 7.52 per cent, following a series of transactions by Temasek-linked companies including DBS Group Holdings and Singapore Airlines.

Last week, SembCorp Marine announced it had sold 30 million of its 180.4 million shares or 8 per cent stake in Cosco for up to $60 million.