Investor Relation @ AsiaOne - HG Metal Manufacturing Limited

Corporate Information

Corporate Profile

Board of Directors

Chairman's Speech

Competitive Strength

Corporate Structure

Core Business

Milestone

Financial Information

Financial Highlights

Sellers outweigh buyers in bearish trading

Robert Halili - January 24, 2005
The Business Times

THE sentiment was bearish last week with sellers outweighing buyers during the holiday-shortened week of Jan 17 to 20. A total of 14 companies recorded 20 disposals worth $3.3 million, against 12 firms, 17 purchases and trades worth $1 million on the buying side. The low buy was not surprising as the purchase activity was also low in the first half of January. So far this month, insiders have racked up a paltry 88 purchases worth $15.2 million in the first three weeks of January. The figures are sharply lower than the previous month's 241 acquisitions worth $79 million.

Yet there were several notable purchases by directors and substantial shareholders last week. One stock investors should watch out for is Citiraya Industries Ltd (C49). A director of the electronics waste-recycling specialist boosted his stake by 83 per cent, despite a 35 per cent gain in the share price.

Another stock investors should watch out for is Noble Group Limited. London-based asset manager Newton Investment Management Limited has boosted its stake in the commodities trading firm by over 8 per cent since December 2004.

Lastly, US mutual fund manager The Capital Group Companies has increased its interest in recently listed telephone directories publisher Yellow Pages by 47 per cent since Jan 5, when it became a substantial shareholder.

On the selling side, investors should watch out for steel products sourcer and distributor HG Metal Manufacturing. Two of its shareholders cashed out at higher than their purchase prices last year. Another stock with bearish sentiment is Frontline Technologies Corporation. Temasek Holdings reduced its interest in the e-services firm by 7 per cent after the stock rose 29 per cent to 15.5 cents per share. The disposals were significant because those were Temasek's first trades since May 2003.

HG Metal Manufacturing

Tan Kwee Hiang and Chong Thim Pheng took profits on the shares they bought of HG Metal Manufacturing last year. Mr Tan ceased to be a substantial shareholder on Jan 18 after the sale of 2.8 million shares at an estimated price of 65.5 cents each, which cut his direct stake by 32 per cent to 6 million shares or 4.5 per cent of the issued capital. He acquired 3.5 million shares from May to October last year at an estimated average price of 37.5 cents each.

Meanwhile, Mr Chong sold his entire holdings of five million shares on Jan 13 at an estimated price of 66.5 cents each. The disposal was made at a huge profit based on the 5 million shares he acquired from June to October 2004 at an estimated average price of 39.6 cents each. HG Metal's net profit rose 423.7 per cent to $16.57 million for the 12 months to Sept 30, 2004. The stock closed at 65.5 cents on Thursday.