Yan Tat hit amid `pump and dump’ fear
Imogene Wong
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
A large batch of Yan Tat Group Holdings (1480) shares was exchanged between two brokerages last Thursday, just before a dramatic climb and even more dramatic plunge in the counter a day after that, data from the bourse showed yesterday. More than 90 percent of the firm’s public float is now held by four brokerages, leading many commentators to think the printed circuit board maker has been the subject of heavy speculation.After the market closed on Thursday, KGI Securities held just 82,000 shares of Yan Tat, down sharply from 7.03 million shares at the start of the day, thereby reducing its stake to 0.03 percent from 2.92 percent.At the same time, Yuanta Securities (Hong Kong) saw its stake in Yan Tat rise from 11.86 percent to 14.96 percent.
This raised the question of whether a small group of people had deliberately driven up the share price on Friday, when it opened at HK$30.10, soared to as much as HK$102 before freefalling to HK$17.44.
The shares plunged another 48 percent on Monday to HK$9.10, and edged up 0.33 percent to HK$9.13 yesterday. With a market capitalization of about HK$2.2 billion, turnover hit HK$260 million on Thursday and HK$332 million on Friday.
“We are very concerned [about the stock price movements],” said Securities and Futures Commission chairman Carlson Tong Ka-shing yesterday. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia admits immense difficulty regulating and tracking cross- border trading.
Former SFC chairman Anthony Neoh said it was a very shoddy “pump and dump” scheme, possibly perpetrated by mainland capital. He warned similar cases would happen in the future and asked investors to be cautious and “not be too greedy.”
Three-quarters Yan Tat’s outstanding shares are held by chairman Chan Wing-yin, the majority shareholder, and are under a lock-up clause as the firm only listed in December.
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