Property group Wing Tai Holdings has been buying back shares on the open market. The most recent buying was on Oct 11 with an acquisition of 961,600 shares at $1.56 each. This brings the total number of shares bought back under the current mandate to 11.16 million shares, equivalent to 1.4485% of the total share base. A day earlier, the company had acquired 494,900 shares at $1.55 each.
Meanwhile, Fidelity Investments is no longer a substantial shareholder of Wing Tai. On Aug 15, the US asset manager on sold 57,900 shares for $97,301 in total, or $1.68 each. This means Fidelity is left with just over 38 million shares, equivalent to 4.99%, from 5.01% previously.
Fidelity cut its stake just days before the company announced its FY2022 ended June earnings. On Aug 25, Wing Tai reported earnings of $140.2 million, up 222% y-o-y over the preceding FY2021’s $43.6 million. Revenue in the same period was up 12% y-o-y to $514.6 million. The better numbers can be attributed to higher recognition from Wing Tai’s development properties, specifically The M at Middle Road and also Le Nouvel Ardmore. As at June 30, the company’s net asset value per share was $4.32, versus $4.14 as at June 30, 2021.
In line with the better earnings, Wing Tai has declared higher dividends. For FY2022, the company has declared a first and final dividend of 3 cents, and a special dividend of another 3 cents, bringing the total to 6 cents. In FY2021, the company gave a total of 5 cents.
Director buys
Chua Tian Chu, an independent director of conglomerate The Straits Trading Company, on Oct 10 acquired 7,000 shares on the open market for $2.26 each. This brings his total stake to 64,000 shares, which consists of 55,000 shares held directly and another 9,000 shares held by his spouse. Chua, first appointed to the company’s board on Jan 1, 2018, was the deputy CEO of Meritus Hotels & Resorts from 2012 to 2013. He was previously with other companies such as United Overseas Bank and Citigroup. Chua was also managing director and group CEO of Far East Orchard, which was known as Orchard Parade Holdings.
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Straits Trading has been actively buying back its shares on the open market as well. The most recent buying was on Oct 12, when it acquired 23,000 shares at $2.19 each. This brings the total number of shares bought back under the current mandate to 503,800 shares. The company last bought on Oct 5 and 6, acquiring 50,000 shares at $2.39 each, and 20,000 shares at $2.40 each. The company also bought on Sept 26, 27, 28 and 29, paying between $2.50 and $2.69 for each share.
Straits Trading on Aug 14 announced plans to pay a special dividend by way of distribution in specie, following proceeds from divesting ARA Asset Management to ESR Group which led to $1.08 billion in recognised gain.
Under plans of the distribution already announced, Straits Trading shareholders could choose between receiving 145 ESR shares or 180 new Straits Trading shares for every 1,000 shares they hold. The value of the distribution is about 50 cents per Straits Trading share.
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On Sept 30, the company announced that subsidiary Straits Real Estate had completed the acquisition of Canoga Industrial Investment Trust’s 20% stake in ILP Trust No. 1, consolidating its holdings in the trust to 100%. Portfolios in the trust include eight properties across Victoria and South Australia with a mix of built-to-suit facilities and multi-tenanted estate.
