Chuan Hup buys back shares, Santosa family adds to Japfa stake

OVER the four trading sessions that spanned Dec 23 to 29, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 0.6 per cent. The Singapore market was closed on Dec 26 for the Christmas holiday.

Over the same period, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up 0.8 per cent, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.3 per cent, and the Nikkei 225 lost 1.6 per cent.

Over the four trading sessions, there were 50 filings for changes in director interests and substantial shareholdings filed by 26 primary-listed stocks, as well as 49 filings for share buybacks by 20 companies.

Chuan Hup Holdings 

Mainboard-listed property investment company Chuan Hup bought back a total of 1.1 million shares for a total of S$242,696.54, or about S$0.2192 per share on average, over the period.

On Dec 23, the company bought 240,000 shares at S$0.215 each for a total consideration of S$51,688.70.

On Dec 27, it bought 143,500 shares at S$0.21976 each for a total consideration of S$31,592.24.

On Dec 28, it bought 160,000 shares at S$0.21969 each for a total consideration of S$35,210.95.

And on Dec 29, it bought 563,600 shares at S$0.22 each for a total consideration of S$124,204.65.

Chuan Hup on Dec 23 said its wholly owned Australian subsidiary Ventrade Australia entered into a 70-30 joint venture with an associate of Australian property developer Siera Property Group.

The joint venture plans to acquire a 1,214 square metre development site in Queensland, Australia for A$16 million, to develop an 11-storey residential building comprising 19 residential apartments.

Chuan Hup – which has a portfolio of properties across Singapore, Australia and the Philippines – expects the joint venture will allow it to capture opportunities with the rising demand for residential property in Queensland.

Shares of Chuan Hup closed at S$0.22 on Dec 30, up 2.3 per cent over the course of the week. The stock trades at 0.649 times its book value.

HRnetGroup

Recruitment company HRnetGroup bought back 337,700 of its shares between Dec 23 and 29 for a total consideration of S$262,739.34, or an average of S$0.78 per share.

On Dec 23, it bought 100,000 of its shares at S$0.77 each for a total consideration of S$77,198.10.

It also bought 20,000 shares at S$0.775 each on Dec 28, and 217,700 shares at S$0.77885 each on Dec 29.

The company paid total consideration of S$15,549.80 and S$169,991.44, respectively, for the latter two share buybacks.

On Dec 28, HRnetGroup said its branch in Taiwan has secured a capital injection of S$1 million. It has also secured a recruitment licence for expansion into Kaohsiung in Taiwan – its 15th city of operation.

The money is being used to fund the increased working capital requirements of the subsidiary, RecruitFirst Taiwan, and its branches in Taipei and Kaohsiung, the company said.

Shares of HRnetGroup ended Dec 30 at S$0.785, up 1.3 per cent for the week.

Japfa

On Dec 28, Japfa ’s chief executive Tan Yong Nang sold 2.7 million of his shares in the agri-food company in an off-market transaction with Tallowe Services for a total consideration of S$1.5 million.

After the transaction, Tallowe Services held 67.7 million shares in Japfa.

Shares of Tallowe Services are held by the trustees of the estate of Handojo Santosa, who was the majority owner and executive chairman of Japfa until his passing in September.

Santosa’s children, Renaldo Santosa and Gabriella Santosa, are beneficiaries of the elder Santosa’s interest in Tallowe Services.

On Dec 30, Japfa’s China-focused dairy unit AustAsia Group listed on the Hong Kong Exchange.

The company had spun off its dairy entity to unlock value for shareholders. Management said the listing would create two separate businesses and providing each entity’s management the operational flexibility and ability to concentrate on their respective core business.

Japfa shareholders received a distribution-in-specie of its entire shareholding in AustAsia, in proportion to their respective shareholdings in Japfa.

The offer shares of AustAsia – which were split into “international offer shares” and “Hong Kong offer shares” – were oversubscribed prior to the listing. The international offer shares were 1.16 times subscribed, while the Hong Kong offer shares were 2.08 times subscribed.

But AustAsia shares ended their first day of trading at HK$6.37, down 0.5 per cent from the offer price of HK$6.40. Japfa shares fell too, ending Dec 30 at S$0.345 – down 35.5 per cent for the day.