Share purchase by majority shareholder may have triggered unusual trading activity, Jardine C&C says

MAINBOARD-LISTED Jardine Cycle & Carriage (Jardine C&C) said an off-market share purchase by its majority shareholder, Jardine Matheson Holdings , may be the reason behind unusual price movements in its shares on Thursday (Apr 21).

Shares of Jardine C&C, known in Singapore as a Mercedes-Benz dealer, had closed S$1.37 or 5.4 per cent higher at S$26.87 on Thursday. At the close, 912,000 shares worth S$24.2 million changed hands.

In its response to queries by the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) on Thursday night, the company said Jardine Matheson had made a single-block trade of 80,000 shares “at or around prevailing market price”.

Jardine C&C said no disclosures were made as the purchase did not trigger any disclosure obligations; it added that it does not believe the purchase was material non-public information requiring disclosing.

Jardine C&C said it was not aware of any other possible explanation for the trading, and that it was in compliance with listing and mainboard rules.

Shares of Jardine C&C closed at S$26.97 on Friday, up S$0.10 or 0.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, shares of Jardine Matheson, which is also listed on the mainboard of SGX, closed down US$0.11 or 0.2 per cent at US$55.39 on Friday.