Goldin Properties and Goldin Financials hit by sell-off in Hong Kong
Shares of Goldin Properties Holdings and Goldin Financial Holdings owned by mainland Chinese tycoon Pan Sutong sank on Thursday, with some brokers saying the impact of the fall of solar company Hanergy in the previous session may have had a knock-on effect on the selling which hit Goldin.
Goldin Financial, an investment holding company whose businesses include wine and factoring, saw its shares plunge 58.9 per cent to HK$12.68, while Goldin Properties, a hotel and property company, was the second biggest loser on the exchange as it fell 50.21 per cent to HK$12.10.
On Wednesday, Li Hejun lost the crown of richest mainland tycoon, when his fortune tumbled over HK$100 billion with the 47 per cent drop in the share price of Hanergy, a solar energy company which he controls.
“Now the helm has passed from Li Hejun to Pan Sutong,” said Louis Tse, a director of VC Brokerage.
Tse said the pair of Goldin companies were hit by the same kind of margin calls and investors bailing out which impacted Hanergy on Wednesday.
“It’s like a house of cards. Once the first one falls, others will fall just the same,” said Tse.
Those who sold the shares of Goldin Financial and Goldin Properties were institutional investors such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, along with mainland punters using the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, he noted.
Goldin Financial said in a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange that “the Board confirms that it is not aware of any reasons for these movements or of any information which must be announced to avoid a false market in the Company’s securities or of any inside information that needs to be disclosed.”
Goldin Properties did not reply to calls by the South China Morning Post.
On March 13, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) found Goldin Financial had a high concentration by a small number of shareholders. As of March 4, Pan held 70.29 per cent of Goldin Financial, while 19 other shareholders held 28.29 per cent, leaving only 1.42 per cent held by the remaining shareholders, said SFC.
Separately, Epicurean and Company, a food and beverage company listed on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), was the biggest gainer on the Hong Kong bourse on Thursday. Epicurean’s share price jumped 77.2 per cent to 20.2 Hong Kong cents by Thursday noon.
On Wednesday, Epicurean announced that it had scrapped its plans to sell some restaurants to its chairman Sherman Tang Sing Ming, and also called off plans to have 74.63 per cent of its shares sold to an unnamed buyer.
