The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
Anta Sports Products Ltd sank by the most in almost four months after the entry of a sizable stake in Hong Kong’s clearing system stoked speculation of a sale by a key shareholder.
Shares of the Chinese sportswear maker slumped as much as 8% in Hong Kong, the most since October 24. The move came after exchange data showed a 3.11% stake, or 84.5 million shares worth $1.2 billion, entered the Central Clearing and Settlement System.
The entry is reviving memories of an episode last July where a stake matching the size of Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s position in BYD Co appeared in the system, before the investment firm eventually confirmed the sale. Speculation is swirling around Anta’s shareholding even though there may be other reasons to explain the entry.
“The market may be speculating on the CCASS movement given the size of the stake is big, around $1.2 billion,†said Willer Chen, senior research analyst at Forsyth Barr Asia Ltd.
“We continue to believe that this is its majority shareholders’ de facto disposal of shares to an entity that would possibly sell down Anta shares in the open market in future,†Citigroup Inc analysts including
Xiaopo Wei said.