Between Nov 18 and 24, Hong Leong Asia executive chairman Kwek Leng Peck acquired 4,044,100 shares of the company for a consideration of S$2,409,497.

 

At an average price of 59.58 cents per share, this effectively doubled Mr Kwek' s total interest in Hong Leong Asia from 0.51 per cent to 1.05 per cent.

 

Mr Kwek has much experience in trading, manufacturing, property investment and development, hotel operations, corporate finance and management as well as extensive involvement in Hong Leong Group real estate developments, investments and hotel operations.

 

With his in-depth knowledge of the Hong Leong Asia Group' s business, Mr Kwek has overseen the growth of the group over the last three decades from an integrated building materials group in the 1980s and 1990s to being also a major player in the consumer products and diesel engines industries in China beginning in the 2000s.

 

Back on Aug 13, Hong Leong Asia reported that H1FY20 (ended 30 June) revenue for the group was S$2.14 billion, a 4.2 per cent increase from S$2.05 billion in H1FY19, mainly attributed to higher revenue recorded by the diesel engines unit, partially offset by the revenue decline of the building materials unit.

 

The diesel engines unit, China Yuchai International (Yuchai) aims to be among the first engine manufacturers to achieve new emission standards as and when set by the Chinese government.

 

On Nov 16, Yuchai provided a preliminary and unaudited business update for its Q3FY20 (ended Sept 30) which noted that its Q3FY20 revenue had increased to 5.4 billion yuan (S$1.1 billion) from 3.3 billion yuan for Q3FY19.

 

Mr Kwek' s acquisitions followed executive director & CEO Stephen Ho Kiam Kong' s acquisition of 103,500 shares at an average price of 51.94 cents per share on Nov 17.

SHARES of Hong Leong Asia (HLA) - the trade and industry arm of the Hong Leong group - surged on Friday, drawing a query from the bourse operator regarding its " unusual price movements" .

 

As at 1.56pm, the mainboard-listed counter had jumped 7.9 per cent or S$0.05 to trade at S$0.68, with some 1.8 million shares changing hands.

 

Shareinvestor data showed that there were no married deals and no large transactions, defined as those valued at S$150,000 or more, done by that time.

 

In the morning, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) asked HLA whether it was aware of any information not previously announced concerning the company that might explain the trading.

 

It also asked whether the company - whose portfolio includes diesel engines, building materials and plastic packaging - knew of other possible reasons for the trading activity.

 

Before the SGX query, HLA' s last announcement was a filing on Thursday evening noting that its executive chairman Kwek Leng Peck had raised his stake in the company to about 1.05 per cent from 0.97 per cent previously. Mr Kwek on Nov 24 purchased 607,500 ordinary shares in HLA for S$388,800, or S$0.64 apiece. He has also been increasing his interest in the firm since last week, based on regulatory filings.

 

Meanwhile, on Nov 17, HLA chief executive officer and executive director Stephen Ho took a stake of about 0.01 per cent in the company, by acquiring 103,500 shares for about S$53,758, or 51.94 Singapore cents per share. Before that, Mr Ho did not hold any HLA shares, according to the company' s disclosure on Nov 18.

 

Separately, Mr Kwek was in the spotlight last month when he resigned from City Development Limited (CDL) as a non-executive and non-independent director, citing differences with the property giant' s board. CDL and HLA are part of the Hong Leong group of companies.

 

Mr Kwek had disagreed with the board and management on CDL' s investment in China-based Sincere Property Group, as well as the management of CDL' s British hotel arm Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.

 

On Nov 17, Hong Leong Asia executive director & CEO Stephen Ho Kiam Kong acquired 103,500 shares of the listed company for a consideration of S$53,758, at an average price of 51.94 cents per share.

 

According to the filing, Mr Ho was not previously holding Hong Leong Asia shares. He joined Hong Leong Asia as CEO-designate on Aug 3, to allow for a smooth transition in his role of CEO, which he assumed in full effect on Aug 17.

 

Mr Ho has extensive experience in finance, treasury and risk management from his executive positions previously held at Wilmar International Ltd and Dutch multinational corporate, Royal Philips.

 

Prior to his financial management role, Mr Ho worked for major international financial institutions in Singapore, Hong Kong and New York in the areas of corporate banking, global markets trading, marketing and sales.