 on stock buy-backs between January 2022 and mid-September this year, while the cheap market kept getting cheaper.){kind=link}
Cheap and cheaper: stock buy-backs approaching US$10 billion fail to stem losses in Hong Kong market
Hong Kong-listed companies are using up their cash reserves on stock buy-backs, while valuations get cheaperBuy-backs in the city could reach HK$92.9 billion (US$11.7 billion) in 2023 at current pace, versus HK$104.9 billion in 2022, Hang Seng compiler saysHong Kong stock marketMia CastagnonePublished: 7:37pm, 19 Sep, 2023Why you can trust SCMP
The Hang Seng Composite Index, the broadest gauge which covers 95 per cent of the city’s market capitalisation, has declined 7.6 per cent this year. Last year, the index slumped 18 per cent despite a 175 per cent surge in corporate buy-backs.
“Corporate buy-backs are high precisely due to low market support levels,” said Brock Silvers, chief investment officer at Kaiyuan Capital in Hong Kong. “Companies don’t see growth or investment opportunities as more attractive than their own beaten-down stocks.”