Shares of Jiutai Bank, based in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun, tumbled 8.7 percent in Hong Kong trading on Monday, the biggest drop since it listed 2 1/2 months ago.
A mysterious collapse in Huishan Dairy’s shares on Friday that erased about $4 billion of its market value and prompted a trading halt has hurt other firms linked to the dairy company.
Jiutai Bank is Huishan Dairy’s second-biggest creditor with 1.83 billion yuan ($266 million) of loans, Caixin reported Saturday. Champ Harvest Ltd., Huishan Dairy’s largest shareholder, owns 17.9 percent of the lender’s Hong Kong-listed shares, data from the city’s exchange show. Champ Harvest is controlled by Huishan Dairy’s Chairman Yang Kai.
Investors are concerned about “how much exposure does Jiutai Bank have, and as Champ is a 15 percent-plus holder of Jiutai Bank, what are the terms of the exposure,” said Andrew Clarke, Hong Kong-based director of trading at Mirabaud. “Are they more favorable than a normal commercial loan?”
Jiutai Bank considers the drop in its share price as a “normal fluctuation,” an external spokeswoman for the lender said by phone from Hong Kong. “The share price is affected by various factors,” she said, adding that the bank had no further comment.
Monday’s drop was more than three times the magnitude of the previously biggest one-day decline in Jiutai Bank shares, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Almost 21 million shares changed hands, 75 times the average daily trading volume from the company’s listing through Friday.
Source: Bloomberg
Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-27/huishan-fallout-spreads-as-chinese-bank-tumbles-10-in-hong-kong
