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Li Ka-shing’s CK Asset to resume buy-backs to boost share price following profit plunge amid poor outlook: analysts
- Citi and Jefferies, which have lowered their target prices for the developer’s stock, both see a resumption of share buy-backs as likely
- The company has ‘limited positive catalysts’ other than buy-backs to drive its stock price in the near term, Jefferies says
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CK Asset Holdings, Li Ka-shing’s flagship property developer, may resume share buy-backs to spur its stock price in the near term, analysts said, after it reported an 18.9 per cent profit tumble in the first six months of 2023.
“We see a strong commitment from CKA on both a steadily rising dividend per share policy as well as share buy-backs,” Ken Yeung, property analyst with Citi, wrote in a research note on Thursday. “We expect CKA may resume share buy-backs in the near future, which can serve as a near-term catalyst.”
Jefferies also sees buy-backs as likely, as they would support the share price while the company has “limited positive catalysts” to speak of, the investment bank said in a note on Thursday.
CK Asset has already spent HK$13.6 billion (US$1.7 billion) buying back over 31 million shares during the first half of 2023, as “it is a good way to enhance shareholder value”, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, Li Ka-shing’s elder son and chairman of the group, said during an analyst briefing on Thursday.
Li did not comment directly on future buy-backs.
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