Firing the Gun Before the Race Starts! Li Ka-shing Sells Postal Savings Bank Stocks, Sparking Heated Discussion (Image)

Mike Sun, an investment strategy expert based in the U.S., paid particular attention to this event, saying, "Wherever Li Ka-shing's money goes, it sets a trend." The image shows Li Ka-shing being interviewed by the media. (Guo Weili/Dajiyuan)

[People News] Li Ka-shing has once again started running before the gunshot! Recently, media reported that this year, Li Ka-shing and his son sold a total of 278.6 million shares of China Postal Savings Bank, netting over 1.2 billion HKD in cash. Some netizens commented, "This is a signal that bank stocks are about to drop."

On Tuesday (October 22), during midday trading, the H shares of China Postal Savings Bank dropped 0.02 HKD or 0.43%, falling to 4.65 HKD, a decline of 13.7% from the intraday high of 5.39 HKD on October 7.

According to information from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Li Ka-shing and his eldest son, Victor Li, sold 78.5 million shares on October 14, and another 22.8 million shares on October 17. The average transaction prices on these days were 4.63 HKD/share and 4.737 HKD/share, respectively. Based on these prices, Li Ka-shing and his son cashed out approximately 475 million HKD (about 1.957 billion TWD) in total.

In the second half of this year, the stock price of China Postal Savings Bank's H shares rose steadily. Surprisingly, instead of increasing his holdings, Li Ka-shing intensified his selling efforts. On October 7, with the surge in both Chinese A-shares and Hong Kong stocks, the H shares of Postal Savings Bank hit a nearly two-year high of 5.39 HKD.

According to public information, from July 1 to October 13, Li Ka-shing significantly reduced his holdings of Postal Savings Bank by about 178 million shares. Based on the average transaction price during this period, he likely cashed out more than 800 million HKD. In total, Li Ka-shing and his son sold 278.6 million shares of China Postal Savings Bank this year, netting over 1.2 billion HKD in cash.

In fact, there were similar sell-offs in September 2022 and May 2023. In May 2023, the Li Ka-shing Foundation sold 22.49 million shares of Postal Savings Bank's H shares at an average price of 5.43 HKD per share, amounting to around 122 million HKD.

Regarding this recent sell-off, spokespeople for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings stated that Li Ka-shing has "absolute confidence" in Postal Savings Bank, believing it to be suitable for financial investment for himself and his foundation, and sees it as a long-term investment project.

Postal Savings Bank responded by saying that the Li Ka-shing Foundation and the bank have always maintained a good relationship, and the foundation has no issues with the bank’s management or development.

Although Li Ka-shing claims to have "absolute confidence" in Postal Savings Bank, his actions of reducing his holdings tell a different story. What kind of trend will this create?

There has long been a saying in Hong Kong’s business circles that Li Ka-shing has a keen eye for market changes, often acting one to two years before major market shifts occur. For example, if the Hong Kong property market is about to collapse, Li Ka-shing typically starts selling properties six months to a year and a half in advance. Because of his accuracy, the public has dubbed him "Superman Li."

As early as 2013, when many foreign investors were enthusiastic about investing in China, Li Ka-shing began selling off large assets in China and withdrawing from the country, while increasing his investments overseas. At that time, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) even issued a warning, "Don't let Li Ka-shing get away," with a threatening undertone. This earned him another nickname besides "Superman Li": "Runaway Li."

There’s a joke circulating online: Several billionaires, including Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Wang Jianlin, Liu Qiangdong, Xu Jiayin, Pan Shiyi, and Li Ka-shing, were set to race. Everyone said that the 90-year-old Li Ka-shing would surely be the slowest. However, to everyone’s surprise, Li Ka-shing ended up winning the race! The other billionaires were baffled, to which Li Ka-shing laughed and said, "Who told you to wait until you heard the gunshot to start running?"

Unsurprisingly, Li Ka-shing and his son's recent reduction of their holdings in Postal Savings Bank has drawn attention from the public.

Many netizens have been discussing the move: "This shows that bank stocks have been overvalued," "Monday’s market outlook doesn’t look good," "Smart guy! I’m impressed. The price is certainly high for now, better to sell first and then decide whether to buy or sell later," "If you won’t let me be Hong Kong’s richest man, I’ll sell your stocks. I’m already in London, there’s nothing you can do about it."

Public data shows that China Postal Savings Bank is a state-owned commercial bank and one of China's six major state-owned banks. The bank was restructured into a joint-stock company in January 2012, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2016, and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in December 2019.