A tale of two Asian share buy-backs: one economically rational, the other less so. Monday's announcement from Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa that it might make an offer to buy out minorities in a phone unit came as little surprise. Hong Kong-listed Hutchison Telecommunications International, spun off six years ago and then hollowed out by disposals of its best assets, is trading more than three times cheaper than peers on a price/book basis. This is how tycoons operate: buy low, sell high.
講兩個亞洲公司股票回購的事例:一件合乎經(jīng)濟邏輯,另一件則不盡合理。周一,李嘉誠旗下的和記黃埔(Hutchison Whampoa)宣布,可能出價買下旗下一家電訊企業(yè)的所有少數(shù)股份。此事并不太出人意料。這家電訊企業(yè)——香港上市的和記電訊國際(HTIL)是6年前從和黃分拆出來的,后來由于陸續(xù)出售了優(yōu)質(zhì)資產(chǎn)而被淘空。目前,以市凈率衡量,和記電訊國際的股價比同類公司便宜了3倍以上。這就是大亨們的行事之道:低吸高拋。