Li Ka-shing and his son, Li Zeju, have recently sold China Postal Savings Bank (Postal Bank) H-shares twice, totaling approximately 101 million shares. After the reduction, the shareholding ratio of Li Ka-shing and his son decreased from 9.03% to 7.96%.
According to information disclosed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Li Ka-shing and Li Zeju sold Postal Bank H-shares on October 14th and October 17th, with a total reduction of about 78.517 million shares and 22.801 million shares, totaling around 101 million shares. After the reduction, Li Ka-shing and Li Zeju held approximately 1.581 billion shares of Postal Bank H-shares, and their shareholding ratio decreased from 9.03% to 7.96%.
The information from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange also shows that the average prices per share for the two reductions by Li Ka-shing and his son on October 14th and 17th were 4.6711 Hong Kong dollars and 4.7375 Hong Kong dollars, respectively. According to the news on October 19th by the “Daily Economic News,” the total amount of this reduction is approximately 475 million Hong Kong dollars.
In September 2016, when Postal Bank H-shares were listed, Li Ka-shing and his son purchased 2.267 billion shares of the bank’s H-shares through their foundation.
The mid-year report of Postal Bank in 2024 showed that as of the end of June, Li Ka-shing and Li Zeju held a total of about 1.971 billion shares of Postal Bank H-shares through institutions such as the Li Ka-shing Foundation. By October 14th, before the reduction occurred, the shares had decreased to 1.793 billion, indicating that during this period, Li Ka-shing and others had also reduced their holdings by about 178 million shares.
There were also reduction actions in September 2022 and May 2023. In May 2023, the Li Ka-shing Foundation had reduced the Postal Bank H-shares by 22.493 million shares at an average price of 5.43 Hong Kong dollars per share, totaling about 122 million Hong Kong dollars.
Regarding this reduction, representatives of Cheung Kong Holdings and Cheung Kong Real Estate previously stated that Li Ka-shing has “absolute confidence” in Postal Bank, believing it is suitable for financial investment by Li Ka-shing and his foundation, and sees it as a long-term investment project.
Postal Bank responded by saying that the Li Ka-shing Foundation and Postal Bank have maintained a good relationship, and the foundation has no opinions on the bank’s operation and development.
The reduction of Postal Bank shares by Li Ka-shing and his son has sparked discussions among netizens.
Netizen “Actually” commented, “This is a signal that bank stocks are going to fall.”
“Aguar” believes, “This indicates that the banks have been pushed too high.”
Netizen “Between Fingers” expressed, “Smart people! Admire the flexibility to sell at the current high price, can decide whether to buy or sell later.”
Netizen “Lu La La” mentioned, “Monday’s market doesn’t look good.”
Public information shows that the head office of China Postal Savings Bank is located in Xicheng District, Beijing, and it is a large state-owned commercial bank. It is one of the six major state-owned banks in China. Postal Bank was restructured into a limited company in January 2012 and after its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in September 2016, it was also listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in December 2019.