Nursing operator Econ Healthcare (Asia) has loaded up on shares of Crosstec Group Holdings, spending a total of some $4 million to buy 11.8 million shares of the Hong Kong-listed interior design firm that focuses on the luxury market.
Econ Healthcare first paid $1.99 million for 6.8 million Crosstec shares on Dec 30, or 29.26 cents each. It paid another $2 million for another 5 million Crosstec shares on Jan 6, or 40.04 cents each.
The investment in Crosstec, which reported a loss for its FY ended June 30, was to “improve the yield on idle cash through dividends and share price appreciation”, Econ Healthcare states in a Jan 9 filing to the exchange.
According to Econ Healthcare, prior to buying Crosstec shares for the first time on Dec 30, the company had already observed that shares are “on a rising trend”.
“The company is of the view that the potential gain on investment on quoted security will improve the yield of idle cash and therefore the return of the company’s shareholders,” says Econ Healthcare, adding that the funds used to buy Crosstec shares did not come from its IPO proceeds.
With the acquisition of these Crosstec shares, Econ Healthcare’s net tangible asset has increased marginally to 9.63 cents per share from 9.62 cents as at March 31 2021.
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As recent as Nov 12, Crosstec shares were trading at 40 HK cents. It closed at HK$2.34 on Jan 7, giving it a market value of HK$1.71 billion.
Econ Healthcare shares closed on Jan 7 at 30 cents, up 1.69% for the day, giving it a market value of $77 million. Econ Healthcare went IPO last April at 28 cents.
