Share sale pulls down Lenovo
Shares of Lenovo Group Ltd, China’s biggest personal computer maker, fell the most in more than a month in Hong Kong trading yesterday after three major shareholders sold their shares.
TPG Inc, General Atlantic LLC and Newbridge Capital LLC raised HK$1.03 billion (US$133 million) selling 291.5 million Lenovo shares at HK$3.55 each, a sales document said.
Lenovo lost 5.74 percent to close at HK$3.45, against a 1.04 percent decline in the Hang Seng Index. Its shares had surged 73 percent in the year until Tuesday.
“Compared with other electronics, the PC (personal computer) sector is the hardest hit by the global financial crisis because it depends on enterprise clients,” said Paul Peng, executive vice president of global business at Taiwan-based AU Optronics.
AU Optronics provides LCD panels for monitors, TVs and PCs.
Lenovo, one of the world’s top four PC makers, last month posted a third straight quarterly loss because of slugging business in the United States and Europe. It lost US$16 million in the three months ended on June 30, against a US$110.5 million profit a year earlier. In the period, Lenovo’s revenue fell 18 percent to US$3.46 billion.
In the first seven months, China’s PC exports fell 6.02 percent to US$32.61 billion, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.
Beijing-based Legend Holdings Ltd, Lenovo’s controlling shareholder, said on Tuesday it planned a share listing after China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co bought 29 percent of the company for 2.76 billion yuan (US$404 million).
That was the second sale since November last year when the three companies raised HK$2.86 billion from selling Lenovo’s shares.
Tags: IT, LCD, Lenovo, PC, TV