Goldman Sachs cuts its stake in ICBC for the fifth time since 2009

GS sold around 1.34b H-shares of ICBC.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, after the market closed on 28th Jan, market sources suggested that Goldman Sachs (GS) sold around 1.34b (estimated number) old H-shares of ICBC (1398), at HKD5.77 per share, (3% discount to closing price), to raise USD1b. GS is the placing agent.

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

The stake is equivalent to 1.5/0.4% of ICBC’s H/total share capital. Note that GS still holds around 3b H-shares of ICBC after this round of placement, according to our estimates. (Note that GS’s stake already fell below 5% of H-share capital before the placement).

This is the 5th time that GS cut its stake in ICBC since 2009. Interestingly, GS did exactly one placement in each of the year 2009-2012. Also note that the placement price this time (HKD5.77) is the highest among the 5 disposal, while the deal size was the smallest. Its latest disposal was in Apr2012, when GS sold 3.86b shares at HKD5.05.

ICBC is currently trading at 7x FY13E earnings and 1.3x book value, still offering near 5% FY13E dividend yield. We suggest buy on any weakness. In the past occasions, the impact on share price tends to be small and short-lived.