Michael Tung, chairman & CEO, Time Watch. NextInisght file photo.
TIME WATCH INVESTMENTS couldn’t meet a key listing criterion of the Hong Kong stock exchange, so it came to Singapore in 2005.
The criterion was earnings of at least HK$50 million.
But in the last financial year ended June 2009, it hit HK$62.1 million.
In fact, it had crossed the HK$50 million threshold back in the financial year ended June 2007 by achieving HK$73.3 million profit.
Now, that has given Michael Tung, the chairman and CEO, reason to cast his eyes on the Hong Kong stock exchange where his peers are getting far higher valuations for their shares.
He griped about the lack of recognition by Singapore investors of his company’s performance in an article in The Edge this week.
”We are doing well, but nobody is trading our shares. Looking at the turnover of our shares, we don’t have to think twice about returning to Hong Kong,” he was quoted as saying.
Time Watch is in the business of manufacturing and retailing its two proprietary brands: China-made Tian Wang and Swiss-label Balco.
Tian Wang was reportedly China’s second best-selling watch with a 10% market share in unit sales.
Time Watch shares closed at 17 cents yesterday (Feb 4), trading at PE of 4 only, according to Bloomberg, which uses earnings of the last four quarters.
Mr Tung is exploring possibilities such as delisting the shares from the Singapore Exchange and relisting in Hong Kong, or simply getting a secondary listing there, according to The Edge.
He said he had waited long enough for investors to discover his company. (Indeed, five years is a long time!)
Now that the company has grown large enough (market cap: S$64 million, not exactly very big), he is wasting no time in tapping the large pool of willing investors he believes is waiting for him in Hong Kong or China, according to The Edge.
Read our report on what Michael Tung said in an interview with Business Times a fortnight ago. He called the Singapore market a 'stagnant pond'. Click here.
