(Yicai Global) May 12 -- Shares in Postal Savings Bank of China sank today after news broke that the charitable organization set up by the late Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing and one of the lender’s major shareholders has shed more shares.

Postal Savings Bank’s share price [HKG:1658] closed down 2.7 percent at HKD5.02 (USD0.64) in Hong Kong and its Shanghai-traded shares [SHA:601658] slumped 2.6 percent to finish the day at CNY5.24 (USD0.75). The stock has gained 3.5 percent in value in Hong Kong so far this year and 13.4 percent on the mainland.

The Li Ka-shing Foundation sold 22.5 million shares of Postal Savings Bank’s Hong Kong-traded stock at an average price of HKD5.43 (USD0.64) each, reducing its holdings to 9.97 percent from 10.08 percent, according to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.

The lender’s Hong Kong shares only account for 20 percent of its total share capital.

The foundation has offloaded 204 million of the Beijing-based lender’s shares from the end of last year, according to the latest data.

The share sale was a routine financial operation and all the proceeds will go towards philanthropic activities, The Paper reported yesterday, citing an insider at the bank. The foundation is on good terms with the Postal Savings Bank and is in accordance with the lender's operations and direction, it added.

The foundation became a major shareholder of Postal Savings Bank when it went public in Hong Kong in 2016. The lender’s Hong Kong shares only account for 20 percent of its total share capital.

Editor: Kim Taylor