(Yicai Global) June 18 -- Shares of Ping An Insurance Group, China’s biggest insurer by market value, declined after it said Charoen Pokphand Group had again cut its holding of Ping An’s Hong Kong-listed stock.

Ping An Insurance [HKG: 2318 / SHA: 601318] fell about 1.7 percent in Hong Kong and Shanghai today to close at HKD77.45 (USD10) and CNY65.10 (USD10.10). The Shenzhen-based company’s A shares, those listed on the Chinese mainland, have fallen 25 percent so far this year, while its H shares have retreated 18 percent.

CP cut its holdings of Ping An’s H shares by more than 180 million this year to June 16, representing 1 percent of the insurer’s total equity, Ping An said yesterday. Based on a year-to-date average price of HKD90 a share, CP cashed out about HKD16.4 billion (USD2.1 billion). Ping An gave no reason for the sale.

It is Bangkok-based CP’s second major stake reduction since last year, after selling 220 million of Ping An’s H shares from March 1 to the end of 2020, Ping An said in January. CP’s stake had fallen to 6.85 percent, or about 1.25 billion shares, as of June 16.

CP bought 976 million H shares of Ping An from HSBC Holdings for HKD72.7 billion at the end of 2012 -- HKD59 per share -- to become the insurer’s single biggest stockholder. Its stake peaked at the end of 2013, with its indirectly owned Ping An shares in both markets exceeding 13.5 percent.

CP was founded in 1921 by Chinese Thai industrialists Chia Ek Chor and his brother. Its business covers agriculture, animal husbandry, food, commercial retail, pharmaceuticals, and real estate.

In addition to its retail arm, C. P. Pokphand, which is listed in Hong Kong, another unit, Chia Tai International, whose main business is feed and pig breeding, is now promoting an initial public offering in the Chinese mainland that could raise as much as CNY15 billion (USD2.3 billion).

Editor: Peter Thomas