(Yicai) March 7 -- Chinese private equity giant Hillhouse Capital sold around HKD5 billion (USD643 million) worth of Beigene’s shares this week, cashing in on a 40 percent gain in the biotech firm’s stock price so far this year.

Hillhouse’s HHLR Fund and Hillhouse BGN Holdings pared their stake in Beigene from 8.97 percent to 6.66 percent on March 3 and 4, selling around 32.2 million shares through block trading, Beijing-based Beigene said yesterday.

This led to a slump in Beigene’s share price. On March 3, shares tumbled 4.3 percent in Hong Kong [HKG:6160] and 9.7 percent in New York [NASDAQ:ONC], and on March 4, they slumped 4.7 percent in Hong Kong.

And today, Beigene’s Hong Kong-traded stock closed down 2.3 percent at HKD152.20 (USD19.58), while its mainland shares [SHA:688235] slumped 1 percent to end at CNY230.20 (USD31.82). Its US stock finished the day 2 percent lower yesterday at USD256.97.

Despite the recent dip due to the sell-off, Beigene’s stock has gained about 40 percent in value in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the US since the beginning of the year, thanks to its strong financial performance.

Last year, the firm posted an adjusted operating profit of CNY528 million (USD72.9 million), making money for the first time in its 15-year history, according to its latest financial report released on Feb. 27. Net losses narrowed 26 percent from a year earlier to CNY5 billion, while revenue surged 56 percent to CNY27.2 billion (USD3.7 billion).

After this sale, Hillhouse has slipped to the fourth-largest shareholder in Beigene from the third-largest, behind US biotech giant Amgen with 17.7 percent equity and US investment firms Baker Brothers Life Sciences and Capital Research and Management, which hold 10 percent and 7.8 percent stakes, respectively.

Hillhouse’s HHLR Advisors, which only invests in US stocks, also sold off 1.4 million of Beigene’s US shares in the fourth quarter of last year. As a result, Beigene now accounts for 24 percent of the fund’s portfolio, down from 26 percent, but it is still the largest holding, according to the latest data.

Editor: Kim Taylor