Fashion group Esprit Holdings Ltd saw its shares slide more than seven per cent on Friday after chairman Michael Ying slashed his stake in the firm for the second time this year.

The company said Ying agreed to place 50 million shares, or a 4.2 per cent stake, with independent shareholders at HK$23.94 (US$3.10) each, in a move that will see his holding fall to 33.84 per cent from 38.04 per cent.

In May, Ying sold a 3.6 per cent stake, or 42.5 million shares, at HK$14.70 each.

The company last month posted a 28 per cent year-on-year jump in annual net profit to HK$1.19 billion as sales climbed by more than a third to HK$12bn from the same period of the prior year.

It also announced plans to spend HK$100 million on a new global business base in Ratingen, Germany, as well as HK$400m on a major store opening program in Europe and HK$90m on IT improvements.