KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 3): Foreign shareholding in Bursa Malaysia Bhd fell to its lowest on record since 2016 at 13.6% in August 2022, from 14.8% a month earlier, according to the bourse operator and regulator's latest update.
Prior to this, the lowest foreign shareholding was 14.4% in January 2022, Bursa said.
Bursa's highest foreign shareholding on record was at 28.6% in March 2018, according to the group.
On Thursday (Sept 29), Bursa said on its website that the group had scheduled to release its financial results for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY22), on Oct 31.
In a filing on July 28, Bursa said its 2QFY22 net profit fell to RM59.47 million from RM88.97 million a year earlier, while revenue declined to RM151.89 million from RM196.1 million.
For 1HFY22, Bursa said cumulative net profit dropped to RM127.44 million from RM210.36 million a year earlier, while revenue was lower at RM317.19 milllion versus RM428.37 million.
At Bursa's 12:30pm break on Monday (Oct 3), Bursa's share price settled down two sen or 0.32% at RM6.19, which values the group at about RM5.01 billion based on its latest-reported number of outstanding shares at 809.3 milllion.
Since the beginning of 2022, Bursa's share price had fallen to current levels, from the stock's closing price at RM6.46 on Jan 3.
Bursa's share dynamics, like those across the broader market, have taken cue from factors including global inflation, interest rate hike and Russia-Ukraine war sentiments.
Such sentiments had led to a depreciation in world currencies including the ringgit against a strengthening US dollar, which saw higher demand from investors seeking higher returns from US interest rate hikes and as they sought safety in the US dollar, which is deemed a haven in times of geopolitical uncertainties.
MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd's research team wrote in a note on Monday that last week saw another round of global sell-off, with the US dollar holding near recent peaks, on top of historically high inflation, rising interest rates and growing recession fears.
"It marked the third weekly decline for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones (Industrial Average), and all three main (US equity) indices were down for the second consecutive month," MIDF said.
Meanwhile, Bursa-listed companies' shares had last week continued to see net selling by foreigners for the fourth consecutive week, MIDF said.
"They (foreigners) have net sold -RM740.6m worth of equities last week, which was higher than the RM562.6m sold in the previous week," MIDF said.