This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 21, 2017 - August 27, 2017
Notable filings
BETWEEN Aug 7 and 11, notable filings included the emergence of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor in 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd as the second largest shareholder.
On Aug 7, the Johor Sultan added 629,100 shares as he surfaced with an overall stake of 8.44% or 93.7 million shares. In the subsequent three trading days up to Aug 10, he bought a further 1.71 million shares in total to raise his stake to 8.59%.
The single largest shareholder in 7-Eleven Malaysia is Berjaya Retail Bhd with 34.02%, according to Bloomberg data.
The counter is only up 0.79% year to date, but has rebounded strongly since hitting a multiple-year low of RM1.14 on July 24, a level unseen since December 2014. Between July 24 and Aug 3, the stock surged almost 29% to hit RM1.47.
Over at AE Multi Holdings Bhd, which makes printed circuit boards and related products, Lim Teck Seng surfaced as a new substantial shareholder, having acquired 18.46 million shares or 6.17% on Aug 9. While the price was not disclosed, data shows 13.4 million shares were traded off-market on Aug 9 in four transactions at 17 sen apiece.
On Aug 9, AE Multi Holdings closed at 18 sen each. Lim is the second largest individual shareholder behind Chang Choon Ming with 15.44%. The stock is up over 17% year to date despite tumbling roughly 19% or 4 sen since peaking at 21 sen per share in early June.
Compugates Holdings Bhd founder Goh Kheng Peow sold 100 million shares or nearly a quarter of his shareholding in the consumer electronics distributor on three consecutive trading days up to Aug 10. The shares were sold on the open market and leaves him with 312.3 million shares or a 14.63% overall stake.
On June 16, Goh had resigned as managing director to focus on the day-to-day running of the business amid a soft market environment. He was appointed CEO on the same day. His wife See Thoo Chan remains an executive director.
At Destini Bhd, substantial shareholder Utarasama Marine Sdn Bhd sold another block of 10.13 million shares or 0.8% on the open market on Aug 10. The block would have fetched roughly RM6.58 million given its closing price of 65 sen that day.
Utarasama Marine surfaced in late July 2016 when it acquired 101 million shares and it further increased its shareholding to 120.13 million or 10.4% in November. However, it has been paring its stake this year in a series of disposals.
While Destini remains up 5% year to date, its share price has retreated since its last peak of 82 sen in mid-March to close at 64 sen last Tuesday, roughly a 22% decline over five months.
Meantime, engineering services provider Frontken Corp Bhd’s chairman Ng Wai Pin bought 500,000 shares to bump his shareholding to 0.57% or 600,000 shares on Aug 11. The stock had closed at 31 sen that day, capping a 24.3% fall since hitting a multiple-year high of 41 sen on Aug 4.
Despite the sharp tumble, Frontken remains up 108% year to date after a strong rally since November. Since Ng’s acquisition on Aug 11, the counter has rebounded slightly to close at 35 sen on Aug 15.
Notable movements
Closing at RM9.69 last Tuesday, Malayan Banking Bhd boasts an 18.17% advance year-to-date. With a market capitalisation of RM102.18 billion, it is now trading at levels unseen since October 2014.
The stock had rallied strongly from a multiple-year low of RM7.50 in late September 2016. Up to last Tuesday, it had surged over 29% since then.
This may have prompted some disposals by institutional shareholders to realise gains. Between Aug 7 and 11, Amanahraya Trustees Bhd disclosed that it sold a net amount of 51.52 million shares on behalf of Amanah Saham Bumiputera. The price was not disclosed, but open market prices suggest the block would have fetched about RM498 million.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) also sold a total of 10.52 million Maybank shares based on filings in the same time period. It is worth noting that Amanahraya Trustees retains 3.59 billion shares, while the EPF had 1.226 billion shares by the end of the Aug 11 trading week.
At software developer and ICT-related services provider Asdion Bhd, substantial shareholder Goodunited Ltd continue to pare down its holdings as fellow shareholder Eastbay Harvest Sdn Bhd ups its stake.
According to an Aug 9 filing, Goodunited sold 1.29 million shares, reducing its stake to 13.2 million shares or 11.35%. It had been paring its stake since October last year. Goodunited first surfaced in April 2014 with 20 million shares.
Eastbay Harvest first emerged in Asdion in mid-July with a 5.21% stake and subsequently increased its shareholding to 6.2% according to an Aug 8 filing. The latest transactions would make it Asdion’s fourth largest shareholder, behind Goodunited at third place.
The counter is down roughly 18% year to date, reversing a spectacular rally since the beginning of the year when it hit a one-year high of 45 sen in end-March after starting 2017 at 20 sen.
Since then, the stock has tumbled sharply to close at 16 sen last Tuesday, marking a 64% decline over four-and-a-half months.
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