NOTABLE filings

Between Jan 13 and 29, notable filings on shareholding changes included those at Integrax Bhd (fundamental: 1.65; valuation: 0.60), which recently received a conditional takeover offer at RM2.75 apiece from Tenaga Nasional Bhd (fundamental: 1.30; valuation: 1.80).

Filings show that Integrax’s co-founder and major shareholder Amin Halim Rasip continued to purchase shares. His most recent purchase of 751,000 shares from Jan 26 to 28 brought his total shareholding to almost 23.44%. This is nearly 2% higher than the 21.37% he held on April 30, 2014, according to Integrax’s 2013 annual report.

Amin, who reportedly called Tenaga’s Jan 9 buyout offer for 77.88% of Integrax it did not own as unfair and unreasonable, has said he would not part with his stake in the port operator for anything less than RM5 apiece. According to a Jan 28 filing, Amin paid between RM2.76 and RM2.80 apiece for 352,900 shares that day.

US-based Matthews International Capital Management LLC sold 2.97 million shares in OldTown Bhd (fundamental: 3; valuation: 2.1) from Jan 23 to 28, paring its holdings to 22.43 million shares or a 5.07% stake. However, another US-based fund, Franklin Resources Inc, picked up 2.89 million shares between Jan 22 and 27, raising its stake to 8% or 35.37 million shares. These purchases took place before the Feb 2 statement by Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on his Facebook account reportedly urging Malays to boycott Chinese businesses, including OldTown’s café chain, so as to force them to lower their prices.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese Chen Chun Hsiung ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Focus Lumber Bhd (fundamental: 1.75; valuation: 3.00) on Jan 26, after disposing of more than five million shares on Jan 26. As at Dec 23, 2014, Chen had a 8.54% stake or 8.81 million shares. According to theedgemarkets.com, the likelihood of a corporate exercise at Focus Lumber is “high”, whose shares went up 6.8% this year to settle at RM1.10 on Feb 4.
 
Notable movements

Shares of the loss-making Scanwolf Corp Bhd (fundamental: 0.55; valuation: 0.60) have spiked 42.6% in the past seven weeks to close at 77 sen on Feb 4, compared with 54 sen on Dec 18, 2014. Gains were even more pronounced when it touched RM1 apiece on Jan 22, the day the Perak-based plastic extrusions maker was queried by Bursa Malaysia for unusual market activity. In response, Scanwolf said it did not know what could have caused the sharp rise in the price and trading volume of its shares.

It is worth noting that last November, Scanwolf placed out 7.53 million shares at par value of 50 sen apiece, which at the time represented a 9.96% discount to the five-day, volume-weighted average market price. According to a Nov 18, 2014, filing, Datuk Ch’ng Kong San emerged as a substantial shareholder with a 10% stake or 7.53 million shares on Nov 14, pursuant to the private placement. On Jan 29, 2015, Yii Long Ging emerged as a substantial shareholder after buying some 4.88 million shares or a 5.89% stake on the open market on Jan 21. The counter closed at 87.5 sen that day.

Shares of Nationwide Express Courier Services Bhd (fundamental: 2.25; valuation: 1.20) gained 19.67% or 12 sen year to date to close at 73 sen on Feb 4. Managing director Rozilawati Basir and her mother, Puan Sri Hamidah Abdul Rahman, were accumulating shares in their loss-making courier and freight forwarder. A Jan 29 filing showed Hamidah acquired 1.5 million shares while Rozilawati mopped up 171,000 shares at 87 apiece on Jan 20, some 19.2% above its 73 sen closing price that day. Another 1.66 million shares changed hands in a direct deal off market on Jan 20.

Note: The Edge Research’s fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on February 9-15, 2015.

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