This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on January 16 - 22, 2017.

Notable filings

FROM Jan 3 to 6, noteworthy changes in the shareholding of companies on Bursa Malaysia included those in Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd.

Filings show that deputy group chairman Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib sold 556,600 shares at RM3.856 apiece on Jan 5 and 460,600 shares at RM3.881 apiece on Jan 6. From Dec 30 last year to Jan 4, he sold a total of 1.304 million shares at between RM3.849 and RM3.871 per share.

Cahya Mata Sarawak’s shares have stayed below the RM4 level since last April. The last time the counter traded at above RM5 was in February last year. Mahmud, who is the son of former Sarawak chief minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, still has 85.2 million shares or 7.93% equity interest in the company.

Over at Boustead Holdings Bhd, major shareholder Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera has been increasing its stake in the company.

In the final trading days of last year, LTAT purchased 27.42 million shares or a 1.35% stake. Between Jan 3 and 6, it bought another 910,000 Boustead shares, bringing its stake to 59.91%.

Boustead’s share price has been on an upward trend. The counter ended last year on a one-year high of RM2.67 but has since retreated. It closed at RM2.46 last Thursday.

Elsewhere, TA Global Bhd executive chairman Datuk Tiah Thee Kian bought 2.72 million shares on the open market in four transactions for RM678,366 in total from Dec 29 last year to Jan 4. Filings show that he paid between 24.5 sen and 25.4 sen per share.

The latest filings also show that Tiah acquired 6.71 million shares on the open market at 25.5 sen to 26.8 sen apiece from Jan 5 to 10, which raised his direct stake in TA Global to 7.57%. The stock climbed to a one-year high of 27.5 sen on Jan 12.

Notable movements

7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s substantial shareholder, Franklin Resources Inc, has been accumulating shares in the convenience store operator while the stock has been on a downward trend. Franklin Resources raised its stake to 6.94% as at Jan 6 from about 5.001% last January.

The counter reached an all-time high of RM1.95 on Oct 17 last year but has shed 29.2% at last Thursday’s close of RM1.38. Filings show that the US-based asset manager bought 4.06 million shares between Dec 28 last year and Jan 4.

In recent months, 7-Eleven Malaysia’s major shareholder Berjaya Retail Bhd has been paring down its stake. In the first week of January, it sold eight million shares, reducing its holding to a 48.62% direct stake and a 0.135% indirect stake. It had a direct stake of about 53.59% last April. The transaction price was not disclosed in the filings but the counter traded at an average of RM1.40 on Dec 30 last year.

At Ekovest Bhd, substantial shareholder Kota Jayasama Sdn Bhd has sold a substantial amount of shares at a time when the former’s value has almost doubled over the past 12 months.

Ekovest hit an all-time high of RM2.54 on Nov 10 last year after the company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nuzen Corp Sdn Bhd, will sell 40% equity interest in Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi) to the Employees Provident Fund for RM1.13 billion. Kesturi holds the concession for the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway.

Kota Jayasama halved its stake in Ekovest to 10.12% as at Jan 10 from 20.16% as at Oct 7 last year, filings show.

From Dec 29 last year to Jan 3, Kota Jayasama sold 11.115 million Ekovest shares. Filings show that 1.515 million shares were disposed of on the open market at between RM2.361 and RM2.408 apiece while 9.6 million shares were sold via a private arrangement at RM2.37 each. In the first week of January, Kota Jayasama sold another 1.09 million shares on the open market and 12.05 million shares via a private arrangement at between RM2.39 and RM2.42 apiece.

Kota Jayasama is the private vehicle of Datuk Haris Onn Hussein, the brother of Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. Haris is the managing director of Kesturi.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.