BETWEEN Nov 16 and 22, a total of 400.2 million shares worth RM1.62 billion were traded off market in blocks of at least 450,000 shares.

Among notable transactions were those at APFT Bhd, which saw 23.84 million shares or a 5% stake exchange hands in several block trades at between six sen and 8.5 sen per share — almost doubling the four sen to five sen they fetched in the first two weeks of the month.

The flight training provider’s share price rose 14% on Nov 18 after it proposed a debt settlement programme, which involves the issuing of new shares to its directors and creditors. The programme would reduce its gearing from 0.61 times to 0.41 times.

The spike in share price led to an unusual market query by Bursa Malaysia. However, the company said it did not know the cause.

Over at BIMB Holdings Bhd, 62.62 million shares or a 3.9% stake crossed off market in direct and block trades in the period under review. The shares were transacted at between RM4.20 and RM4.24 apiece.

At the time of writing, it was not known who were involved in the transactions, but Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), the largest shareholder in the bank with a 51.1% stake, has been paring its BIMB shares. The pilgrim fund is said to be looking to sell a 20% stake in BIMB, but the bank, when asked about it, replied that it was not privy to its shareholders’ plans.

Nevertheless, on Nov 14, TH disposed of 35.65 million BIMB shares, only to buy back the stake four days later, filings with Bursa show. The transaction prices were not disclosed.

In its second quarter ended June 30, 2016, BIMB posted a net profit of RM143.7 million, up 10.6% from a year earlier.

Another notable transaction during the week was that at Asdion Bhd, which saw 4.5 million shares or a 3.9% stake change hands in a direct trade on Nov 21. The transaction price of 20 sen per share was at the higher end of the 17.5 sen to 20 sen the shares fetched on the open market that day. The parties involved were not known at the time of writing.

Recently, the technology company saw several board changes. Its chief operating officer Low Jyh Sing resigned due to poor health while its executive director Jason Minos Peter retired in September.

Trading in Asdion’s shares was briefly suspended in August because of the company’s failure to release its annual report within the stipulated time. Asdion said the setback was due to a delay in consolidating the accounts of its subsidiary in Singapore.

At Ire-Tex Corp Bhd, 4.74 million shares changed hands in direct trades on Nov 17 and 21 at 21 sen apiece. A total of 2.37 million shares were traded on Nov 17 at a 7.7% premium to the 19.5 sen they fetched on the open market that day. There were no open-market trades on Nov 21. At press time, the transacting parties were not known.

In its second quarter ended June 30, 2016, the packaging company slipped deeper into the red with its net loss rising to RM4.14 million from RM1.77 million previously. This was due to the loss recorded by its investment holding division and the discontinued manufacturing operation of its wholly-owned subsidiary in Suzhou, China.

On Nov 22, ECS ICT Bhd saw 5.5 million shares or a 3.1% stake traded in a direct deal at RM1.47 per share — a 3.5% premium to the open-market price of RM1.42 that day.

The ICT product distributor recently secured the rights to distribute the iPhone in the country.

In its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016, ECS ICT’s net profit rose 29.3% to RM6.15 million from a year earlier. The jump was mainly due to the company’s enterprise systems segment, which registered higher sales of networking equipment.

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