Tuesday 19 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on February 13 - 19, 2017.

 

IN the shortened trading week between Feb 1 and Feb 7, Bursa Malaysia saw a little over 659 million shares worth RM643.4 million changing hands off market in blocks of at least 300,000 shares.

Econpile Holdings Bhd’s group managing director The Cheng Eng pared his holdings by disposing of another 10.7 million shares, or a 2% stake, for a total of RM20.33 million on Feb 7. The, who founded Econpile in 1987, has been paring down his stake since the company debuted on Bursa Malaysia in June 2014. His stake currently stands at 29.78% following the Feb 7 disposal, compared with 36.45% in mid-2014.

Econpile’s share price has more than doubled over the past year, with its one-year return at 107% at the time of writing. The stock is up nearly 10% just over a month into 2017.

At diversified group Weida (M) Bhd, 12.19 million shares, or 9.6% equity interest, changed hands in several direct deals for RM23.16 million in total on Feb 2 and Feb 3. The RM1.90 transacted price was below the RM1.93 to RM1.95 the stock fetched on the open market at the time. It was unclear who had picked up the shares at the time of writing.

The biggest shareholder in Weida is Weida Management Sdn Bhd, a vehicle of group founder Datuk Lee Choon Chin and his wife. Weida Management held 20.92% equity interest as at June 17 last year, according to Weida’s latest annual report, while Lee personally controlled another 5.57%. The only other substantial shareholder at the same date was pilgrimage fund Lembaga Tabung Haji with a 9.61% stake. The stock has surged since early December last year, rising from RM1.60 on Dec 8 to peak at RM1.95 early this month — up over 21% in two months. It is due to release third-quarter earnings by the end of the month.

Poultry farming group Lay Hong Bhd is another stock that has surged recently. It saw 10 million shares — about 1.6% of its share base — change hands in a single direct deal for RM7.8 million on Feb 3. The 78 sen transacted price was 5.1% below the 82 sen the shares fetched on the open market at the time.

The stock rallied in February, rising from 81 sen apiece to 93 sen as at market close last Wednesday, representing an increase of over 14%. It has grown by 14.2% year to date,  although its one-year return is considerably less exciting at 2.9% following a sharp surge and tumble in October.

Over at Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N), 4.9 million shares, or a 1.3% stake, were traded off market on Feb 7 for RM116.13 million. The acquisition comes as F&N reported a 16% year-on-year tumble in net profit for the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2016, despite 2% revenue growth. Its share price has been flat YTD, although it is still up over 29% over the past one-year period.

Meanwhile, Icon Offshore Bhd remains a counter of interest with a privatisation offer looming over the stock. In the period under review, nearly six million shares were traded off market for RM2.75 million or 46 sen apiece. That is just under the 50 sen per share mark that will be offered to Icon’s shareholders should its proposed privatisation proceed.

To recap, in January UMW Oil & Gas (UMW-OG) announced two separate deals with Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) worth RM721.61 million. Under the exercises, UMW-OG would acquire Ekuinas’ 42.3% stake in Icon for 50 sen apiece,  after which the former would issue a mandatory general offer at the same valuation. UMW-OG does not intend to keep Icon listed.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd also saw notable off-market trades, with about 2.09 million shares changing hands at RM24.90 each, or RM52.2 million in total, on Feb 6. The transacting parties were unknown at press time. The Employees Provident Fund has been actively trading KLK shares this year, with a net reduction of its holdings from 14.9% as at end-2016 to 13.7% as at Feb 6. KLK is slated to release first-quarter earnings on Feb 14.

 

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