KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Bumi Armada Bhd hit an all-time low this morning on continued negative reaction to the termination of its RM1.46 billion floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) Armada Claire contract.

At the midday break, the counter dropped 2.5 sen or 3.95% to 73.5 sen with 24.56 million shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM4.28 billion.

The share price of the marine shipping company involved in the oil and gas sector has plunged 69% since 2012. Year to date, the counter has fallen 28.43%.

Interpacific Securities remisier Sam Ng told theedgemarkets.com that shareholders could be following the Employee Provident Fund's (EPF) action of selling Bumi Armada shares over four consecutive days.

In separate filings with the local exchange, Bumi Armada said EPF disposed of nine million shares between March 30 and April 5.

It still possesses 452.3 million shares or a 7.711% direct stake in the group. The fund's stake stood at 8.32% on April 16, 2015.

"The counter experienced a sharp drop from RM1 on March 7 following the news of the Armada Claire contract termination," said Ng.

On March 14, Bumi Armada filed a suit against Woodside, seeking damages for alleged breach of contract over the repudiation, the amount of which will be quantified at a later stage, and an additional sum of US$66.19 million for work done and materials supplied pursuant to the contract.

The contract's termination was expected to impact the full-year 2016 financial results of the group.

SJ Securities Sdn Bhd remisier K.C. Goh agreed that EPF's disposal of shares could have led to negative sentiments among investors.

However, he said the price drop could also trigger a possible buying opportunity as 73 sen is the all-time low for the stock.

"According to my chart, I notice banker or funds coming in at 73 to 73.5 sen. Many traders are watching and thinking of buying for short-term rebound," he said.