KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11): Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd said Rex International Holding Ltd's claim about Hibiscus' stakeholding in Masirah Oil Ltd would not affect its business as the group is focusing on its core assets in the United Kingdom and Australia.

Hibiscus chairman Zainal Rahim bin Mohd Zain said the difficulties it faced over the "Masirah issue" was due to the different interpretation with Rex.

"I have the answer, but I cannot tell you. This is just a different interpretation that we need to sort out," he said.

As it is an issue still pending legal resolution, he declined to disclose more details.

However, he did not know how long the resolution of the issue would take.

He was speaking to the reporters in a press conference following the group's annual general meeting.

Rex recently claimed that Hibiscus did not disclose changes of Lime Petroleum Plc's (Lime Plc) stake in Masirah in the quarterly report (QR), and also stated that Lime Plc's interest in Masirah had changed from 64% to 6.4%.

Masirah has secured the rights for the Block 50 oil field in Oman.

Hibiscus had in Dec 8 refuted Rex's claim by saying Rex's statement was incorrect.

Rex and Hibiscus are major shareholders in Lime Plc, according to Hibiscus' QR.

Rex via Rex Middle East Ltd owns 56.4% in Lime Plc, while Hibiscus through Gulf Hibiscus Ltd holds a 35% stake. The remaining 8.6% in Lime Plc is held by Schroder & Co Banque S.A.

At noon, shares in Hibiscus were unchanged at 24 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM257 million.

Hibiscus' share price has declined 72% from its peak of 98 sen in Oct 10 last year.

(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.)