This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on September 28 - October 4, 2015.

Notable filings

Over the week of Sept 14 to 18, some of the more notable trades on Bursa Malaysia were done by Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and its fund, Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB).

On Sept 14, a filing shows, the fund sold 51.4 million shares, or about 0.5%, in Malayan Banking Bhd. A check on Bloomberg reveals that the shares were sold at RM8.51 each or RM437.8 million in total.

After the sale, ASB has a stake of about 37% in Maybank (fundamental: 1.40; valuation: 2.25) while PNB has an additional 5.5% equity interest.

While only 0.5% of Maybank was sold, it is worth noting that its share price has been inching up from the 52-week low of RM8.18 seen in mid-August and ended trading last Wednesday at RM8.41.    

ASB also sold 10 million shares in state-controlled utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (fundamental: 1.30; valuation: 1.80), reducing its shareholding to 505.8 million shares or equity interest of just a tad below 9%.

The fund also sold 6.5 million shares in telco company Maxis Bhd (fundamental: 1.15; valuation: 1.10), reducing its stake to just under 8%. 

Interestingly, PNB announced that it had acquired close to 18.7 million shares or 0.7% equity interest in property developer S P Setia Bhd on Sept 10. After the acquisition, PNB has a stake of slightly more than 51% in S P Setia (fundamental: 1.90; valuation: 2).  

S P Setia’s shares are also coming off its year low of RM2.96 (Aug 25) and closed last Wednesday at RM3.24.

Pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji snapped up almost 44.3 million shares, or almost 1%, of property developer UEM Sunrise Bhd (fundamental: 1.50; valuation: 2.60), increasing its shareholding to just above 6%. 

UEM Sunrise’s share price hit 75.5 sen at end-August, the lowest since mid-2010, and closed last Wednesday at RM1.15.    

On Sept 18, Teak Ventures Sdn Bhd sold 4.5 million shares, or about 1%, of newly listed Aemulus Holdings Bhd, reducing its shareholding to 25.4 million shares or just below 5.8%. Teak Ventures is a unit of Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd.

Aemulus (fundamental: na; valuation: na) designs and makes semiconductor testers for the automotive test equipment market. 

Just a day before the sale, Malaysia Venture Capital Management sold 4.3 million shares and decreased its stake to 29.9 million shares or 6.8% equity interest.

Aemulus has been in the news since its listing on Sept 15. State-controlled investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd, via wholly owned Bombalai Hill Ventures Sdn Bhd, surfaced in the company with 65.8 million shares, or 15%, acquired via a private placement on Sept 15, generating considerable interest. It closed last Wednesday at 51.5 sen.

Notable movements

SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd’s stock hit a multi-year low of RM1.36 on Aug 25. Since then, the company’s shares have gained about 41%, closing at RM1.92 last Wednesday.

Despite the gains, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has been selling the oil and gas counter’s shares. As at last Wednesday, the EPF had 14.4%, or 865.7 million shares, in Sapura-

Kencana (fundamental: 0.65; valuation: 1.40), in contrast to mid-August, when it had 15.4% or 925.5 million shares.

During the week in review, the EPF sold 17.4 million shares in SapuraKencana. The other substantial shareholders are Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin and his brother Datuk Shahriman Shamsuddin, who hold 16.8% via their vehicle Brothers Capital Sdn Bhd; Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir, who holds 10.2% via Khasera Baru Sdn Bhd; Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, who has an 8.2% stake via Seadrill Ltd; and AmanahRaya Trustees Bhd-Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera, which have 6.3%. 

The EPF was also actively selling shares in MISC Bhd. As at last Wednesday, the pension fund controlled some 6.6%, or 293.4 million shares, in the shipping company. At end-July, the EPF had 6.8%, or 303.9 million shares, in MISC (fundamental: 1.20; valuation: 0.80).   

The shipping company’s shares have gained slightly more than 13% since end-July and closed at RM8.48 last Wednesday.

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