This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on March 28 - April 3, 2016.

Notable movements

BETWEEN March 14 and 18, notable changes in shareholding in companies listed on Bursa Malaysia include that at property developer Titijaya Land Bhd. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) ceased to be a substantial shareholder.

According to the company’s filings with the exchange, the EPF disposed of 221,700 shares in Titijaya on March 11, reducing its stake to less than 5% or 17.65 million outstanding shares.

The provident fund first emerged as a substantial shareholder on Feb 4 last year, when it bought 18.27 million shares or a 5.17% stake in the property developer. The EPF’s equity interest in Titijaya rose to as high as 5.372% or 18.98 million shares on Feb 5.

Since early March, the EPF has been selling down its stake in Bumi Armada Bhd, an international offshore oilfield services provider that is a global floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel player and one of the top owners and operators of offshore support vessels in Asia.

According to filings, the EPF sold 18.63 million shares from March 9 to 11, leaving it with a 8.098% stake or 475.1 million shares. This compares with 8.743% equity interest or 512.9 million shares on Feb 29.

Bumi Armada has been in the news since it announced on March 4 that the contract of its FPSO Armada Claire at the Balnaves oilfield, off northwestern Australia, was terminated by Woodside Petroleum Ltd.

On March 14, Bumi Armada said it had filed suit in the Supreme Court of Western Australia against Woodside Energy Julimar Pty Ltd over the termination of the contract and is seeking damages. The vessel had been operating in the Balnaves field since August 2014. The termination of the contract is expected to impact Bumi Armada’s full-year 2016 financial results.

On March 14, the EPF ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Only World Group Holdings Bhd, which operates food and retail service outlets and amusement parks, when it sold 58,000 shares in the company.

The EPF first emerged as a substantial shareholder in Only World Group on Feb 16 with 11.93 million shares or 5.1% equity interest. Only World Group has risen 55.33% over the last year to last Tuesday’s close of RM2.37, or a market capitalisation of RM554.6 million.

At Imaspro Bhd, substantial shareholder Dr Yu Kuan Chon continues to accumulate shares. On March 11, Yu, the chairman and executive director of YNH Property Bhd, bought 300,000 shares in the pesticide and fertiliser manufacturer, bringing his equity interest in the company 

to 17.482% or 13.98 million shares.

Yu first emerged as a substantial shareholder in Imaspro on March 16 with a 5.5% stake. Imaspro has risen 34.9% this year, 

closing at RM2.04 last Tuesday.

Notable movements

Market interest in export-oriented companies such as Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd appears to be waning as the glovemaker has lost some 30% of its value in the past two months as the ringgit regained ground against the greenback.

The EPF has been actively trading Kossan. During the week in review, it sold 1.4 million shares in the company. It still held a 9.81% stake or 62.75 million shares as at March 15, higher than the 8.46% equity interest it had as at Jan 26 this year.

National utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) saw its share price jump 3.55% to its close of RM14 in a single trading day last Tuesday with 34.1 million shares changing hands.

During the week in review, Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera sold 9.18 million shares in TNB, bringing its stake in the utility to 7.98% or 450.28 million shares. The fund has been paring down its equity interest in TNB. On Dec 28, 2015, it had 463.48 million shares or a 8.21% stake.

The EPF was also actively trading TNB shares during the week, selling 13.4 million, leaving it with 949.5 million shares or a 16.82% stake. 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.