Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 23, 2020 - March 29, 2020

Notable filings

BETWEEN March 9 and 13, notable shareholding changes in Bursa Malaysia-listed companies included that at Icon Offshore Bhd. Urusharta Jemaah Sdn Bhd — a wholly-owned unit of the Ministry of Finance — ceased to be a substantial shareholder in the struggling oil and gas company after selling 25.48 million shares or just under 1% equity interest.

Urusharta Jemaah came to control the Icon Offshore shares after it took over pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji’s non-performing assets in end-2018. All in, it took over shares in 106 listed companies and an unlisted plantation firm as well as 29 properties.

Urusharta Jamaah had ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Icon Offshore in January, but after a rights issue, it re-emerged with more than 5% equity interest in the company in February.

Icon Offshore closed last Wednesday at four sen, translating into a market capitalisation of RM105.66 million.

During the period under review, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Top Glove Corp Bhd after disposing of 11.41 million shares or a 0.45% stake in the rubber glove maker.

The EPF has been paring down its shareholding in Top Glove since the beginning of the year. In early January, it had 197.32 million shares or a 7.71% stake in the company.

Top Glove’s share price hit a 52-week high of RM6.69 on March 12, up more than 25% since January. Last Wednesday, the counter closed at RM5.75, giving the company a market value of RM14.73 billion.

Two of Reach Energy Bhd’s substantial shareholders seem to be winding down their holdings. During the period under review, Urusharta Jamaah sold 15.97 million shares, bringing its holding down to 90.51 million shares or 8.25% equity interest, while MTD Capital Bhd — the vehicle Tan Sri Nik Hussain Abdul Rahman’s family — disposed of 13.01 million shares, bringing its stake down to 12.42%.

Reach Energy has suffered losses in 10 out of its last 11 financial quarters. The profitable quarter was achieved after a foreign exchange gain nudged up earnings.

Some of the Reach Energy shares sold could have been pledged to financial institutions. Reach Energy’s share price hit a 52-week high of 34.5 sen on April 9 last year and a 52-week low of 3.5 sen last Wednesday. At its close of 3.5 sen, the company had a market value of RM38.37 million.

The share price of construction company TRC Synergy Bhd hit a 52-week low of 26 sen last Wednesday. Since the end of last December, the counter has shed close to 40% of its value.

During this period of share price weakness, Kolektif Aman Sdn Bhd — the vehicle of TRC Synergy managing director Tan Sri Sufri Mohd Zin — acquired 6.72 million shares or a 1.4% stake in TRC Synergy, pushing his holding via the company to 13.58%.

At its close of 26 sen last Wednesday, TRC Synergy had a market capitalisation of RM124.5 million.
 

Notable movements

Serba Dinamik Bhd’s share price hit a 52-week low of RM1.23 last Tuesday. The counter closed last Wednesday at RM1.41, its lowest since April 2018.

During this period of share price weakness, the EPF and Serba Dinamik group managing director cum CEO and controlling shareholder Datuk Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah have been accumulating the company’s shares.

The EPF, during the period under review, acquired 23.16 million shares or 0.75% equity interest, pushing its stake up to 7.04% or 216.97 million shares while Mohd Abdul Karim snapped up 3.5 million shares, bringing his holding to 665.51 million shares or 21.48% equity interest.

However, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) disposed of 3.61 million shares, bringing its holding down to 199.06 million shares or 6.45% equity interest.

Public Bank Bhd’s share price hit RM13.02 last Wednesday, its lowest since mid-2013. In stark contrast, its 52-week high of RM24.58 was on March 18 last year, meaning the banking group’s share price has shed more than 45% over the past year.

During the period under review, the EPF acquired 11.88 million shares, strengthening its holding to 557.39 million shares or 14.4% equity interest.
 

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.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share