This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on November 16 - 22, 2015.

Notable filings

From Nov 2 to 5, notable trades on Bursa Malaysia included that at Sycal Ventures Bhd.

The construction materials and civil works company, which has a property development arm, saw the emergence of Westhill Capital Sdn Bhd as a substantial shareholder after the latter bought 26.68 million of its shares or an 8.33% stake. Westhill Capital is the vehicle of Teo Kok Keong and Hew Kok Long.

A similar number of shares crossed through an off-market trade on Nov 2 at 25 sen apiece — a 38.27% discount to Sycal’s closing price of 40.5 sen that day.

Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd is Sycal’s largest shareholder, controlling a third or 33.33% of the company’s equity interest.

Last month, Fantastic Hallmark Sdn Bhd surfaced as a shareholder in Sycal with a 5.31% stake. It later increased its shareholding to 16.66% or 53.36 million shares. Fantastic Hallmark is the vehicle of Mohd Wazir Khalid and Suzanna Mohd Nor.

Formerly known as Cygal Bhd, Sycal (fundamental: 1.50; valuation: 2.10) was previously controlled by Datuk Bujang Buyong @ Jislen Bagong — who passed away in August this year — and his partners Datuk Seow Ying Chin and Syed Zain Al-Kudcy Datuk Syed Mahmood.

Meanwhile, Atrium Real Estate Investment Trust saw Sparkle Skyline Sdn Bhd dispose of five million of the REIT’s shares, thus reducing its shareholding to 4.26 million shares or almost 3.5% equity interest.

Based on the filings with Bursa, the buyer could have been Chan Kam Tuck, who bought a similar number of shares on the same day. The purchase nudged Chan’s shareholding in Atrium (fundamental: 2.45; valuation: 3) up to 24.83% or 30.24 million shares.

Since hitting a 52-week low of RM1.01 at end-August, the counter has increased steadily and ended trading last Wednesday at RM1.11.

Shares of electrical home appliance manufacturer Pensonic Holdings Bhd (fundamental: 1.10; valuation: 3) have been on an upward trend since end-August, gaining 37.6%. They closed at 61 sen last Wednesday.

During the period in review, Tan Sri Tan King Tai @ Tan Khoon Hai ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Pensonic after he sold slightly more than 300,000 shares. Tan has been actively trading the company’s shares recently, with his shareholding hovering around the 5% mark — the level to be considered a substantial shareholder.

Oil and gas outfit Dialog Group Bhd has seen its share price gain momentum since it hit RM1.44 in mid-August — the lowest this year. Since then, the counter has gained more than 13%. It closed at RM1.63 last Wednesday.

During the period under review, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) or KWAP ceased to be a substantial shareholder in the company after hiving off almost 4.1 million shares. KWAP initially emerged as a substantial shareholder in Dialog (fundamental: 2.50; valuation: 1.10) in late August this year.

Notable movements

Since hitting a 52-week low of RM3.77 at end-August, Gamuda Bhd’s shares have gained 20.16% to close at RM4.53 last Wednesday.

During the period of weakness in its share price, several institutional funds such as Lembaga Tabung Haji, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), KWAP and those under the banner of Permodalan Nasional Bhd actively traded Gamuda’s shares.

Between Nov 2 and 5, the EPF purchased almost 6.4 million shares in the company, while KWAP and AmanahRaya Trustees Bhd-Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera sold 2.48 million and 4.16 million shares respectively. The EPF has a 10.91% stake in Gamuda while KWAP and AmanahRaya have 5.52% and 7.08% respectively.

Construction, civil engineering and property development are the mainstay of Gamuda (fundamental: 1.30; valuation: 1.40).

At end-September, diversified UMW Holdings Bhd saw its share price hit RM7.41 — the lowest since mid-2012. UMW (fundamental: 1.40; valuation: 1.40) was affected by the damp sentiment in oil and gas and the weak automotive market, among others.

Since then, however, the counter has gained 9.31%. It ended trading last Wednesday at RM8.10.

During the period in review, the EPF purchased 2.39 million shares in UMW, nudging its shareholding to 16.47% or 192.4 million shares. AmanahRaya sold 2.24 million shares and reduced its stake in the company to 40.39% or 471.88 million shares.

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. Visit www.theedgemarkets.com for more details on a company’s financial dashboard.

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