This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on November 9 - 15, 2015.

Notable filings

Between Oct 26 and 30, notable shareholder changes at Bursa Malaysia-listed companies included the emergence of Perbadanan Nasional Bhd (PNS) as a major shareholder in Caring Pharmacy Group Bhd with a 12.76% stake.

According to an Oct 30 filing, PNS bought 27.78 million shares from Tan Sri Vincent Tan’s Jitumaju Sdn Bhd on Oct 26 at RM1.80 apiece via a direct business transaction. The price was at a 13% discount to the RM2.08 apiece the stock fetched on the open market that day.

The transaction pared Tan’s shareholding in Caring (fundamental: 2.05; valuation: 0.30) to 5.29% as at Oct 29. According to its 2015 annual report, Caring’s largest shareholder is Motivasi Optima Sdn Bhd with a 50.35% stake as at Aug 19. Motivasi Optima is owned by Chong Yeow Siang, Soo Chan Chiew, Tan Lean Boon, Ang Khoon Lim and Tan Lye Suan.

Over at Bioalpha Holdings Bhd (fundamental: NA; valuation: NA), PNS disposed of 28.06 million shares or a 6.05% stake in the company at 25 sen each on Oct 29. That reduced PNS’ shareholding to 16.69%, making it the second largest shareholder after William Hon Tian Kok who owned 18.67% of Bioalpha.

On Oct 21, Datuk Seri Muhammad Syafiq Baljit Abdullah sold 35.45 million shares or an 8.16% stake in flight training academy APFT Bhd (fundamental: 0.20; valuation: 0) and is no longer a substantial shareholder of the company.

At Seacera Group Bhd (fundamental: 2.30; valuation: 3), Utusan Mewah Sdn Bhd ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the tile manufacturer-cum-property developer on Oct 19 after selling 2.19 million shares or a 1.16% stake at 55 sen apiece, according to an Oct 26 filing.

Utusan Mewah is owned by Mohd Akil Mohd Yusof and Gan Hai Toh. Seacera’s largest shareholder is Zulkarnin Ariffin with 25.66% equity interest, followed by Datuk Mansor Masikon with 23.03%.

Notable movements

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd skidded to its lowest ever price of 25.5 sen last Tuesday before closing at 34 sen apiece that day with 293 million shares traded. The stock was suspended for an hour due to the high trading volume with Bursa issuing an unusual market activity query on the sudden sharp fall in its price.

In its reply to Bursa on Nov 3, Hibiscus (fundamental:1.55; valuation: 0.90) recounted some progress in its drilling programmes in Norway and Australia and said it was unaware of anything that could account for the sharp fall in its share price, save for margin calls on some of its shareholders with pledged Hibiscus shares.

Filings show Muhammad Syafiq acquired 3.53 million shares or a 0.36% stake in Hibiscus on Oct 22 and 27. As at Oct 28, he owned 11.72% of Hibiscus, becoming its second largest shareholder after Dr Kenneth Gerard Pereira with a 17.2% stake.

Over the last one year, Hibiscus’ shares have plunged 69% from RM1.18 on Nov 4 last year. Between Oct 26 and Nov 4, the stock lost 40% of its value and closed at 36.5 sen last Wednesday amid bearish sentiment on the oil and gas sector.

WZ Satu Bhd’s share price rose 36% from its 52-week low of RM1.11 on Aug 25 to close at RM1.51 last Wednesday. The group’s major shareholder, Datuk Seri Tengku Uzir Tengku Ubaidillah, acquired 2.53 million shares or slightly less than a 1% stake on Oct 26 and 27 at RM1.433 and RM1.424 apiece respectively. His holding in WZ Satu stood at 25.58% as at Oct 27.

WZ Satu (fundamental: 1.40; valuation: 1.10) recorded a net profit of RM20.3 million for the financial year ended Aug 31, 2015. For the 16-month period ended Aug 31, 2014, net profit was RM11.8 million. WZ Satu changed its financial year end to Aug 31 from April 30 in 2014.

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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