KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): Counters linked to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Eden Inc Bhd and Thriven Global Bhd (formerly Mulpha Land Bhd) had mixed fortunes at the early part of trading.

At 11am, Eden was among the top 20 most-actively traded stocks on Bursa Malaysia, inching up half a sen to 29.5 sen with nine million shares changing hands.

While not etched in stone, interest surrounding Eden could be from Muhyiddin’s son Datuk Fakhri Yassin Mahiaddin, being a substantial shareholder and director of the diversified company.

Fakhri, his sister-in-law Fara Nadia Abd Rahim and her family helmed by Tan Sri Abd Rahim Mohamad, control some 32.6% of Eden. Fakhri is a non-independent non-executive director.

Eden (fundamental: 0; valuation: 0.9), for its first three months ended March 31, 2015, suffered a net loss of RM8.7 million on revenue of RM12.6 million.

Other than speculation on the changes at the helm of the country, there have been shareholding changes at Eden. In the middle of this month, Paramasivam Seerangam ceased to be a substantial shareholder at Eden after he sold five million shares or 1.6% in the company.

“I would have expected Eden to fall, much like Thriven… The market is weak to begin with,” a merchant banker said when contacted by theedgemarkets.com.

Fakhri’s Thriven meanwhile was down four sen at RM1.02 but thinly traded with only some 1.1 million shares changing hands. He controls about 32.9% of the property company and is the executive chairman.

Thriven (fundamental: 1.1; valuation: 0.7), for the first three months ended March 31, 2015, suffered a net loss of RM3.1 million from RM1.4 million in revenue.  

Speculation has been rife that Muhyiddin could be eased out of his position of power after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak reshuffles his Cabinet this week. Najib is said to be looking to drop Muhyiddin, who has been vocal of Najib’s handling of beleaguered 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which is saddled with RM49 billion in debts.

Other than the two above, most companies with links to Muhyiddin are privately held.

(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.)