KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 28): RHB Capital Bhd (RHB Cap) chief executive officer Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said it is too premature to say that Aabar Investments PJS would not subscribe to the banking group’s rights issue.

“We don’t know what their decision is; we have to wait until the book closure. At the moment, it is too premature to say that they will not participate; the book closure still many weeks to go,” said Khairussaleh.

Reuters reported yesterday that the Abu Dhabi state fund, RHB Cap’s second largest shareholder holding 21.09% equity stake, may not participate in cash call, which is priced at RM4.82 per share, as its existing investment in the country’s fourth largest bank has been shrinking due to the sharp fall in share price and ringgit.

Khairussaleh was speaking to the media after the launch of RHB banking group’s exclusive partnership with Startupbootcamp FinTech today.

When asked if the other shareholders would be able to take up the rights issue should Aabar decide against it, Khairussaleh replied that RHB Cap has underwriters arranged for the rights issues not taken up by its two major shareholders, namely the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and OSK Holdings Bhd.

“As far as we are concerned, we should still get our money. That’s the key thing,” emphasised Khairussaleh.

RHB Cap’s largest shareholder is EPF, holding 41.58% equity interest, while OSK Holdings holds 9.97%.

The banking group’s shares closed lower today at RM5.88, down 14 sen.

(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.)