Notable filings

For the week of June 6 to 10, notable shareholding changes at Bursa Malaysia-listed companies included those at property developer Glomac Bhd. Minister of Finance Inc unit Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd sold 80.06 million shares, or its entire 10.42% stake, in the property developer to Shapadu Capital Sdn Bhd.

The diversified Shapadu group has interests in properties, hotels and oil and gas services, among others. It owns Campbell Complex and The Grand Campbell Hotel, which are located at the intersection between Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Dang Wangi in Kuala Lumpur. It also owns Days Hotel in Waterloo, London, and STS Warehouse in Klang, Selangor, among others.

With its newly acquired 10.42% stake, Shapadu Capital is the third largest shareholder of the property developer, after Glomac executive chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Mansor Fateh Din and managing director Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor, and executive vice-chairman Datuk Richard Fong Loong Tuck. Mohamed Mansor and his son Fateh Iskandar collectively hold 40.13% equity interest, while Fong has a 17.04% stake.

Urusharta Jamaah had acquired the 80.06 million Glomac shares from pilgrimage fund Lembaga Tabung Haji at end-2018, forking out RM71.82 million, or about 90 sen per share, when the market price was about 39 sen. Bloomberg data indicate that the shares were sold to Shapadu Capital at about 38 sen apiece, or RM30.42 million. Glomac’s share price closed at 30.5 sen last Wednesday, translating into a market capitalisation of RM234.3 million for the group.

Interestingly, during this period, Shapadu Capital also acquired 30,000 shares in Mesiniaga Bhd, nudging its shareholding to 26.67%, or 16.1 million shares. It first bought into Mesiniaga in early March 2021, when it acquired 10.73 million shares from Amanah Saham Bumiputera to take control of the company with 21.76% equity interest, or 13.14 million shares.

The shares of Mesiniaga, which provides digital solutions, ended trading at RM1.47 last Wednesday. This valued the company at RM88.8 million.

At NWP Holdings Bhd, Quah Seik Lee emerged as a substantial shareholder of the timber products manufacturer after acquiring 20 million shares on the open market. This brought his stake to 8.74%, or 46 million shares.

While little is known about Quah, he was listed in Kanger International Bhd’s FY2021 annual report as a 1.82% shareholder. Kanger’s mainstay is in the manufacturing of bamboo furniture and flooring, among others.

NWP Holdings shares closed at 27 sen last Wednesday, giving the company a market value of RM142.1 million.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has been actively trading Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd’s shares and was a net buyer during the week in review, having accumulated 1.17 million shares to increase its stake to 11.33%, or 175.44 million shares. However, in mid-January, EPF had 13.81% equity interest, or 213.85 million shares, in the banking group.

Alliance Bank shares hit a 52-week high of RM3.81 on April 11, before paring some gains to close at RM3.48 last Wednesday. This gives the banking group a market capitalisation of RM5.39 billion. The stock is currently up more than 21% year to date.

Notable movements

Affin Bank Bhd’s share price hit RM2.23 in intraday trade on May 19, its highest since end-July 2018. But it fell more than 14% to close at RM1.90 last Wednesday.

During this period of share price strength, EPF has been selling small blocks of the stock. During the week in review, it sold 3.16 million shares in the banking group to trim its stake to 6.65%, or 141.3 million shares. In early April, the provident fund had a 7.08% stake, or 150.35 million shares, in Affin Bank.

At end-May, Affin Bank announced that its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31 had doubled to RM142.69 million from RM68.94 million a year earlier, buoyed by improved net interest income, Islamic banking income and a writeback from allowances for credit impairment losses.

Early last week, rubber glove manufacturer Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd’s shares were trading at multi-year lows, having fallen below the RM1.40 mark. The last time the stock traded below RM1.40 was in March 2019. The counter has lost more than 55% of its value over the past year.

During the week in review, EPF sold 4.64 million shares in Kossan, reducing its stake to 7.89%, or 201.21 million shares. At end-April, the provident fund had 8.8% equity interest, or 224.55 million shares, in the glove maker.

Kossan’s share price closed at RM1.33 last Wednesday.