Notable filings

Notable filings with Bursa Malaysia of changes in shareholding in the period between Jan 30 and Feb 3 include those at Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd, which saw its largest shareholder and five co-founders taking some profit.

Filings show Alpha Milestone Sdn Bhd selling 21 million shares on Feb 2, trimming holdings to 33.8% — still the largest shareholder with 2.8 billion shares. The sale reduced the indirect shareholding of Press Metal CEO Tan Sri Paul Koon Poh Keong, who sold six million shares on Feb 6 to trim his direct holdings to 2.7%. His brothers also sold shares at RM5.08 each.

Executive vice-chairman Poh Ming sold six million shares, trimming his direct holdings to 6.22%, while executive director Poh Weng sold 10 million shares, trimming his direct stake to 3.896%. Executive director Poh Kong sold five million shares, trimming direct holdings to 1.35% while executive director Poh Tat sold two million shares at RM5.08 each, trimming his direct holdings to 2.7%.

Over at Tanco Holdings Bhd, its largest shareholder, TJN Capital Sdn Bhd, sold 45 million shares, or 2.52% equity interest, on Jan 31. The shares changed hands in two direct deals off market for about 33 sen each, below the 36.5 sen to 38 sen that they fetched on the open market that day, before closing at 37.5 sen.

Notable movements

Closing at RM1.57 on Jan 26, shares in credit reporting agency CTOS Digital Bhd had gained just over 10% in the first four weeks of this year. Half of those gains were lost within a day on Feb 2 — the stock shed 5.19%, or eight sen, to close at RM1.46 when news got out that its largest shareholder, private equity firm Creador LLC, had further pared holdings.

Creador, via Inodes Ltd, pared its holdings from 26.6% to 14.25%, selling 284.8 million shares, or a 12.3% stake, in CTOS on Feb 2 at undisclosed prices, filings show. Stock market data shows 257.81 million shares changing hands via 16 direct deals off market at RM1.45 each on Feb 2, the lower end of the RM1.44 to RM1.54 that the stock fetched on the open market that day.

Buyers likely include one or more funds managed by subsidiaries of UK-incepted abrdn plc and abrdn Holdings Ltd (formerly known as Aberdeen Asset Management plc), which emerged as a new substantial shareholder of CTOS with a 5.24% deemed interest, following the purchase of 120.99 million shares the same day Creador pared holdings.

The purchases made abrdn the third-largest shareholder of CTOS after Creador (14.46%) and the Employees Provident Fund, which had 11.665% equity interest, or 269.5 million shares, on Feb 2 after buying just over 103 million shares on Feb 2. CTOS shares closed three sen, or 2.07%, higher at RM1.48 on Feb 8, a day after filings showed the emergence of abrdn as a new substantial shareholder.

Both abrdn and the EPF stand to receive CTOS’ fourth single-tier dividend of 0.36 sen per share in mid-March given that CTOS shares only trade ex-dividend on Feb 20.

Creador, which invested in CTOS in 2014, raised about RM650 million when the latter was listed in July 2021. Inodes, which is 82.6%-owned by Creador, sold 720 million of the 900 million shares offered for sale by existing shareholders at the initial public offering price of RM1.10 apiece. On Dec 19, 2022, Inodes sold 38 million shares, likely at RM1.40 each, going by the price at which shares had changed hands off market that day. A Feb 8 filing, however, showed Inodes buying 42,200 shares at undisclosed prices to raise its holdings to 334 million shares, or 14.46%.

Meanwhile, shares in Cypark Resources Bhd — which provides commercial landscaping services — have soared 147% barely six weeks into 2023, closing at a 20-month high of RM1.16 on Feb 8.

In reply to a query for unusual market activity (UMA) on Jan 31, Cypark’s board had said it was not aware of any corporate development to explain the spike in trading interest other than its recent private placement “and the emergence of a new substantial shareholder, Jakel Capital Sdn Bhd, which may have increased confidence among investors”.

On Feb 3, Cypark founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail sold 2.77 million shares for RM2.85 million in total, which works out to about RM1.03 apiece.

A Feb 7 filing showed the Social Security Organisation (Socso) emerging as Cypark’s substantial shareholder, with a 5.49% stake, after buying just over 42 million shares on Feb 3. An amended announcement on Feb 8, however, shows Socso buying two million shares on Feb 2 to raise its holdings in Cypark to 38.47 million shares, or 5.03%. Cypark shares closed 13 sen, or 12.6%, higher at RM1.16 on Feb 8.