This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on May 27, 2024 - June 2, 2024

From May 13 to 17, notable changes in shareholding at Bursa Malaysia-listed companies included Eco World International Bhd (EWI), where Paramount Corp Bhd became a major shareholder after acquiring 517 million shares, or 21.54% equity interest, via a direct business transaction.

According to a filing with the local bourse, Paramount bought the 21.54% stake in EWI via its wholly-owned subsidiary Flexsis Sdn Bhd from GLL EWI (HK) at 33 sen apiece or RM170.61 million, with the sum payable in full on May 14. GLL EWI (HK) Ltd is a unit of GuocoLand Ltd, which is controlled by Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan.

In a separate filing, EWI said GLL disposed of its entire 27% stake in EWI or 648 million shares for RM213.35 million but did not reveal the buyer of the remaining 5.46% stake in the announcement.

Following the exercise, Paramount emerged as the second largest shareholder in EWI, after Eco World Capital (International) Sdn Bhd, with a 32.28% stake. Eco World Capital bought 48 million shares in EWI, according to a May 17 filing.

Paramount said the acquisition of the sizeable EWI stake, which is primarily involved in real estate development in the UK and Australia, will accelerate its overseas expansion and diversification plan.

“Currently, this opportunity outweighs all other opportunities available to Paramount for overseas expansion, after taking into consideration the complexities of a direct investment in foreign property development projects,” it said.

“In addition, the acquisition provides an opportunity for Paramount to explore potential collaborations with EWI and its management team to create synergies by leveraging the respective expertise and experience of both parties as property developers.”

Elsewhere, Datuk Seri Chiau Beng Teik of Chin Hin Group Bhd ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Solarvest Holdings Bhd after his private vehicle, Divine Intervention Sdn Bhd, disposed of 16.76 million shares via off-market transactions. Following the sale, Divine Intervention has 20.64 million shares, or a 2.98% stake, in Solarvest.

The value and buyer of the shares were not disclosed. During the period under review, Solarvest’s share price was trading between RM1.54 and RM1.58 apiece.

In a separate filing, it was revealed that Chiau also sold his direct 2.18 million shares in the solar company to pare his direct stake to 0.27%.

Chin Hin’s exposure to the solar space started in 2017, when it bought a 45% stake in large-scale solar engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning specialist Atlantic Blue Sdn Bhd (ABSB) for RM24.75 million.

Solarvest was listed on the ACE Market in November 2019 at 35 sen per share as a holding company for ABSB, at which time Chin Hin’s stake was diluted to 41.1%

In May last year, Chin Hin sold a 19.34% stake in Solarvest for RM103.28 million cash, or 80 sen a share, to Divine Inventions Sdn Bhd in a related-party transaction.

Over at PDZ Holdings Bhd, a total of 27 million shares representing a 4.6% stake in the company were sold by Sanichi Technology Bhd on the open market on May 17.

Sanichi, which is a manufacturer of precision plastic injection moulds, held 37 million shares, or a 6.3% stake, in PDZ following the disposal. No price was disclosed for the transaction.

The strong share price movement of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has not gone unnoticed. The counter touched RM10 per share briefly last Thursday before closing the day at RM9.99 apiece, the highest level since June 2018. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis, the counter rose 12%, contributing to the robust performance of the main index of Bursa Malaysia, FBM KLCI.

During the week under review, Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and its flagship fund Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) disposed of some of their shares in the country’s largest bank by assets.

ASB sold some 12.47 million shares while PNB offloaded two million shares. On the other hand, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) bought 5.21 million shares on the open market.

Maybank’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) gained 8.3% to RM2.39 billion compared with RM2.21 billion a year earlier, on the back of a 14% jump in revenue to RM17.13 billion from RM15.03 billion previously.

The banking group attributed the gain to its insurance segment and non-interest income that offset a decline in its net interest income.

For FY2023, net profit climbed 17% to RM9.35 billion, from RM7.96 billion a year ago. Net interest income fell 7.4% to RM12.79 billion on higher interest expenses on deposits for customers, while non-interest income surged 74% to RM7.98 billion, thanks to higher investment income and paper gains. Group loans grew 9.2%, while current account, savings account declined 1.7%. Fixed deposits climbed 11.2%.

In the period under review, Inari Amertron Bhd was a subject of interest for the country’s largest retirement fund, with the EPF buying 4.22 million shares in the outsourced semiconductor assembly and test player and raising its stake to 10.3%. The EPF’s stake in Inari was 8.4% earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) also bought 3.62 million shares in Inari, raising its stake in the Penang-based semiconductor firm to 8.6%.

Analysts are also positive on the counter with 13 out of 20 polled by Bloomberg suggesting a “buy”, while six recommended “hold” and one “sell”.

This was despite a 14% decline in its net profit to RM171.79 million for the first half of the financial year ending June 30, 2024. The group said the decline was mainly due to unfavourable movement in foreign exchange, increase in electricity rates as well as losses in work-in-progress items arising from unstable glitches in electricity supply from the grid experienced during the period, which has been rectified. The group also experienced short-term lower gross margins for new products in its push for revenue growth during the period.

Shares in Inari have gained 7.3% YTD to RM3.23 apiece, giving it a market capitalisation of RM12.15 billion.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.