This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 24, 2025 - November 30, 2025

ROUGHLY two months ago, Insas Bhd (KL:INSAS), the flagship company of Datuk Seri Thong Kok Khee, had a 13.41% stake or 508.04 million shares in Inari Amertron Bhd (KL:INARI), an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) player in Penang.

Since then, Insas has sold 30.06 million shares over 40 trading days by disposing of one million shares a day on the open market. As at last Friday, the company’s stake in Inari had shrunk to 12.58%.

From Sept 25 to Nov 20, Inari’s share price averaged RM2.42, indicating that Insas could have received RM72.74 million from the sale of the 30.06 million shares.

“Insas is an investment company, so it is monetising its stake in Inari,” says an insider, who does not rule out the possibility of the company selling its entire equity interest in the OSAT player that it listed on Bursa Malaysia in July 2011. “If the share price goes up and Insas gets a good price, who knows? It may divest itself of its entire shareholding in Inari.”

Insas is the second-largest shareholder of Inari after the Employees Provident Fund, which has 14.25% equity interest. Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) has a 10.11% stake.

It is noteworthy that while some of Insas’ other investments, such as its 11.12% stake in Practice Note 17 outfit Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd (KL:HOHUP) or loss-making Microlink Solutions Bhd (KL:MICROLN), may not have borne fruit, it has made a substantial gain from its investment in Inari.

The company’s wholly-owned unit Insas Technology Bhd was one of the three promoters of Inari’s initial public offering (IPO) at 38 sen per share, which was adjusted to five sen following a merger and acquisition and cash calls over the years.

Post-IPO, Insas’ stake shrank to 33.02% from 44.05% before listing. The company did not offer its shares for sale at the time.

It is noteworthy that Inari has consistently paid dividends. A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that the company has declared a total dividend per share of RM1.03 (non-adjusted) since its IPO in July 2011.

Inari has made two cash calls over the years.

In 2013, it undertook a one-for-four rights issue of 84.15 million shares at 36 sen apiece. It also took over Amertron Inc (Global) Ltd for a purchase consideration of US$32 million or RM102.87 million in cash and shares that year.

In February 2015, Inari made another cash call via a one-for-eight rights issue of shares at RM1.50 with free warrants, and raised RM118.05 million. Then in January 2016, it completed a bonus issue of 189.36 million shares together with Warrants A 2013/2018 and Warrants B 2015/2020.

Inari has undertaken a number of share placements. In 2012, the company placed out five million shares at 34 sen each and in May 2021, it undertook a private placement of 333 million shares at RM3.10 apiece, raising RM1.03 billion, largely for capital expenditure, acquisitions and investments.

Inari has a share base of 3.79 billion today.

In its financial year ended June 30 (FY2025), Inari chalked up a net profit of RM218.74 million on revenue of RM1.35 billion. In FY2024, the company made a net profit of RM300.19 million from RM1.48 billion in revenue.

As at end-June, Inari had cash and cash equivalents of RM2.14 billion, without any borrowings. It had retained earnings of RM579.94 million.

On its prospects, Inari says: “Amid a challenging and complex macroeconomic landscape — characterised by ongoing tariff shifts and volatility in foreign exchange rates — the semiconductor industry is experiencing selective growth, primarily driven by the rapid uptake of generative AI across diverse sectors. For Inari, this environment translates into robust growth in data communications, flat growth in smartphone demand and continued softness in our industrial semiconductor segment.

“The realignment of global supply chains due to US tariff policies, together with deflationary pressures and increased onshoring of Chinese manufacturing, has impacted our revenue and margins. Additionally, persistent forex fluctuations and a weakening US dollar are creating near-term pressures on the sustainability of our gross margins.”

Of the 21 analysts who cover Inari, 10 have a “buy” recommendation on the stock, seven a “hold” and three a “sell” with target prices ranging from RM1.70 to RM3.

Since hitting a 52-week low of RM1.42 on April 9 this year, Inari’s share price has gained more than 60% and it closed at RM2.42 last Friday, which translated into a market capitalisation of RM9.19 billion for the company.

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