Notable filings

For the week of March 21 to 25, notable shareholding changes at Bursa Malaysia-listed companies included those at Annum Bhd, which is involved in property development, the trading of veneer and plywood, as well as engineering and construction.

Ukay One Sdn Bhd, controlled by Datuk Seri Liew Kok Leong, ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Annum (formerly known as Cymao Holdings Bhd) after disposing of 2.7 million shares, or a 3.68% stake, on the open market on March 21. It is not known who the buyer of that block of shares is.

The disposal came after Annum completed its private placement exercise on March 18 with the listing of 22.5 million new shares at an issue price of 55 sen per share.

Annum’s net profit jumped 14-fold to RM57.09 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, from RM3.96 million the year before, buoyed by higher sales of plywood and polyester plywood.

At Ranhill Utilities Bhd, Lambang Optima Sdn Bhd — through a direct business transaction — divested 116.63 million shares, or a 9.07% stake, and ceased to be the water and utilities firm’s substantial shareholder on March 18. The shares were sold to United Overseas Bank Ltd’s associated company UOB Kay Hian Pte Ltd, according to filings with Bursa Malaysia.

Bloomberg data shows that Lambang Optima sold the Ranhill shares for RM59.48 million, or 51 sen per share.

Lambang Optima is linked to Ranhill executive chairman, president and CEO Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad. Following the transaction, he now owns direct and indirect stakes of 10.2% and 24.07% in Ranhill respectively.

Ranhill’s net earnings were down 18.9% to RM30.58 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, from RM37.71 million the year before.

Meanwhile, Vortex Consolidated Bhd saw Fortress Parade Sdn Bhd, which is linked to Datuk Liu Han Ming, emerge as its substantial shareholder with a subscription of 306.52 million shares, or a 28.57% stake, via a private placement exercise for RM19.92 million, or 6.5 sen apiece.

For the nine months ended Dec 31, 2021, Vortex incurred a net loss of RM344,000 against a net profit of RM176,000 in the previous corresponding period, owing to lower other income.

Its business segments are spread across IT and ICT, construction, property investment, property development and money lending.

Notable movements

Since hitting a low of RM1.29 on March 8 this year, Revenue Group Bhd’s share price has rebounded 20.2% to close at RM1.55 last Tuesday.

On March 21 and 22, CIMB Commerce Trustee Bhd (Kenanga Growth Fund) offloaded a total of 1.24 million shares, or a 0.27% stake, in the payment solutions specialist, paring its stake to 5.18%.

The consortium of Revenue, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd and the Sarawak government is one of the bidders for the digital banking licences in the country.

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said last Wednesday that the central bank will announce in the near future its decision on the award of up to five digital banking licences upon the completion of the legal process.

Revenue’s net earnings for the first half ended Dec 31, 2021, expanded 30.5% to RM8.02 million from RM6.15 million the year before, mainly driven by higher contribution from the electronic transaction processing segment.

Over at Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB), its shares have gained almost 50% year to date, closing at 38 sen last Tuesday.

Stocqtech Sdn Bhd ceased to be KAB’s substantial shareholder after selling 25 million shares, or a 1.39% stake, in the electrical and mechanical engineering firm for RM9.88 million. At the same time, the disposal reduced managing director Datuk Lai Keng Onn’s indirect stake in the group to 5.84%; he still has a direct stake of 29.46%.

Recently, KAB bagged power purchase agreements in Thailand with a total value of RM46.8 million. As at February this year, it had a combined installed capacity of 12,695 kilowatt-peak (kWp) of solar projects, comprising 5,073 kWp in Thailand and 7,622 kWp in Malaysia.