This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 11, 2023 - September 17, 2023

From Aug 28 to Sept 1, notable shareholding changes at Bursa Malaysia-listed companies included those at Malayan Cement Bhd, which saw AmanahRaya Trustees Bhd – Amanah Saham Bumiputera cease to be its substantial shareholder.

On Aug 24 and 25, AmanahRaya Trustees Bhd – Amanah Saham Bumiputera disposed of 331,600 shares and 1.05 million shares respectively, paring their stake in the company to 4.95%.

Malayan Cement, whose share price has jumped 74% year to date, is seen as a key beneficiary of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) and Mass Rapid Transit 3 (MRT3) projects.

For the financial year ended June 30, 2022, it recorded a net profit of RM159.04 million, nearly double the RM83.55 million made a year ago, driven by higher volume and selling prices of domestic cement and ready-mixed concrete.

Over at Impiana Hotels Bhd, Cayman Islands-registered Advance Opportunities Fund I (AOFI) sold 25 million shares, or 3.3% equity interest, on Aug 28, reducing its stake in the company to 7.27%.

It is worth noting that AOFI had on Aug 11 ceased to be Impiana Hotels’ substantial shareholder after the disposal of 11 million shares via direct business transactions. The group then saw the emergence of businessman Datuk Seri Lee Hock Seng and his wife, Datin Seri Joanne Yew Hong Im, as the group’s largest substantial shareholders, with a collective 19.9% stake.

On Aug 21, AOFI resurfaced as Impiana Hotels’ substantial shareholder, with 13.18% equity interest, following the conversion of the company’s redeemable convertible notes into ordinary shares.

Impiana Hotels remained in the red with a higher net loss of RM6.63 million for the first six months ended June 30, 2023, against RM6.35 million a year ago.

Meanwhile, Muar Ban Lee Group continued to mop up the shares of SWS Capital, lifting the shareholding level to 20.76% after the acquisition of another block of 5.57 million shares, or a 2.03% stake, on Aug 25.

Muar Ban Lee, a palm kernel expeller manufacturer, said the acquisition of SWS Capital shares was in line with its investment strategies to diversify its business into other segments, such as the furniture and plasticware business owned by SWS Capital.

SWS Capital first drew market interest when chemical businessman Datuk Eddie Ong Choo Meng surfaced as its substantial shareholder in December 2020. He ceased to be SWS Capital’s substantial shareholder on Aug 24, however, after the disposal of 23.04 million shares, or an 8.38% stake. He now has about 4.7% of SWS Capital.

The company’s net profit fell 61.6% to RM1.43 million for the six months ended June 30, 2023, from RM3.73 million a year ago. Its share price has gained 6.5% year to date to close at 33 sen last Tuesday.

The share price of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has risen 10.5% since touching a low of RM8.26 in March. The counter closed at RM9.13 last Tuesday, valuing the banking group at RM110.1 billion.

With the share price climb, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (DiPerbadankan) took the opportunity to sell 93,000 of its shares on the open market on Aug 25, ceasing to be a substantial shareholder, as its shareholding level had dropped to slightly below 5%.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) also sold 3.3 million shares on Aug 30, reducing its stake in Maybank to 6.79%.

The bank posted a higher net profit of RM4.6 billion for the first six months ended June 30, 2023, versus RM3.66 billion a year ago.

MBM Resources Bhd, which owns 20% of Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua), has seen its share price gain 22.4% in the past month to close at RM4.16 last Tuesday for a market value of RM1.63 billion.

The rally came after Sime Darby Bhd announced plans to buy a 61.18% stake in UMW Holdings Bhd from its parent company, PNB, for RM3.57 billion, or RM5 per share. It is understood that the corporate exercise was due to the valuation of Perodua, which was not reflected anywhere because of its current shareholding structure.

Besides MBM Resources, other shareholders of Perodua are UMW (38%), Daihatsu Motor Co (25%), PNB (10%) and Mitsui & Co (7%).

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has been trading actively in MBM Resources shares recently. On Aug 24 — the day Sime Darby announced the purchase of UMW shares — the pension fund ceased to be a substantial shareholder, following the disposal of 712,900 shares.

On Aug 25, however, the EPF acquired 2.61 million shares in MBM Resources, bumping up its stake to 5.45%. After multiple buying and selling of the company’s shares in the next few days, EPF’s shareholding in MBM Resources was lifted to 6.34% as at Aug 30. 

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