This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 12, 2024 - February 18, 2024

For the week of Jan 29 to Feb 2, notable shareholding changes at Bursa Malaysia-listed firms included those at Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB), which saw the re-emergence of Norges Bank as its substantial shareholder.

A block of 54.17 million shares, or a 5.04% stake, was acquired by Norges Bank on Jan 29, about two months after it ceased to be CMSB’s substantial shareholder when its shareholding slipped to 4.99%.

The absence of a one-off gain and a lower share of profit from associates resulted in CMSB reporting a 93.5% drop in year-on-year net profit to RM9.98 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023.

At Excel Force MSC Bhd, the second-largest shareholder Asia Internet Holdings Sdn Bhd pared down its stake in the firm to 12.07% after the sale of 14.9 million shares, or a 2.66% equity interest. Asia Internet is linked to MyEG Services Bhd co-founder and managing director Wong Thean Soon, who also directly owns 18.23% of Excel Force.

In mid-January this year, Hillcove Sdn Bhd disposed of 24.7 million shares, or a 4.42% stake, ceasing to be a substantial shareholder of Excel Force MSC. This came less than two months after Hillcove surfaced as Excel Force’s substantial shareholder in December 2023 with a 5.16% stake.

Meanwhile, Mestron Holdings Bhd managing director Poh Teong Eng pared his stake in the steel pole maker to 17.71% on Jan 29 following the disposal of 7.96 million shares, or a 0.8% stake, for RM2.39 million, or 30 sen apiece. He owns an indirect stake of 4.23% in Mestron.

The disposal price represents a 6.25% discount compared to the company’s closing price of 32 sen on that day.

Having transferred its listing status from the ACE to Main Market last December, Mestron has seen a heavy sell-off in its shares recently, with short-selling of its shares suspended mid last month as the counter tumbled by more than 15%.

It recorded a 40% jump in net profit to RM9.43 million for the first nine months of 2023, from RM6.74 million in the same period of 2022, underpinned by the decrease in raw material prices and higher demand for specialty poles, mainly for the telecommunication segment.

Shares of SKP Resources Bhd have been on a downtrend over the past one year, slipping 58.8% to close at 72 sen last Monday for a market value of RM1.1 billion.

On Jan 30, Abrdn plc emerged as a substantial shareholder in the electronics manufacturing services provider, following the purchase of 78.88 million shares, or a 5.05% stake.

Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) now holds direct and indirect stakes of 6.02% and 2.85% in SKP Resources respectively, after the acquisition of 2.02 million shares on Feb 2. The Employees Provident Fund’s shareholding in the company was at 9.08% following the disposal of 250,000 shares on Jan 30.

For the first six months ended Sept 30, 2023, SKP Resources’ net profit tumbled 41.8% to RM48.66 million against RM83.66 million in the same quarter a year ago, due to sagging market demand and higher production costs.

Since falling off from a high of RM3.20 in May 2023, Tong Herr Resources Bhd’s share price has been hovering between RM2.28 and RM2.70 since the end of May. At last Monday’s closing price of RM2.30, it had a market value of RM353.1 million.

Tong Herr saw Tsai Ching-Tung cease to be its substantial shareholder due to the restructuring of Allrich Group. He is one of the co-founders of Tong Herr, a stainless steel fastener manufacturer. Prior to Allrich’s restructuring, Tsai’s entire 39.86% deemed interest in Tong Herr was held via the private company, his vehicle.

In the first nine months of 2023, Tong Herr’s net profit sank 86% to RM10.29 million against RM73.23 million in the previous corresponding period, owing to lower sales volume and selling prices for both the fastener and aluminium segments amid the weak market sentiment. 

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