This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 8, 2024 - January 14, 2024

From Dec 26 to 29 last year, notable changes in shareholding in companies listed on Bursa Malaysia included those at Minetech Resources Bhd.

Businessman Datuk Awang Daud Awang Putera ceased to be a substantial shareholder of Minetech — which is involved in the manufacturing of quarry products and civil engineering works, among others — after hiving off 245 million shares, or a 15.9% stake, during the week in review.

On Dec 27, Abang Abdillah Izzarim Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari surfaced as a substantial shareholder of Minetech with 240 million shares, or 15.58% equity interest, which means he is likely to have acquired the bulk of Awang Daud’s stake. Abang Abdillah is the son of Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg, popularly known as Abang Jo.

Awang Daud, who resigned as the executive chairman of Minetech in May last year, is best known for being one of the founders and substantial shareholders of financially distressed oil and gas firm Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd.

Minetech was trading at a mere five sen per share in early December, but shot up to 15.5 sen by Dec 27 when the sale to Abang Abdillah was concluded.

Last Wednesday, the counter ended trading at 17.5 sen, translating into a market capitalisation of RM269.97 million.

Abang Abdillah was appointed as Minetech’s executive chairman on Jan 3, which nudged the counter up to 20.5 sen in intraday trading last Thursday.

During the week in review, Jiankun International Bhd president Datuk Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff ceased to be a substantial shareholder in the property development and construction player after selling 15 million shares, or a 3.18% stake, at 20 sen per share.

Following the sale, Saiful Nizam, who is the son-in-law of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is left with a 1.8% stake in Jiankun, which has bled losses for six straight quarters.

Jiankun finished last Wednesday at 18.5 sen, valuing the company at RM87.32 million.

Meanwhile, Ooi Keng Thye sold 39.27 million shares in Frontken Corp Bhd, which is involved in precision cleaning and surface treatment for the semiconductor industry. This trimmed his stake to 82.61 million shares, or 5.25%.

Ooi has been selling small blocks of Frontken shares since March 2022. At that time, he had 16% equity interest in the company. He first surfaced as a substantial shareholder in mid-March 2016.

In contrast, since its emergence as a substantial shareholder in October 2023 with 5.12% equity interest, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has been raising its stake in Frontken, reaching 8.27% during the week in review.

Closing at RM3.16 apiece last Wednesday, Frontken had a market capitalisation of RM4.97 billion.

At poultry and retailing company CCK Consolidated Holdings Bhd, founder and non-executive chairman Tan Sri Tiong Su Kouk trimmed his direct stake to 30.87 million shares, or 4.97%, after disposing of 3.8 million shares. However, he has an indirect stake of 38.88% in the company.

The last time Tiong sold any shares in CCK Consolidated was in May 2020.

CCK Consolidated hit a multi-year high of 86 sen per share in early September last year. Since then, its share price has remained strong and closed at 82.5 sen last Wednesday, valuing the company at RM512.57 million.

After hitting a multi-year high of 27.5 sen per share at the end of November last year, Eden Inc Bhd’s share price has been volatile, fluctuating between 19 sen and 26.5 sen. The counter closed at 20.5 sen last Wednesday for a market capitalisation of RM94.2 million.

During the week in review, Koperasi Belia Islam Malaysia Bhd sold 3.36 million shares in Eden, trimming its stake to 50.13 million shares, or 10.91%.

Koperasi Belia Islam Malaysia surfaced as a substantial shareholder in Eden last September with 27.41 million shares, or 5.97% equity interest, before raising its stake to a peak of 13.24% in December.

From early December last year, TIME dotCom Bhd’s share price has gained 10.2%, or 50 sen, to close at RM5.40 last Wednesday for a market capitalisation of RM9.97 billion.

During the week in review, EPF acquired 2.01 million shares in the telecommunications provider, strengthening its holding to 124.08 million shares, or 6.72%.

In contrast, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) or KWAP sold 246,500 shares in TIME, paring its stake to 131.82 million shares, or 7.14%.

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