Genting Malaysia, Bright Packaging, Sapura Energy, SDS Group, Bahvest, Digistar, NCT Alliance, Bina Puri, Westports and SLP Resources

Genting Malaysia, Bright Packaging, Sapura Energy, SDS Group, Bahvest, Digistar, NCT Alliance, Bina Puri, Westports and SLP Resources

KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made the news on Friday (May 5) involving Genting Malaysia Bhd, Bright Packaging Industry Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, SDS Group Bhd, Bahvest Resources Bhd, Digistar Corp Bhd, NCT Alliance Bhd, Bina Puri Holdings Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd and SLP Resources Bhd.

Genting Malaysia Bhd via its wholly-owned subsidiary GenM Capital Bhd has issued medium-term notes (MTNs) of RM500 million across three tranches. The three tranches comprise a five-year note amounting to RM250 million with a coupon rate of 5.07%, a seven-year note of RM150 million with a coupon rate of 5.35%, as well as a 10-year tenure of RM100 million, with a coupon rate of 5.52% per annum, payable semi-annually.

Bright Packaging Industry Bhd has entered into a new joint venture agreement with Datai Plantations Sdn Bhd (DPSB) for further diversification and increase its investment in oil palm plantation with facilities and provision of services ancillary on land located in Sarikei, Sarawak with an investment of RM5.3 million. It said the agreement was also to supersede the previous joint venture agreement dated Aug 19, 2021 between both parties. The investment by Bright Packaging shall be utilised for DPSB to construct infrastructure such as access road, field road, bridges and workers’ hostel, as well as to improve water management, which includes the construction of bunds and water gates.

Cash-strapped Sapura Energy Bhd said its unit in Labuan, Sapura Drilling Kinabalu Pte Ltd (SDKPL), has been placed under voluntary winding up. It said the notice for declaration of dissolution pursuant to Section 131A of the Labuan Companies Act 1990 and Labuan Companies (Amendment) Act 2022 was lodged with the Labuan Financial Services Authority on Friday (May 5). SDKPL is fully owned by Sapura Drilling (Bermuda) Ltd, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sapura Energy. In a bourse filing, Sapura Energy said the Labuan unit is currently dormant and there are no future plans to activate the company.

ACE Market-listed bakery product manufacturer SDS Group Bhd will be migrated to the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia under the “consumer products & services” sector next Monday (May 8). SDS transfer to the Main Market is expected to “enhance the group’s prestige and reputation”, and will accord it “greater recognition and acceptance among investors”, in particular institutional investors, it had said in a bourse filing previously.

Mohd Amir Masry has ceased to be a shareholder of ACE Market-listed Bahvest Resources Bhd, after offloading his entire 5.37% stake in the gold mining company in off-market trades. Amir’s stake in Bahvest — totalling 35 million shares — were held via MAB Ventures Sdn Bhd. MAB sold the shares across 11 blocks on Tuesday (May 2) at 30 sen apiece, for a sum of RM10.5 million. In a separate filing, Bahvest said its executive director Lo Teck Yong, who is the son of Bahvest managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Lo Fui Ming, had divested 6.7 million shares or a 0.54% stake in Bahvest in the open market on Wednesday (May 3). Teck Yong is left with 3.83 million shares or a 0.31% stake following the shares divestment.

Digistar Corp Bhd said Lee Kok Choong has ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the company, following his disposal of 10.1 million shares in the open market last week. The shares, held via Star Heritage Development Sdn Bhd, represented a 2.22% stake in Digistar. The 10.1 million shares were sold on April 28, according to Digistar's bourse filing. With the disposal, Star Heritage is left with 15.55 million Digistar shares or a 3.43% stake in the loss-making company.

NCT Alliance Bhd’s executive chairman and group managing director Datuk Seri Yap Ngan Choy, and his brother and group executive director Datuk Joe Yap Fook Choy, have trimmed their equity interest in the property developer. The brothers' private vehicle YBG Yap Consolidated Sdn Bhd, disposed of 13.5 million shares or a 0.99% stake in NCT for a total sum of nearly RM5 million, according to the group's bourse filings. Following the transaction on Wednesday, Ngan Choy's direct stake in NCT stands at 0.826%, while his indirect stake is 50.042%. Fook Choy, on the other hand, has a direct stake of 0.46% and an indirect stake of 50.027%.

Maju Offshore Sdn Bhd has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Bina Puri Holdings Bhd with a deemed interest of 5.03% in the construction company. A filing on Friday (May 5) shows that Maju Offshore acquired 169.64 million shares in Bina Puri on April 18. Following the shares acquisition, Maju Offshore is now the company’s fourth-largest shareholder after Bina Puri executive director Chai Chan Tong with a 38.58% stake, its group executive director Datuk Matthew Tee Kai Woon (16.4%) and group managing director Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Seng with a 13.15%, Bloomberg data showed.

Westports Holdings Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) rose 21% to RM183.58 million versus RM151.85 million a year earlier, due to the corporate tax rate reverting to 24% after the one-off prosperity tax in FY2022. Westports said revenue for the quarter dipped 3% to RM512.92 million from RM516.36 million a year earlier, primarily due to lower value-added services, in particular storage revenue. The port operator did not declare any dividend for the quarter.

Flexible plastic packaging products maker SLP Resources Bhd saw its net profit decline 32.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM3.02 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023), down from RM4.51 million a year ago, mainly due to a hike in operating costs since the beginning of 2023. Its revenue fell 11.5% y-o-y to RM40.27 million from RM45.52 million previously, due to weakened demand from overseas markets. Nonetheless, SLP Resources declared a first interim dividend of one sen per share for FY2023, to be paid on July 6, it said in a separate filing.

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