Beng Kuang Marine Chair And CEO Add To Their Stakes

Articles From: Singapore Exchange
Website: Singapore Exchange

Share buybacks (Sep 2 - Sep 8)

FOR the 5 trading sessions that spanned Sep 2 to 8, the Straits Times Index (STI) gained 0.3 per cent, with the FTSE China A50 Index falling 1.9 per cent, the Hang Seng Index declining 3.6 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI unchanged.

Overall, institutions were net buyers of Singapore stocks for the 5 sessions ended Sep 8, with S$137 million of net inflows.

DBS, Singtel, OCBC, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust and Keppel Corporation led the net institutional inflows for the 5 sessions.

Share buybacks

There were 20 primary-listed stocks conducting share buybacks over the 5 sessions ended Sep 8, with a total consideration of S$67 million, a tally that’s close to the preceding week’s S$64 million.

Keppel Corporation led the 5-session buyback consideration tally, buying back close to 3.4 million shares at an average price of S$7.44 per share.

Keppel has bought back 2.64 per cent of its issued shares (excluding treasury shares) on the current mandate as of Sep 8.

Director and substantial shareholder transactions

The 5 trading sessions saw more than 60 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 20 primary-listed stocks.

This included 22 company director acquisitions with one disposal filed, while substantial shareholders filed 9 acquisitions and 3 disposals.

Gallant Venture

On Sep 6, River Point Ventures acquired 397 million shares of Gallant Venture with the 7.27 per cent direct interest taking the deemed interest of Anthoni Salim from 65.84 per cent to 73.11 per cent.

The married deal was booked at 12.6 cents per share with a consideration of S$50,022,000. As reported by The Business Times on Sep 6, River Point Ventures is controlled by another entity called Smart Head Assets.

In turn, Salim has an interest of over 50 per cent in Smart Head.

On Aug 8, Gallant Venture reported H1 2022 revenue of S$75.8 million, which was 4.4 per cent higher than H1 2021’s S$72.6 million.

This was mainly due to higher revenue from rental and related income and utilities driven by the improved occupancy from the industrial parks segment coupled with improvement in the resort segment as a result of the relaxed travel restrictions with quarantine-free travel arrangements between Bintan and Singapore.

The group also said that it is optimistic that the further easing of global travel restrictions and pent-up demand for leisure travel will fuel travel recovery for Bintan Resort and put it back on the tourist map.

For the industrial parks, the demand for its industrial spaces remains high and this segment is expected to continue to outperform with sustained growth in industrial lettable spaces and rental yield.

The group also noted that the current construction of new factories in Batamindo Industrial park will further add 70,800 square metres of new industrial spaces up to 2023.

Beng Kuang Marine

On Sep 7, Beng Kuang Marine executive chairman Chua Beng Yong acquired 2.4 million shares at an average price of 5.3 cents per share.

This took his direct interest in the company from 3.18 per cent to 4.38 per cent.

Chua is one of the founders of the group and was re-designated executive chairman from executive director from Jan 3, 2022.

As executive chairman, he is primarily in charge of the overall management, including developing and steering corporate plans, business directions and strategies for the group.

Chua has more than 30 years of experience in the marine, offshore, oil and gas industries.

Also on Sep 7, Beng Kuang Marine CEO Yong Jiunn Run acquired 2.4 million shares at an average price of 5.3 cents per share, taking his direct interest in the company from 2.81 per cent to 4.02 per cent.

Yong was appointed on Jun 2, 2021 as CEO.

His responsibilities include making major corporate decisions, developing and steering corporate plans, implementing business directions and strategies for the group.

He has more than 30 years of experience in corporate and commercial banking, having started his career in BNP Paribas.

On Aug 12, Beng Kuang Group reported that its H1 2022 gross profit surged 46.8 per cent to S$4.3 million.

Yong noted that the group was seeing encouraging progress in its efforts to expand high-potential business segments within its business model, resulting in higher revenue.

At the same time, he noted that the group remained focused on deliberate steps to monetise its fixed assets and undertake deleveraging initiatives, while maintaining its high-cost discipline and improving its operating margins.

Resources Global Development

On Sep 5, Resources Global Development executive director and chief executive officer Francis Lee Yaw Loong acquired 100,000 shares at S$1.18 per share.

This took his direct interest in the Catalist-listed company to 0.11 per cent.

Lee is responsible for the overall management, strategic planning and development, and the expansion and growth of the group.

He has over 25 years of experience and expertise in managing companies in the trading, shipping, investment holding and agriculture sectors.

Resources Global Development procures thermal coal from coal mines located in South Kalimantan for domestic and export sales.

It also provides chartering services of tugboats, barges and bulk carrier to transport coal mainly within the Indonesian territories.

Lee previously served as an alternative non-executive director on the board of Beng Kuang Marine, a company listed on the Mainboard from 2013 to 2016.

On Aug 14, the group reported net profit for H1 2022 increased by 54.9 per cent to S$11.7 million, from S$7.6 million in H1 2021.

This followed an attributable net profit of S$14.8 million for 2021 which represented a 381 per cent increase from 2020.

For the coal trading business, the group noted that its H1 2022 revenue from the business was similar to that in H1 2021, at S$53.4 million and S$53.3 million respectively.

Despite a decrease in sales volume, from 926,000 million tonnes in H1 2021 to 525,000 million tonnes in H1 2022, the comparable coal trading revenues were maintained due to the increase in the average selling price from S$57.70 per million tonne in H1 2021 to S$101.50 per million tonne in H1 2022.

The group noted that the Russian-Ukraine conflict has resulted in competitive Russian thermal coal being offered to the region, easing much of the regional supply tightness.

Its coal shipping services, on the other hand, have seen healthy demands from the movement of commodities within the Indonesian archipelago.

Nordic Group

On Sep 5, Nordic Group executive director and CEO, Dorcas Teo Ling Ling acquired 40,000 shares at an average price of 49.5 cents per share.

With a consideration of S$19,810, this increased her direct interest in the company from 8.08 per cent to 8.10 per cent.

Teo has over 25 years of experience in the marine and offshore valve remote control industry and is responsible for the overall operations, sales and business development, profit and loss management, and human resources function of Nordic Flow Control.

On Aug 5 the group reported that its H1 2022 revenue rose by 62 per cent year on year to S$79.8 million as the segments of project services and maintenance services, improved over H1 2021 with the easing of movement restrictions worldwide.

In H1 2022, Nordic Group secured contracts totalling S$170.6 million in the various sectors including S$90.1 million from the acquisition of Starburst Group.

The group’s current outstanding order book is approximately S$232.7 million as of Jun 30, 2022.

Asian Pay Television Trust

On Sep 6, non-executive director and vice-chair of the trustee-manager of Asian Pay Television Trust Lu Fang-Ming, acquired 151,000 units of the business trust for a consideration of S$17,365.

At an average price of 11.5 cents per unit, this increased his total interest in APTT from 1.06 per cent to 1.07 per cent. His preceding acquisitions were on Jul 28 with 330,000 units acquired at 11.8 cents per unit, Jul 14 with 300,000 units acquired at 12.2 cents per unit, and between Sep 23 and 27, 2021 with 1,888,400 units acquired at 13.0 cents per unit.

Lu has also been a corporate executive vice-president of Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group since the ODM manufacturing company he co-founded was acquired by Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group in May 2000.

On Aug 12, APTT reported revenue of S$71.8 million for Q2 2022, a decline of 2.5 per cent from Q2 2021, and S$145.4 million for H1 2022, a decline of 1.8 per cent from H1 2021. Broadband continued to be the growth driver, recording improvements on all fronts – the number of subscribers, average revenue per user and revenue in both S$ and NT$.

Originally Posted September 12, 2022 – Beng Kuang Marine chair and CEO add to their stakes

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