(July 17): Koh Kian Kiong, executive chairman and CEO of engineering company Federal International (2000), has been steadily buying shares of his own company on the open market.
The most recent purchase was made on July 8 when he acquired 12,500 shares at 16.952 cents each. With that, Koh now holds a direct stake of 9.76 million shares, or 6.94%. In addition, Koh has a deemed interest of another 18.15 million shares, or 12.9%. In total, Koh owns a total of 27.9 million shares, or 19.84% of the company.
Earlier this month on July 2, July 3 and July 7, Koh acquired 17,000 shares at 17.571 cents each; 25,000 shares at 16.8 cents each and 32,700 shares at 16.86 cents each respectively. He also bought sporadically through May and June as well.
Koh bought the shares at a significant discount to the company’s book value. As at Dec 31, 2019, the company’s net asset value stood at 59.17 cents per share, up slightly from 57.32 cents as at Dec 31, 2018.
On Feb 28, Federal International reported earnings for the full year ended Dec 31, 2019, came in at $2.4 million, a sharp recovery from the losses of $5.8 million reported in the previous year. Revenue in the same period was $62.6 million, an increase of 44.8% y-o-y from $43.2 million in FY2018, as the company generated higher turnover from its trading activities.
On Feb 24, the company announced it had won orders worth some US$13.1 million ($18.3 million) from regional customers. “Despite weaker oil prices in early 2020, we are hopeful of more similar opportunities to work with. We are grateful for these opportunities to enhance our footprint in the region and to display our procurement capabilities,” says Koh.
IPS Securex significant shareholder Goh pares stake
Goh Khoon Lim, a long-time substantial shareholder at IPS Securex, has cut his stake in the security technology provider. On July 7, he sold 5.5 million shares for $659,663.47 on the open market. The following day, he sold another 1.6 million shares for $188,036.31. Goh’s selling price for each deal works out to an average of 12 cents and 11.8 cents respectively. He now owns 28.9 million shares, equivalent to a stake of 5.96%. Prior to the deals, he had held 36 million shares, or 7.43%.
Goh has held the stake in IPS Securex since 2014, around the time when a video communications joint venture was started between IPS Securex and himself. The company’s largest shareholder remains chairman Chan Tien Lok, who is holding the shares via an entity called IPS Technologies.
On Feb 11, IPS Securex reported earnings of $620,000 for the 2QFY2020 ended Dec 31, 2019. This was a reversal from losses of $16,000 in the year earlier period. Revenue in the same period more than doubled to $5.7 million from $2.5 million. IPS Securex attributes part of the growth to resumption of projects that were previously held back.
Sam Goi raises stake in Envictus
High-profile businessman Sam Goi Seng Hui, executive chairman of Tee Yih Jia Food Manufacturing, is known for taking substantial stakes in various other companies. Over the past month, he has been buying up shares in cocoa company JB Foods, in which he is also its vice-chairman, on the open market.
Most recently, Goi bought shares in Envictus International, another company where he holds a substantial stake and is the vice-chairman too.
On July 9, Goi acquired 323,000 shares at an average of 9.8 cents each. On July 13, he acquired another 500,000 shares at the same price. As such, Goi now holds a direct stake of nearly 32.4 million shares, or 13.1%. In addition, via Tee Yih Jia Food Manufacturing, Goi holds another 29.12 million shares, or 11.79%.
In total, Goi holds 61.5 million shares or 24.89% in Envictus, which produces and distributes foodstuff and also runs food and beverage brands such as Texas Chicken in Malaysia and Indonesia. The last time Goi bought shares of Envictus was back in Dec 18, 2019, where he paid an average of 11.2 cents each for 22,200 units.
On May 14, Envictus reported losses for the 2Q ended March 31 widened by 71.3% to RM26.1 million ($8.5 million) from a year ago on higher operating and finance costs. This despite revenue increasing 5.6% y-o-y to RM229.3 million. For the full year ended Sept 30, 2019, Envictus reported losses of RM35.5 million, widening from RM26.4 million in the preceding year.
