Derek Goh Bak Heng, executive chairman of Serial System, saw an increase in his stake in the company. On June 16, he snapped up 400,000 shares on the open market for $59,900 or an average of nearly 15 cents. This brings his direct stake to 363.5 million shares or 40.577%. In addition, Goh has a deemed stake of another 71,000 shares. This brings his total interest in the company to around 363.58 million shares or 40.585%.
On June 16, he snapped up 400,000 shares on the open market for $59,900 or an average of nearly 15 cents, and another 100,000 shares at 15.3 cents each. This brings his direct stake to just over 363.5 million. In addition, Goh has a deemed stake of another 71,000 shares. This brings his total interest in the company to nearly 363.68 million shares or 40.596%.
Goh, who founded the company more than three decades ago, bought the shares after Serial System reported in a business update that it has swung back into the black for the 1QFY2021 ended March 31. Earnings for the three months was US$2.7 million ($3.6 million) versus losses of US$6.5 million a year ago. Revenue in the same period increased by 44% y-o-y to US$223.3 million.
Serial System, which distributes electronic components with a focus on semiconductors, enjoyed a jump in demand in line with the growth of the semiconductor industry. In its earnings commentary, the company notes that demand, especially in China, had resumed. The company, stung previously by the loss of its single largest supplier Texas Instruments, has been actively diversifying both its customer and supplier base.
“Apart from these growth strategies, Serial System has also been improving internal efficiencies such as lowering its cost structure in areas like manpower and related costs and administration expenses to respond to the new operating environment,” the company adds.
“We have had an encouraging start to 2021 after a challenging 2020. Amid the continued global chip shortage, more companies seek a reliable distributor with a strong base of suppliers and track record. We will also continue to grow our consumer products division in Southeast Asia while intensifying our efforts to improve internal efficiencies,” says Goh.
Ramping up stake
Toh Soon Huat, who emerged as a substantial shareholder of Accrelist in late May, has steadily increased his stake in the company.
In a May 24 filing, Toh acquired 3.9 million shares for $176,058.41 or 4.5 cents each. Earlier, Toh had acquired 512,700 shares for $18,544.36 or an average of 3.6 cents.
Most recently on June 9, Toh acquired 1.37 million shares on the open market for $62,403.50 or just shy of 4.6 cents each on average.
Toh bought the shares via his deemed interest account at Phillip Securities. He now holds 18.7 million deemed shares or 6.7%. In addition, he holds a direct stake of 1.86 million shares or 0.67%, giving him a total interest of 7.37% from 6.88% previously.
According to Accrelist’s annual report, as at October 2020, Terence Tea, the company’s executive chairman and managing director, held a stake of 23.08%.
On May 30, Accrelist announced significantly narrow losses of $636,000 for FY2021 ended March 31 from $12.6 million in the red in the preceding year. Revenue in the same period was up 9% to $151.7 million.
The better numbers can be attributed to Accrelist’s newly acquired medical aesthetics business, which generated revenue of $6.8 million for FY2021, up 36% from FY2020. It reported profit before tax of $3.3 million in FY2021 versus a loss of $0.3 million in FY2020. Accrelist attributes the improvement to enhanced marketing and cost control efforts as well as the absence of set-up costs in FY2021.
In the company’s earnings commentary, Tea notes that despite facing significant challenges and an uncertain environment following the impact of Covid-19, the aesthetics business was able to achieve commendable growth and profitability. “We remain confident that the medical aesthetics segment has significant long-term growth potential and will continue to focus on pursuing our expansion plans,” he adds.
Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore
