(Sept 9): Non-executive director and controlling shareholder of Centurion Corp, Han Seng Guan, bought 500,000 of the accommodation provider’s shares for HK$2.36 on Aug 27, bringing his total holdings to 482,530,926 shares, or a 57.4% stake in the company. Han had in March acquired 444,000 shares for HK$2.40 each.
Han’s deemed stake is held via an entity called Centurion Global, which he jointly controls with his maternal cousin David Loh Kim Kang, who is also a non-executive director of Centurion Corp. The shares in the listed Centurion are held via Centurion Properties, which is a subsidiary of Centurion Global.
Han was not the only one acquiring Centurion Corp shares. Loh acquired a total of 650,000 shares at 40 cents each in June, bringing his total stake to 478,493,076 shares.
Both Loh and Han, who are former remisiers, were known as the “A team” of UOB Kay Hian. They made their name helping many China-based companies to list here in Singapore. Following a career in stockbroking, they diversified into property development and other investments, including Centurion Corp, which they took over in 2011 via a reverse takeover of optical disk maker SM Summit. They then established a new core business for the company — developing and owning purpose-built worker and student accommodation in Singapore, the UK, Malaysia and Australia.
Centurion’s share price peaked on April 18 at 45 cents but dropped to close at 41 cents on Sept 4, unchanged year to date, valuing the company at $340 million. At this price, Centurion is trading at 4.34 times historical earnings, with a yield of 4.94%. As at June 30, the company’s net asset value was 60.8 cents, up slightly from 60.3 cents as at Dec 31, 2018.
On Aug 13, Centurion Corp announced an increase in earnings of 4% to $10.2 million for 2Q2019, compared with $9.8 million in 2Q2018. However, for 1H2019, earnings were 4% lower at $18.1 million from $18.9 million in 1H2018. Revenue for 2Q increased 8% to $32.9 million from $30.4 million a year ago, mainly owing to revenue contribution from the group’s newly added properties such as dwell East End Adelaide in Australia and dwell Princess Street in the UK. Its legacy optical disc business — a pale shadow of its former self — continued to diminish. During the quarter, revenue from this business dropped 45% y-o-y to $319,000.
Centurion Corp is, however, buoyed by the increased uptake in workers’ accommodation in Singapore and Malaysia — a demand pushed up by more stringent guidelines imposed by the Ministry of Manpower on housing options for foreign workers, as well as by amendments to the Workers’ Minimum Standard of Housing and Amenities Bill by the Malaysian government. It aims to add 11,600 beds across three new worker accommodation facilities in Singapore and Malaysia.
