Ong Chih Ching, executive chairman of developer KOP, acquired one million shares on the open market on Jan 21 for $39,563, bringing her total stake in the company to just over 497 million shares, equivalent to 44.86%.
On the same day, Leny Suparman, the company’s group CEO, also acquired 500,000 shares on the open market for $20,000, or an average of 4 cents each. Suparman now holds a direct stake of 1.8 million shares, or 0.16%. Suparman is deemed to be interested in another 41.45% stake in the company.
The purchase of KOP shares by Ong and Suparman came a few days after the company found itself in a legal bind. In a brief statement on Jan 18, KOP said that its indirect subsidiary KOP Northern Lights had earlier that day received a notice of arbitration dated Jan 4. The announcement triggered a query by the Singapore Exchange, asking, among others, the identity of the counterparty, quantum of the arbitration and the issue at stake.
According to the company’s organisational structure illustrated in its annual report, KOP Northern Lights is one of the several operating and holding companies under KOP meant to drive the development of integrated resorts across Asia, including an ongoing winter-themed resort in Shanghai.
In response, KOP said it is bound by the non-disclosure clause in the notice of arbitration and therefore unable to disclose further details. The company did add that based on a preliminary assessment, the quantum of the arbitration is expected to have a material impact. “However, the company is unable to quantify the full impact now,” said KOP, adding that it will be appointing a legal advisor within two weeks and provide an update if there are any material changes.
On Dec 11, KOP reported losses of $2.9 million for the 2QFY2020 ended Sept 30, 2020, from earnings of $106,000 a year ago. Revenue in the same period was down 88% to $634,000. According to KOP, the drop in revenue was caused mainly by the hit in its hospitality business due to the pandemic.
Oxley executive chairman exits Hafary
Ching Chiat Kwong, a substantial shareholder of Hafary Holdings, sold all his shares in the tile supplier to two other individuals.
In two connected married deals on Jan 15, Ching sold nearly 5.6 million shares, equivalent to 1.3%, to Audrey Low Bee Lan, and another 27.1 million shares, equivalent to 6.3%, to Tee Wee Sien. Both transactions were done at 14.5 cents, which is slightly below Hafary’s net asset value of 15.3 cents as at June 30, 2020. Audrey, who is daughter of Low Kok Ann, Hafary’s CEO, now holds some 22.1 million shares, or 5.14%. Tee, meanwhile, holds some 37.5 million shares, or 8.7%.
The parties involved are no strangers to one another. Eric Low, brother of Audrey, is deputy CEO at Oxley Holdings, whose executive chairman is Ching. According to Oxley’s annual report, Tee is the third-largest shareholder of the developer, with a stake of about 471.9 million shares, or 11.19%. Ching and Low are the largest and second largest Oxley shareholders with more than 1.79 billion shares and nearly 1.2 billion shares respectively.
On Aug 14, Hafary reported losses of $1.69 million for 1HFY2020 ended June 30, 2020, from earnings of $3 million a year ago. Revenue in the same period dropped 41.6% to $30.1 million, as the Covid-19 outbreak put many building projects on hold. The company had booked higher impairment costs as well. Despite the losses, Hafary declared an interim dividend of 0.25 cents in 1HFY2020. It did not pay an interim dividend in 1HFY2019.
