Ron Sim, executive chairman of the V3 Group, has emerged as a substantial shareholder of mm2 Asia, which completed a rights issue recently that raised some $54.7 million to help service debt.
On April 19, Sim acquired 64.5 million mm2 Asia shares at 4.7 cents each on the open market. Following the consolidation of shares in his various trading accounts on April 24, Sim is now deemed to control a total of nearly 163.1 million shares, or 7% of the company. He used to hold 4.2%.
Sim, famous for founding the Osim brand of lifestyle products, has seemingly taken an interest in the entertainment business recently. Besides his interest in mm2, which produces entertainment content for various platforms, Sim is known to be one of the cornerstone investors in GHY Culture & Media, which listed on the SGX late last year.
mm2 Asia had earlier indicated plans to mull the separate listing of its cinema business which is run largely under the Cathay brand, as well as to explore a possible merger with Hong Kong-based cinema operator Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings), which runs the Golden Village brand of cinemas here.
UOB Kay Hian analysts Lucas Teng and John Cheong on April 27 initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” call and target price of 9.8 cents. Their optimism stems from expectations of a “blockbuster recovery” in Singapore.
Ex-SGX president ups stake in WTE firm
Ang Swee Tian, the lead independent director of Zheneng Jinjiang Environment Holding Company, on April 27 acquired 91,000 shares for $36,589.50, which works out to just above 40 cents each. He used to hold 80,000 shares. Ang, a former president of the Singapore Exchange, now holds 171,000 shares, equivalent to 0.012%.
Zheneng Jinjiang Environment describes itself as a leading waste-to-energy operator in China. As at Dec 31, 2020, the company has 22 operational WTE facilities and one organic waste treatment facility in China with a total installed waste treatment capacity of 38,060 tons per day.
For FY2020 ended Dec 31, 2020, Zheneng Jinjiang Environment reported revenue of RMB3.1 billion ($637.5 million), down 20.4% from the preceding FY2019, due to a “challenging operating environment”. However, helped by government grants and tax refund, and a decrease in other non-operating expenses, the company was able to report earnings of RMB326.9 million, up 113.2%.
Favourable government policies that will help promote sustainability are something the company looks forward to.
“We will work on developing targeted and systematic plans to actively explore new ways of circular collaboration, as well as strive and develop the urban ecosystem,” says executive chairman Wei Dongliang.
Katrina’s chairman Goh raises stake
Alan Goh, executive chairman of Katrina Group, and his wife, executive director Catherine Tan, raised his stake in the F&B group. On May 3, Goh acquired 45,400 shares at 13.37 cents each on the open market. He bought on April 30 and April 29 too. Goh now holds a direct stake of 242,600 shares.
Together with his deemed stake, Goh now has a total stake of over 205.6 million shares, or around 89%. Goh did not hold a single direct share before April 23 when he acquired 77,600 shares for 9.91 cents each. On April 26, Goh again acquired another 30,000 shares for 11.23 cents each.
Katrina Group runs a total of 37 restaurants in Singapore under brands such as Bali Thai, Honguo, So Pho, Streats, as well as two more restaurants in Indonesia — down from a total of 45 last year. Also, it operates nearly 200 units of apartment and four co-living hotels versus 376 units of apartment and two co-living hotels in 2019.
Hit by the pandemic, the company’s revenue for the fiscal year ended December 2020 was down 31.9% y-o-y to $57.4 million. It also booked an impairment of $12 million on its hospitality assets. As such, Katrina’s reported $16.3 million in losses, versus losses of $6.3 million a year earlier.
