A Hong Kong-based company that is a substantial shareholder of Interra Resources has trimmed its stake in the oil explorer and producer.
On Oct 26, Poly Legend International sold around 11.1 million shares for $572,022.20, which works out to around 5.2 cents each. It now owns 43.8 million shares or 6.68%, down from 8.37%.
Poly Legend, which is in petrochemicals and commodities trading, became a substantial shareholder of Interra Resources last April after it invested $2.8 million for a 9.53% stake via a placement.
It paid 4.5 cents each for 62.5 million new shares. The price paid by Poly Legend was a discount of 9.64% off Interra Resources’ market price at that time.
On Oct 7, the company announced that Goldpetrol, its joint venture in Myanmar, has commenced drilling in a well in the Chauk oil field. Interra has a 60% interest in the improved petroleum recovery contract of the Chauk field and also owns 60% of Goldpetrol which is the operator of the field.
CHK 1227, as this well is called, is Interra’s seventh budgeted development well drilled in Myanmar this year and it will update on the results of the drilling in around a month.
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For its 1HFY2021 ended June 30, the company reported a net loss of US$301,000 ($406,169.40) versus a loss of US$783,000 in the year earlier period.
Abrdn buys more AEM
Abrdn, the fund manager which used to be known as Aberdeen, has increased its stake in semiconductor play AEM Holdings. On Oct 26, Abrdn acquired 274,800 shares for $1.15 million or $4.17 each.
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With that, the fund manager now holds just over 18.7 million shares or 6.049%, up from 5.96%. Earlier on Sept 16, Abrdn also bought 813,600 shares for $3.4 million for 813,600 shares or $4.15 each.
The acquisition by Abrdn came just after AEM completed the placement of 26.8 million new shares to Temasek Holdings at $3.8477 each, raising just over $100 million. The state-owned investment agency is now the single largest AEM shareholder.
Besides the investments by these institutional investors, AEM has been buying back its own shares as well. The most recent buying was on Oct 6, when it paid $591,014.22 for 150,000 shares, which works out to an average of $3.93 each. Under the existing share buyback mandate, AEM has bought back just over one million shares.
In 1HFY2021 ended June 30, AEM reported earnings of $29.7 million, down 46.3% from $55.3 million a year ago. This was due to the high-base effect last year and that earnings growth is now normalising.
EPF trims stake
Malaysia’s Employees Provident Board (EPF) on Oct 25 sold one million Riverstone Holdings shares in the market for $884,000, which works out to an average of 88.4 cents.
As such, the EPF has cut its stake in the glove maker to 88.66 million shares or 5.982%, down from 6.049%. Earlier on Sept 20, EPF had sold 284,900 shares for $287,207.69, or just over $1 each.
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On Aug 5, the company announced that earnings for its 2QFY2021 ended June 30 hit RM518 million ($167.37 million), a surge from RM90.9 million from the year earlier. Revenue in the same period jumped to RM987 million from RM347.3 million, thanks to the surge in demand for rubber gloves with the ongoing pandemic. It had declared an interim dividend of 10 sen per share, up from four sen per share this time last year.
In the earnings commentary, executive chairman and CEO Wong Teek Son reiterates that the company has already put in place plans to capture growth beyond the pandemic, such as targeting users in food processing and pharmaceutical industries.
“On the other hand, our business model is differentiated from our industry peers due to our high-end cleanroom glove business which has earned the reputation as a clear industry leader for over two decades,” he adds.
The company is looking to increase its production capacity to 15 billion pieces per year come 2023.
Photo of Interra Resources drilling wells in Myanmar / Interra Resources
