Lim Boon Kheng, group managing director cum CEO of CSE Global, saw an increase in this stake in the company. On March 9, Lim, via his nominee accounts, acquired 171,600 shares at $59,202 or 34.5 cents each on the open market.
The following day, he acquired another 693,000 shares on the open market for $239,085, also at 34.5 cents each. Lim has a deemed interest of 14.27 million shares or 2.321% and a direct interest of 2.41 million shares. This brings his total interest to 16.7 million shares or 2.713% after the transactions.
Before the acquisitions, the most recent buying by a CSE Global director was on Dec 22 when non-executive chairman Lim Ming Seong acquired 320,000 shares on the open market for $108,800 or 34 cents each. This brings his total interest, consisting his own shares and those held by his wife, to 4.79 million shares or 0.778%, up from 0.726% previously.
On Feb 27, CSE Global reported that revenue in FY2022 ended Dec 31, 2022 increased by 19% y-o-y to $557.7 million, thanks to growth in infrastructure project revenues in Australia and the Americas. However, FY2022 earnings fell 68.2% to $4.8 million from FY2021 as the company suffered from lower margins from higher project execution costs and cost overruns due to supply chain disruptions.
In addition, CSE Global restructured a business division in the US, booking one-off costs of $1.3 million. The company plans to pay a final dividend of 1.5 cents.
To seek new growth, CSE Global recently announced the acquisition of Radio One, a US-based radio communication group for US$11 million ($14.4 million). This is the second such acquisition in two months following the group’s acquisition of a group of wireless communications businesses for NZ$25 million ($21.3 million).
See also: Raffles Medical Group chairman ups stake to 55.592%
The deal was given the thumbs up by UOB Kay Hian’s analysts John Cheong and Heidi Mo, who described the acquisitions as “highly accretive”, raising their target price by 22% to 45 cents from 37 cents previously. The target price is pegged to 14 times earnings estimated for the current FY2023.
“Looking ahead, we will be laser-focused on integrating our latest acquisitions and executing backlog orders while closely monitoring our costs,” says Lim in the earnings commentary. As at Dec 2022, CSE Global’s order book stood at $480.1 million.
Kuok in the market again
See also: Cortina's Lim family raises stake via married deal at $2.90 each
Kuok Khoon Hong, Wilmar International’s chairman and CEO, continued increasing his stake in the company. On March 10, via an entity called HPRY Holdings, Kuok acquired one million shares at $3.93 each on the open market. This brings his total interest in Wilmar to over 823.1 million shares, equivalent to 13.19%, up from 13.17% previously.
A day earlier, on March 9, Kuok had also acquired one million shares at $3.94 each. Last month, Kuok had also made purchases over several days after Wilmar reported its most recent earnings.
In FY2022 ended Dec 31, 2022, Wilmar reported record earnings of US$2.4 billion, 27.1% higher than FY2021. Revenue in the same period was US$73.4 billion, up 11.6% from FY2021. The company plans to pay a final dividend of 11 cents, bringing its total FY2022 payout to an all-time high of 17 cents.
In his earnings commentary, Kuok calls FY2022 an “exceptional” year where the company enjoyed higher prices of the commodities it sells.
However, he warns that the current FY2023 will be “challenging” as both plantation profits and processing margins will come under pressure. Still, the company expects its business in China to “perform better” after the country ended its pandemic-related curbs
