Both the chairman and CEO of Mooreast Holdings have increased their stake in the company after the specialist in mooring systems reported a y-o-y doubling of earnings for 1HFY2022 ended June.
On Aug 15, founder and CEO Sim Koon Lam acquired 150,900 shares on the open market at an average of 13.66 cents each. The following day, he acquired another 64,000 shares at 13 cents each. On Aug 30, Sim again acquired 108,000 shares an average of 13.1 cents each. This brings Sim’s direct stake to 322,900 shares. Together with his deemed stake of 190.6 million shares, this gives him a total stake of 190.96 million Mooreast shares, equivalent to 73.72%, up from 73.68%.
Separately, Joseph Ong Yong Lok, Mooreast’s non-executive chairman, acquired 145,000 shares on the open market on Aug 15 at an average of 13.58 cents. The following day, Ong, a former managing director of Tan Chong International, again acquired 155,000 shares at 13.4 cents each. This brings his total stake to 300,000 shares or 0.12% of the company.
On Aug 12, Mooreast reported 1HFY2022 earnings were 122% higher y-o-y at $872,000 from $392,000 in 1HFY2021. Revenue in the same period was up 81% y-o-y to $13 million. “The improvements to our financial performance have been an encouraging start to the year and reflect the success of our growth strategies. Despite the challenges ahead, we intend to build upon the rising number of offshore renewable projects to build a healthy pipeline of projects,” says Sim.
Construction recovery
Crane supplier Tiong Woon Corp started share buybacks for the first time after it reported better earnings for FY2022 ended June 30.
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On Sept 5, Tiong Woon bought back 40,000 shares. On Aug 30, 31 and Sept 1, it had separately acquired a total of 160,000 shares at 48 cents each.
n Aug 26, Tiong Woon reported earnings of $11.4 million for FY2022, up 15% y-o-y from $9.9 million. Revenue was up 9% y-o-y to $122.6 million, driven by a recovery in construction activities. Tiong Woon has garnered growing interest among the investing community recently after it was seen to benefit from the recovery of the construction sector from the pandemic. On Aug 23, John Cheong of UOB Kay Hian initiated coverage of the stock with a “buy” call and 88 cents price target. In a Sept 2 un-rated report, CGS-CIMB notes that the stock trades at just 5.1x FY2024 earnings.
Booted from the STI
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Transport operator ComfortDelGro has bought back shares following news that it will be booted out from the Straits Times Index. Philippines-based alcohol seller Emperador, which made a secondary listing on Singapore Exchange just two months ago, will take its place instead within the 30-member list.
On Sept 5, ComfortDelGro bought back 82,500 shares on the open market at $1.37 each. This brings the total number of shares bought back under the current mandate to 435,000 units. The latest transaction follows an earlier one on Aug 31, when the company also bought back 82,500 shares at $1.40 each.
Just a day earlier on Aug 30, a substantial shareholder of ComfortDelGro, Pyrford International, sold 767,600 shares at about $1.40 each. This leaves Pyrford with just over 108.2 million shares, equivalent to a stake of 4.995%, down from 5.03%.
ComfortDelGro’s earnings have recovered somewhat from the pandemic-hit years of 2020 and 2021. In 1HFY2022 ended June, it reported earnings of $118.7 million, up 30.4% y-o-y over $91 million reported for 1HFY2021. The company has paid an interim dividend of 2.85 cents per share, as well as an interim dividend of 1.41 cents per share, using proceeds from the sale of a property.
