Ranhill's Director Buys Shares Ahead Of Takeover Bid Of The Company???

Is this even allowed?

On Star Biz: Ranhill director buys shares

• Tuesday August 9, 2011
  
  Ranhill director buys shares
  
  PETALING JAYA: Ranhill Bhd’s director Senator Datuk Chandrasekar Suppiah has acquired 80,000 shares, representing a 0.01% stake, in the company last week.
  
  In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia, Ranhill said the transaction was done via open market at an average price of 76.8 sen per share.

Just on the Edge: Ranhill gets takeover offer at 90c per share

• Ranhill gets takeover offer at 90c per share
  Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com
  Tuesday, 09 August 2011 10:47
  
  KUALA LUMPUR: RANHILL BHD has received a takeover offer from its major shareholders at 90 sen per share, led by its president and chief executive Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad. At 90 sen, this was a premium of 15 sen or 20% above the last traded price of 75 sen on Monday.
  
  The parties acting in concert with him are Cheval Infrastructure Fund L.P. (acting via its general partner, TAEL Management Co. (Cayman) Ltd), Ranhill Corporation Sdn Bhd, Lambang Optima Sdn Bhd and Pacific Energy Overseas Ltd. They jointly own a 51.86% stake.
  
  Ranhill said on Tuesday, Aug 9 the parties made the offer to acquire all the remaining shares they do not already own via Maybank Investment Bank Bhd.
  
  “In relation to the offer, the board of directors of Ranhill will upon its deliberation, announce whether it intends to seek an alternative person to make a take-over offer for the offer shares,” it said. They do not intend to retain the listing status.
  
  Trading in Ranhill shares has been halted from 9am and will resume at 2.30pm.

Err.... can someone please call Martha????

And hello..... Ah See?

Like this also can meh? Company director buys share and next week company gets takeover offer???

Sigh,,,,,,,,,

If like this also can... then ... just say goodbye to CG.

Sigh...... what a sad day for corporate Malaysia.

No Privatisation Of Ranhill Now?

Just wondering out loud here.

How come no more Ranhill privatisation stories?

How come?

Ranhill is now 0.705.

Much cheaper to take it private now.

Don't want?

It's much, much cheaper now than 96 sen.

96 sen? That's when them rumours started.




The following postings were blogged recently in July 2008.

1. Ranhill: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!
2. Ranhill Answers: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!
3. Ranhill Privatisation Rumours: What's Up With The Owner Disposing?

Ranhill Says No Problem To Service Debt

Blogged yesterday, Ranhill Credit Rating Put On Negative Watch!

On today's Financial Edge, Ranhill has come out defending itself in the following article, Ranhill says it will be able to service debt

• 04-09-2008: Ranhill says it will be able to service debts
  
  KUALA LUMPUR: Ranhill Bhd, which has come under pressure after the company reported a loss of RM719.4 million in the fourth quarter (4Q) ended June 30, 2008, has reiterated that it will be able to service its current debt obligations as its cash flow remains healthy.
  
  The company said the group's cash flow was now focused on its water, power and engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) segments which would assist the respective divisions' operational needs and requirements.
  
  "In the next few years, the company will enjoy a period of consolidation and we are confident that we will be able to turn the difficulties and challenges of the previous years into opportunities," the company said in a statement here yesterday.
  
  In the past one year, Ranhill has taken private its subsidiaries Ranhill Utilities Bhd and Ranhill Power Bhd. The main reason is for the holding company to consolidate the cash flow from its subsidiaries in the utilities business to mitigate the fluctuating cash flow from its construction business.
  
  Ranhill, which is controlled by Tan Sri Hamdan Mohammad, also disposed of its interest in the oil and gas (O&G) companies, whereby the parent company will not have to fork out additional capital expenditure on the capital intensive business.
  
  The disposal of the O&G business contributed to the losses in 4Q as the company had to provide for RM48 million for loss on disposal and impairment in asset.
  
  Following the release of its results last Friday, Standard & Poor's said on Monday that it may downgrade Ranhill because of delays in some of its project and weaker "credit metrics".
  
  S&P placed Ranhill's corporate credit rating on watch with "negative implications". The rating agency may also downgrade the B-rating on Ranhill's US$200 million (RM690 million) notes.
  
  However, Fitch Ratings said in a statement yesterday there would be no immediate change to its rating of "B" with a stable outlook on Ranhill as the losses reported were attributable to non-cash items which have no immediate impact on its debt servicing ability.
  
  "The majority of such non-cash charges relate to the Melut basin development project in Sudan," Fitch said in a statement.
  
  It said in 4Q, Ranhill provided RM316 million on account of cost overruns incurred on this project and a further RM240 million due from its joint-venture partner in this project.
  
  In addition to those provisions, Ranhill also registered a loss of RM48 million arising from the disposal of some of its investments in the O&G exploration segment.
  
  Following its exit from the O&G exploration and production business, the biggest project in Ranhill's order book is a housing project in Libya estimated at RM13 billion.
  
  According to Fitch, the company is negotiating with the Libyan government on some amendments to the contract value to reflect the increased cost.
  
  "Given the significant size of this project, Ranhill failing to make positive cash generation from this project will adversely affect its ratings," it said.
  

Ranhill Credit Rating Put On Negative Watch!

The following postings were blogged recently in July 2008.

1. Ranhill: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!
2. Ranhill Answers: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!
3. Ranhill Privatisation Rumours: What's Up With The Owner Disposing?

Here's a recap on what has happened.

Shenanigans were done via our financial press suggesting that Ranhill could be taken private by its owners and of course the stock flew up, up and away.

And what was ironic when the owner was disposing shares in the open market.

End of last month, Ranhill announced its earnings. In my opinion, it was a horror story.

Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/6/2008

Losses totalled 719 million!!!!!!!!!

And if you refer to posting, Ranhill: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!, I mentioned the following regarding Ranhill's balance sheet health

• Let's look from an ownership perspective. The moment the boss buys everything, the boss would be in full control over the cash and debts. Yes, Ranill has a nice 960 million in its piggy bank but its total loans totals a whopping 3.529 billion! Yes, Ranill Bhd is in a whopping net debt of 2.569 billion! Which means by buying this company as it is, the boss would be effectively 2.569 billion in debts!

In the just announced quarterly earnings, Ranhill's balance sheet has deteriorated. Bank balances is at 888.576 million but total borrowings has soared to 4.023 billion! Which means the company is now in a net debt of a whopping 3.134 billion!!!!!!!!!

Alarm bells?

And would the owners really want to privatise this whopping junk of debt?

And this morning, I saw the following article. S&P puts Ranhill on negative watch

• The rating agency has placed the engineering group's corporate credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications after Ranhill posted a RM690 million net loss
  
  RANHILL Bhd's corporate credit rating was put on negative watch by rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) after the engineering group reported a net loss last year.
  
  For the financial year ended June 30 2008, Ranhill posted a RM690 million net loss and interest coverage of 1.1 times, which were significantly lower than expected, S&P said in a press release yesterday.
  
  "While Ranhill has informed us its RM556 million provisioning is non-cash, preliminary discussions with the company indicate that there are also material delays in the Libyan housing project and ongoing independent power producer projects," said S&P credit analyst Joey Chew.
  
  "Furthermore, there are deviations from the initial business plans."
  
  The rating agency has placed its "B" corporate credit rating of Ranhill Bhd on CreditWatch with negative implications.
  
  At the same time, the "B-" rating on Ranhill's US$220 million (RM684 million) senior unsecured notes was also placed on CreditWatch with negative implications.
  
  "We will seek greater clarity on the group's revised business plan and its investment outlay," Chew said.
  
  Although the immediate concerns are alleviated by the debt service reserve account under the notes, delays in the projects that are in progress and weaker credit metrics may result in a one-notch downgrade, S&P said.
  
  Fitch Ratings, another agency, said yesterday that it saw no immediate change to Ranhill's issuer default rating of "B" with a stable outlook after the announcement of the results.
  
  "Ranhill's reported losses are attributable to non-cash items which have no immediate impact on its debt-servicing ability. The majority of such non-cash charges relate to the Melut-basin development project in Sudan," Fitch said.
  
  Still, Ranhill's liquidity continues to be weak with the profitability of its engineering and construction segment hit by cost overruns and delays in several other projects, Fitch added.
  
  Shares of Ranhill fell 13.1 per cent to 89.5 sen yesterday.

Ranhill shares closed at 89.5 sen yesterday?

Ouch!!!!

And the shares were trading above 1.40 back in July - many thanks to that privatisation speculation!!!

Ranhill Privatisation Rumours: What's Up With The Owner Disposing?

Blogged the other day: Ranhill: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher! and Ranhill Answers: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!

Let's recall what has happened so far.

Last week, an incredible story was published on the Business Times suggesting that Ranhill could be taken private by the owners. It was all based on unnamed sources.

I found it hard to believe. Why would the owners be interested in this deal worth some 420 million? Why would they want to take it private when Ranhill is in a nett debt of 2.569 Billion? It simply did not sound rational at all.

And worse still, the article came out with a bunch of unnamed analysts suggesting a 'sum of private parts' valuation technique. I was amazed by such creativity!

And when questioned by Bursa, I posted Ranhill's reply on the second posting, Ranhill Answers: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!. All the management could answer to the Bursa query was the following.

• we are constantly exploring opportunities in seeking for any proposals that may contribute to our objectives to enhance and boost our shareholders’ value

It was truly vague.

And less us not forget that the stock soared some 47.9% during these 2 trading days!

And yesterday there was another shocking development.

The owner announced a massive disposal of shares! ( See Changes in Director's Interest (S135) - Hamdan Mohamad )

• Disposed 23/07/2008 29,000,000

Yes, Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad had disposed some 29 million shares on the 23rd July, a couple of days before that article was published.

So why would Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad want to take Ranhill Bhd private when he was disposing/reducing his shares?

This wouldn't make sense yes?

And since he was disposing/reducing his shares, why didn't Ranhill Bhd management deny that privatisation rumour? Why?

Ranhill Answers: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!

Blogged on Saturday, Ranhill: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!

The stock closed up 15 sen or 11% at 1.42.

On Thursday, the stock was worth a mere 96 sen!

So thanks to that report where unnamed sources suggested that Ranhill could be taken private, the stock gained 46 sen in two trading days or 47.9%!!!!!!!!!!

Ranhill today gave an absolute incredible reply in my opinion!

• We refer to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Bursa”)’s letter dated 25 July 2008, querying on the article that appeared in The New Straits Times, Biz News section at page 40 on Friday, 25 July 2008, particularly the caption below –
  
  “Ranhill Bhd is close to being taken private by controlling shareholder Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad in a deal that can be worth about RM420 million,…”
  
  “…is working out the details to take it private within the next three to four months.”
  
  As we have advised in our response to Bursa’s query on similar nature of newspaper article sometime in January 2008, we are constantly exploring opportunities in seeking for any proposals that may contribute to our objectives to enhance and boost our shareholders’ value. The requisite announcement to Bursa will be made in accordance with Bursa’s Listing Requirements once a decision has been reached on the appropriate proposal and strategy.

The reply to the query was simply vague and inadequate.

Said by Ranhill management..

• we are constantly exploring opportunities in seeking for any proposals that may contribute to our objectives to enhance and boost our shareholders’ value.

Constantly exploring opportunities?

Huh?

What exactly does it mean?

Why can't the management acknowledge or deny the rumours?

Why?

Is that so hard to answer?

Ranhill: Our Financial News Being Used To Drive The Stock Higher!

The best performing stock yesterday was Ranhill who surged a whopping 30.5 sen or 31% to close at 1.27.

All thanks to yet another rumour being spun by our country's top financial news, Business Times, Ranhill said close to being taken private

• By Sharen Kaur Published: 2008/07/24
  
  RANHILL Bhd is close to being taken private by controlling shareholder Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad in a deal that can be worth about RM420 million, says a source.
  
  The source told Business Times that Hamdan, who controls the engineering firm and is also the group's president and chief executive officer, is working out the details to take it private within the next three to four months.
  
  Hamdan and Ranhill executive director Datuk Chandrasekar Suppiah could not be reached for comment.
  
  Analysts said the controlling shareholders of Ranhill had toyed with the idea to take it private as the stock has relatively underperformed.

Now if the source and the analysts mentioned by the reported is credible then why is the source being afraid to be named?

Is it wrong to question who the source is?

Or does the source represents funds whose sole objective is to drive the stock higher?

Care to prove me wrong?

Now let's put some simple commonsense thinking also.

If Ranhill Bhd is really worth so much more and if the owners really want to take it private, why would they leak the news to the public? And when such news is leaked, surely the stock would be driven much higher, thus eliminating whatever privatisation value there might be! Would such reasoning be flawed?

So surely it wasn't the owners who leaked such news out.

But if it wasn't the owners, who then?

And why?

• Ranhill shares have dipped by some 70 per cent this year trading as low as 79 sen in the last few weeks from a RM2.65 high in January.

Why has Ranhill dipped so much?

Perhaps one should ask why did Ranhill traded so high in the first place?

That the stock used to trade so high simply is not a justification that the market valuation was fair!

How about the incredible incident last year when the local press blatantly suggested Ranhill had struck oil? A move which saw the stock gaining a whopping 29% in one session of trading?

Yeah, do refer to the following postings, According to Sources: Ranhill Strikes Oil!!!!!!!! , According to Bloomberg: Ranhill Denies! and Do you think that Bursa should take action against misleading reporting?

Ok and how about Ranhill's performance as a company?

Here is the link to its latest earnings report, Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 31/3/2008.

It lost some 31.7 million for the quarter. Annualised earnings indicates earnings of around 38 million, giving a rough earnings per share of 6.4 sen only. So that Ranhill Bhd was trading at around 79 sen and given the fact that Ranhill cash balances were rather weak and extended, the low stock price had some just reasoning yes?

The article then continues..

• "Even if we assume there is no value attached to its construction and EPCC business and only assigned value to its 100 per cent stakes in Ranhill Utilities Bhd (RUB) and Ranhill Power Bhd (RPB) based on their respective privatisation valuations of RM1.1 billion and RM258 million respectively, coupled with debts of about RM100 million at holding company level, Ranhill's theoretical sum or parts fair value works out to about RM1.98 apiece," the analysts said.
  
  "This is very close to its net tangible asset of RM1.91 a share as at March 31 2008," they added.
  
  For the 12-month period to June 2007, Ranhill posted a profit of RM117 million and revenue of RM1.47 billion

OMG! A new valuation method - sum of private parts? LOL! Wonder where they learned this new one from?

And that very last line..

• For the 12-month period to June 2007, Ranhill posted a profit of RM117 million and revenue of RM1.47 billion.

That said 12-month period to June 2007 was last reported on Aug 2007. Here is the link to that earnings report. Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/6/2007

It's now July 2008.

Why was the current earnings performance being left out?

Why was such an outdated earnings being used as reference in the news?

If it was outdated, surely it's not 'news' anymore, yes?

And consider the following. Latest earnings from Ranhill showed a huge loss of 31.7 million! Ytd earnings for its 3 quarters of this current fiscal year only totals 28.8 million. Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 31/3/2008

It pales in comparison to a company earning 117 million!

So won't you ask if this was the reasoning why the information was blatantly left out?

And by whom?

Was it the reporter or the said same analysts?

Would you consider this as utterly horrific and appalling reporting of information where actual current facts are blatantly left out?

And when the stock soars more than 30%, don't you think it's simply more sickening?

Are our local press ruling the stock market?

Now let's consider the privatisation story again.

Let's look at Ranhill as it is. Look at some of its key balance sheet items. ( Let's refer to this Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 31/3/2008 earnings report)

Deposits, bank and cash balances... 960,154
Short-term borrowings..................... 297,174
Long-term borrowings................... 3,232,196

Let's look from an ownership perspective. The moment the boss buys everything, the boss would be in full control over the cash and debts. Yes, Ranill has a nice 960 million in its piggy bank but its total loans totals a whopping 3.529 billion! Yes, Ranill Bhd is in a whopping net debt of 2.569 billion! Which means by buying this company as it is, the boss would be effectively 2.569 billion in debts!

So how much do you reckon the boss would fork out to buy this company which is in a net debt of 2.569 billion?

I wonder.

And you know, some folks views public listed debts in a different perspective. As a public listed company, the debts owned by the plc is public. And when it's a private company, the debts become theirs!

And then, another very interesting thing for me. I was looking at some recent shareholder buying/selling activities.

Changes in Sub. S-hldr's Int. (29B) - Hamdan Mohamad

Changes in Sub. S-hldr's Int. (29B) - Hamdan Mohamad

Changes in Sub. S-hldr's Int. (29B) - Hamdan Mohamad

Look at those recent disposals of shares by Ranhill Corporation Sdn Bhd. which dilutes the boss Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad's stake in Ranhill Bhd.

I am confused.

Macam mana ni?

If there is intent by Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad to take Ranhill Bhd private, surely all these disposals would not have taken place, yes?

How lah?

What do you think of this privatisation story on Ranhill?

You think got any substance, ah?

Or do you think it will turn out to be yet another 'According to Sources: Ranhill Strikes Oil!!!!!!!! , According to Bloomberg: Ranhill Denies!' fiasco?

Sigh!

Ranhill: Privatization of a Listed Subsidairy

Delisting of a LISTED subsidiary is bad enough but the intent from the holding company to relist it again in the future is simply disgusting.

I was so disgusted to read this article.

• Ranhill not ruling out relisting power unit
  By Sharen Kaur
  sharen@nstp.com.my
  
  September 13 2007
  
  RANHILL Bhd has not ruled out the possibility that Ranhill Power Bhd could be relisted in the future, following plans to add value to the company after taking it private this year.
  
  Ranhill Power is expected to be de-listed from the official list of Bursa Malaysia Securities by October or November this year.
  
  Executive director Datuk Chandrasekar Suppiah said Ranhill plans to take Ranhill Power private to consolidate the company under the Ranhill group to maximise returns. ( article source: here )

If every listed company have such attitude, don't you reckon that it simply makes a total mockery of our stock market?

Sigh!

Do you think that Bursa should take action against misleading reporting?

Published on Reuters News, Bursa Malaysia may take action against Transmile

• "Bursa will not hesitate to take action against the companies should they be found to have made misleading announcements; and also against the directors if they had caused, aided, abetted or permitted the breach,"

So what about misleading news publications?

What if a reporter continues to publish misleading articles based on unconfirmed sources, time after time again?

This morning, Star Business reporter, Jose Barrock, reported the following, According to Sources: Ranhill Strikes Oil!!!!!!!!

• Monday June 18, 2007
  
  Ranhill Bhd strikes oil
  
  By JOSE BARROCK
  
  RANHILL Bhd and its joint venture partners are believed to have struck oil in the Citarum block off West Java late last Friday, according to sources familiar with the company.

By lunch time, the stock flew up, up and away, rising a whopping 54 sen or 29% just because of that "according to sources" article published this morning!

However, before the market re-opened for the afternoon session, Ranhill made the following announcement, which was reported by Bloomberg.

• Ranhill Bhd., a Malaysian engineering company whose shares surged 30 percent today, denied a report that it struck oil in an area off West Java, Indonesia.
  
  ``There's no commercial oil and gas show as yet,'' Chief Operating Officer Amran Awaluddin, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur today.

The stock retreated instantly before it was suspended at 2.18, up 37sen, surrendering 17 sen of its gains!

Now this simply left a terrible taste for most market players, investors, traders and punters.

First it was false accounting, now it is false reporting!

What fighting chance does the market player has against such odds?

Here are some comments posted.

1. I saw a denial from Ranhill in Bursa today as well about an article in the NST last Friday where they were supposed to be involved in a consortium to develop a RM 9B project in the ME.These reporters should be suspended and blacklisted.


2. what you have said is very true...that reporter should be called up by SC to investigate who is the so call "source" and whether any money transacted between them to write this piece of rubbish and whether they have profited by this "rumour".Finding hard to read any" truth" news nowaday in the local newspapaer.


3. Moola, have you compiled a list of links to your articles exposing this JOSE's "creative reporting"?

Well, I do have some old stuff!

1.Saturday January 31, 2004

Metro Kajang eyes Lankhorst

BY JOSE BARROCK

PROPERTY development and management company Metro Kajang is aggressively looking to beef up its land bank. One plan being considered towards this end involves the possible reverse takeover of Lankhorst Bhd. The biggest pull for Metro Kajang is Lankhorst's 54,753 sq ft undeveloped land in Shah Alam. The latter also has 14,000 ha land southwest of Seremban.

Details, however, were hard to come by as industry sources say the plan is still in the preliminary stages.

<=> Here is Lankhorst reply. RE: ARTICLE "METRO KAJANG EYES LANKHORST" IN THE STAR NEWSPAPER

• we wish to state that we have not been in any discussion nor are we aware of any discussion held with Metro Kajang for any possible reverse takeover of Lankhorst by the former

But the most incredible thing is this statement.

• In addition we do not own 14,000 hectares land in southwest of Seremban. What we own is 14.164 hectares of quarry land in the Mukim of Jimah, District of Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

Lankhorst denied and stated that they did NOT own that 14,000 hectares of land stated by the reported.

So where did the reporter get the info from? Who is the source?

2. Feb 14th 2004.

• Fountain View in talks to buy Kurnia Setia stake
  
  BY JOSE BARROCK
  
  FOUNTAIN View Development Bhd is eyeing a stake in plantation counter Kurnia Setia Bhd. It is believed that talks between both parties have just commenced and therefore, details are not forthcoming.
  
  Kurnia Setia – a little known main board plantation counter with a market capitalisation of only about RM69.32 million – has some 11,522 ha of oil palm and rubber plantation, and is controlled by the Agricultural Development Board of Pahang with a 45.41 per cent stake in the company.
  
  It is believed that Fountain View Development is looking to increase its presence in the plantation business, especially in oil palm cultivation, capitalising on high crude palm oil (CPO) prices to boost its earnings. The company has been suffering losses since financial years 2001 and 2002.
  
  The financial year just ended may not bring much cheer to Fountain View Development shareholders as well. The company, for the nine months ended September 2003, posted a net loss of RM3.84 million on the back of RM56.32 million in sales.
  
  CPO prices have been on an upward trend since September last year, gaining some 35 per cent to close at RM1,892.50 on Thursday.
  
  “The problem is with the company's property development arm which is based in Johor. A focus on plantations will boost earnings, especially with the current high CPO prices,” the source says.
  
  Fountain View has about 11, 570 ha of plantation land, of which almost 70 per cent is cultivated with oil palm while the remaining are planted with rubber and cocoa. Previously known as Plantation and Development (Malaysia) Bhd, Fountain View was a PN4 counter. Under a restructuring scheme, Plantation and Development became a wholly owned subsidiary of Fountain View after a share swap, capital reduction exercise, issuing of irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks and debt compromise.
  
  News of Fountain View's interest in Kurnia Setia has yet to hit the market. Kurnia Setia shares closed at RM1.11, down three sen from its close on Wednesday. It hit its 52-week high of RM1.25 on Dec 8 last year while its low of 63 sen was on Feb 27 last year.
  
  Fountain View shares have risen six fold, since listing at RM1 on Nov 18 last year. The counter closed at RM5.80 on Thursday.

Here is Fountain View reply. ARTICLE ENTITLED : "Fountain View in talks to buy Kurnia Setia Stake"

• The Board of Directors wish to inform that the Company has never been involved in any talks to acquire a stake in Kurnia Setia Berhad and as such wish to deny the following statement :
  
  "Fountain View Development Bhd is eyeing a stake in plantation counter Kurnia Setia Bhd."
  
  In addition, the board have no knowledge as to the sources on the publication of the above-mentioned article.

3. Feb 12 2005.

• Tradewinds breaks six-year losing streak
  
  BY JOSE BARROCK
  TRADEWINDS Corp Bhd (formerly known as Pernas International Holdings Bhd), it is believed, will report profits of about RM100mil for FY04. This represents a marked improvement, breaking a six-year losing streak.
  
  The company is expected to announce its results at the end of the month.
  
  “Tradewinds (Corp) has turned around significantly. It made about RM100mil profit after incurring losses last year. Debt too has been slashed considerably,” says a source.
  
  For the financial year ended December 2003, Tradewinds Corp suffered a net loss of RM73.7mil from RM1.1bil in sales. But the signs of improvement were already evident from the first nine months performance of the company. For the nine months ended September 2004, the company - largely involved in the hotel business, property development and plantations - posted a net profit of RM54.2mil on the back of RM938.5mil in revenue.
  
  Sources say both the plantations and sugar businesses have lent a boost to the company’s earnings.
  
  Tradewinds Corp controls as much as 53% of Tradewinds (Malaysia) Bhd, a company that owns Central Sugar Refinery Sdn Bhd, which controls as much as 40% of Malaysia’s RM1.5bil sugar market.
  
  In the future, more can be expected from Tradewinds Malaysia as the company just strengthened its position in the sugar business via the acquisition of Gula Padang Terap Sdn Bhd, from among others Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien’s PPB Group Bhd, for RM188mil.
  
  Tradewinds Corp’s hotel business, it is understood has just about broken even, but the prospects seem promising. “There are a lot of improvements ... some of the loss-making hotels have turned around. The Mutiara Pedu (Golf and Lake Resort) in Kedah and the Hilton Batang Ai (Longhouse Resort in Sarawak) have also made progress, things are looking better for the group,” the source adds. The two hotels were previously up for sale with a price tag of around RM100mil.
  
  Tradewinds Corp has managed to cut its debt from RM2.5bil in 2003 to the region of RM1.2bil now which will undoubtedly reduce its finance cost burden.
  
  Year to date, Tradewinds shares have gained 11 sen, having reached a 52-week high of 78.5 sen in late January this year. The counter ended trading on Tuesday at 76 sen.

What was wrong?

1. Tradewinds first 3 quarters net profit only totals 54.2 million. So this source is suggesting that Tradewinds makes a whopping net profit of 100 million for its current fiscal year. Which means Tradewinds will make a whopping 45.8 million (100 -54.2 ) for the last quarter of the year. And how did Tradewinds do? Some 11 days later, Tradewind reported a loss for its remaining quarter of its fiscal year and only ended its fiscal year making some 52.504 million.

2. Debts only 1.2 billion? Badly twisted! Traewinds had a total debts of 1.894 Billion!

Now consider the impact on the stock.

Well Jose Barrock wrote that article on Saturday, Feb 12th 2004. Before that incredible according to sources article was written, TWSCorp (Tradewinds) was a stock trading around the 77 sen and many thanks to the article, TWSCorp went up some 4.8% on Feb 14th. Now after TWScorp hitting a 52-week high on the next trading day, Feb 14th 2005, 8 trading days later, on Feb 24th, TWSCorp closed at 63 sen!!!

4. November 19, 2005

• Saturday November 19, 2005
  
  China boost for Salcon
  
  BY JOSE BARROCK IN LINYI, CHINA
  
  WITH a large contract in the booming Chinese market under its belt, and the possibility of inking more lucrative deals, there appears to be a steady flow of positive news for water treatment specialist Salcon Bhd.
  
  ...
  
  For the first six months of its financial year, Salcon posted a net profit of RM570,000 on the back of RM112.6mil sales. The company’s earnings per share during the period was 30 sen, while its net tangible asset per share stood at 52 sen.

Terribly misleading! Salcon EPS at that time was only a mere 3 sen and not 30 sen!

5. 21 Jan 2006. Courting AV Ventures

• Courting AV Ventures
  
  By JOSE BARROCK
  
  SECOND board counter, AV Ventures Corp Bhd (formerly Autoindustries Ventures Bhd) may have a new controlling shareholder pretty soon, sources familiar with the company say.
  
  Datuk Amanullah Mohamed Yusoof, who is a non-independent, non-executive director of the company, is currently the majority shareholder with 28% equity or 12.1 million shares in AV Ventures.
  
  He is believed to be looking to cash out of AV Ventures to focus on his oil and gas business currently held under a private company Pivotal Achievement Sdn Bhd.
  
  BizWeek was told that several parties have expressed interest to take up his stake in the company, one of whom includes Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.
  
  Syed Mokhtar’s interest in AV Ventures, which manufactures automobile parts, such as wiper arms, car window regulators, horns and other parts for the auto industry, it seems stems from his shareholding in another automotive player, conglomerate DRB-HICOM Bhd in which he acquired 15.8% equity last year.
  
  The tycoon is believed to have sent his feelers out and made an offer to Amanullah via merchant bankers CIMB Bhd, offering RM1.20 a share, which works out to a total of about RM14.5mil for Amanullah’s shares.
  
  The RM1.20 per share offer is a steep premium to AV Ventures close of 66 sen on Thursday and its net tangible asset peer share which at end September stood at 27.5 sen.

Massive rumours! An offer of 1.20 for AV Ventures was simply sexy because AV Ventures was just trading at 66 sen then!

Here is AV ventures reply yo Bursa. AV VENTURES CORPORATION BERHAD ("the Company" or "AV Ventures") ARTICLE ENTITLED "COURTING AV VENTURES"

• Reference is made to the enquiry by Bursa Malaysia dated 23 January 2006 with regards to the above article in The Star, Bizweek on Saturday 21 January 2006 and on the following particulars:-
  
  (1) Datuk Amanullah Mohamed Yusoof.... is believed to be looking to cash out of AV Ventures..."
  
  (2) "...several parties have expressed interest to take up his stake in the company, one of whom includes Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary."
  
  (3) "The tycoon is believed to have...made an offer to Amanullah via merchant bankers CIMB Bhd, offering RM1.20 a share; which works out to RM14.5 million for Amanullah's share"
  
  The Company, after due and diligent enquiry with all its Directors, major shareholders and all such persons reasonably familiar with the matters for this disclosure, wish to inform the following:-
  
  Question 1
  Dato' Amanullah Bin Mohamed Yusoof confirmed that he is not looking to cash out of AV Ventures. However, as an entrepreneur, Dato' Amanullah may be open to any offers which may benefit the shareholders of AV Ventures.
  
  Question 2
  Dato' Amanullah has confirmed that several parties have expressed interest to take up his stake in the Company, but did not receive any offer from Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.
  
  Question 3
  Dato' Amanullah confirmed that Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary did not make any offer

How? 3 strikes in one article?

Some more recent stuff.

6. December 2, 2006 ( TM eyes Time dotCom )

• TM eyes Time dotCom
  
  By JOSE BARROCK
  
  THE board of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is expected to deliberate on a proposal this week, one that it has been mulling for some time now. Sources say the state controlled telecommunication giant is considering a plan to acquire a 42.7% stake in Time dotCom Bhd from its parent Time Engineering Bhd.
  
  BizWeek understands that the offer price for some 1.1 billion Time dotCom shares, although yet to be finalised, may be in the region of RM1 and RM1.20 per share. A decision is expected to be made soon

Here is the reply.

• We wish to inform the Exchange that the above statements are inaccurate and misleading and they were not attributed to any sources from Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM). We further wish to state that TM has no plan currently to acquire a stake in Time dotCom nor Time Engineering Berhad and that there is no Board of Directors meeting scheduled this week as erroneously reported.
  
  For the record, TM Group owns the largest network of fibre optic cables in Malaysia totaling more than 220,000 core kilometers.

7. Dec 9 2006. Dialog Group to list unit in Singapore Stock Exchange

• OIL and gas player Dialog Group Bhd is planning to list one of its units on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The plan, if it materialises, may involve a sweet surprise for shareholders as the group may distribute special share dividends in the Singapore-listed unit.
  
  “The plans are looking good. The listing is likely to be pursued,” says a source close to the group.

Dialog's denial.

• We wish to clarify that in line with its business expansion regionally and globally, Dialog has continuously explore various options to fund these expansion. However, at this point in time, the Board of Directors has not made any decision in regards to a listing of any one of its subsidiaries on any stock exchange nor has appointed any consultant or adviser.

Fast forward.. too long... more recent stuff.

8. April 21st 2007. ( Syabas shake-up in the pipeline? )

• By JOSE BARROCK
  
  IT is understood that Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPSB) is looking at acquiring Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd's 70% equity interest in water supply services player Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas). Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB), the Selangor government's investment arm, owns the rest of the Syabas shares.
  
  KDEB is also KPSB's parent company, with a 55% shareholding. KPSB intends to buy the 70% stake at the present market value, according to a source, who declines to disclose any figures.
  
  Syabas has a 30-year concession, which commenced in early 2005, to supply water to Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
  
  KPSB is considering the share purchase so as to allow the State Government to firmly control the concession.
  
  There is also likely to be synergy between Syabas and KPSB's existing water businesses. Says a source, “It's about accountability”.
  
  “At present, the accountability for the water supply lies mainly in the hands of a listed company controlled by an individual. This will change when KPS takes over the helm,” the source adds.
  
  “At present, the accountability for the water supply lies mainly in the hands of a listed company controlled by an individual. This will change when KPS takes over the helm,” the source adds.
  
  Executive chairman Tan Sri Rozali Ismail is the face of Puncak Niaga. He has a 41% stake in the company, both directly and via Central Plus (M) Sdn Bhd and Corporate Line (M) Sdn Bhd.
  
  KPSB is no greenhorn in the water sector. It has 55% equity interest in Titisan Modal Sdn Bhd, whose subsidiary, Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd, operates a water treatment plant in Selangor. KPSB also has an associate stake, to the tune of 30%, in Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Holdings Bhd, another supplier of treated water.
  
  At press time, it is not clear how KPSB plans to finance the acquisition.
  
  After a loss-making 2005, the main board company rebounded last year to post an unaudited net profit of RM17.8mil on the back of RM351.3mil in sales.
  
  As at December, the company had RM271.3mil in deposits and cash balances, while its trade receivables stood at about RM561mil.

According to sources and misleading info! Reporter highlights the cash balances without stating KPS's loans which totals more than 1.2 billion!

4 days later, KHSB lost 0.165 or some 17% since that article was published.

9. Saturday June 9, 2007 ( Tie-up in the offing? )

• Tie-up in the offing?
  
  By JOSE BARROCK
  
  PROPERTY developer Equine Capital Bhd may see the entry of a new major shareholder in the form of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), or a company controlled by the pension fund – Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB).
  
  The plan for the retirement fund to acquire a stake (speculated to be 30%) in Equine, says a source, is related to the potential development of a new airport in Penang that is being mooted by Equine Capital.

MRCB posted these set of comments on Bursa Malaysia.

• We refer to your letter dated 11 June 2007 and to the article which appeared in the Star Bizweek, page BW4 on Saturday, 9 June 2007.
  
  We wish to confirm that we are not aware of the alleged proposal reported by Star Bizweek in its article on 9 June 2007.

Equine Capital, on the other hand made the following set of comments.

• The Company wishes to advise that it is not aware of the speculated acquisition of a 30% stake in ECB by Employees Provident Fund ("EPF") or Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd ("MRCB"). Todate, it has not received any notification from EPF or MRCB of this speculated acquisition. Further, it has no knowledge of the speculated re-development of the existing Penang Airport land nor the building of a new airport at Batu Kawan.

10. Same day! Saturday June 9, 2007 ( Interest in DNP fuelled by privatisation talks )

• Interest in DNP fuelled by privatisation talks
  
  By JOSE BARROCK
  
  Since April this year, the counter has risen almost three fold. Last Wednesday, the company’s shares breached the RM3 mark in intra day trading.
  
  Market chatter has it that the interest surrounding DNP Holdings stems from the major shareholder of the company, Wing Tai Holdings, planning to take the company private.

Well.. I could go on and on! Really! But I do think this is more than enough!

How?

Do you think that Bursa should take action against such misleading reporting?

According to Bloomberg: Ranhill Denies!

Posted this morning. http://whereiszemoola.blogspot.com/2007/06/according-to-sources-ranhill-strikes.html

Well, I was alerted by my dearest cousin, Tucows about a news clip posted on Bloomberg. (here )

• June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Ranhill Bhd., a Malaysian engineering company whose shares surged 30 percent today, denied a report that it struck oil in an area off West Java, Indonesia.
  
  ``There's no commercial oil and gas show as yet,'' Chief Operating Officer Amran Awaluddin, said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur today.
  
  Ranhill shares jumped after the Star newspaper reported today that the company and its partners have found oil after drilling 6,000 feet, beating earlier projections.

How?

Ranhill was up a whopping 54 sen or 29% just because of that "according to sources" article published this morning!!!!

If Ranhill tanks later, how?

Now tell me, what do you think of that news article published this morning?

Should SC investigate the reporter and his sources?

According to Sources: Ranhill Strikes Oil!!!!!!!!

Posted on Star Business: Ranhill Bhd strikes oil

• Monday June 18, 2007
  
  Ranhill Bhd strikes oil
  
  By JOSE BARROCK
  
  RANHILL Bhd and its joint venture partners are believed to have struck oil in the Citarum block off West Java late last Friday, according to sources familiar with the company.

Are believed! According to sources!

How about publishing who these sources are?

• It is understood that the top brass at Ranhill are pretty upbeat with the prospects at the Citarum block, with the company having struck black gold after only some 6,000 feet of drilling, which substantially beats earlier projections.
  
  StarBiz understands that Ranhill may make an announcement pertaining to the discovery of oil as early as Wednesday to the Bursa Malaysia.
  
  “It’s quite a big oil field, possibly in the region of 350 million barrels, which is almost five times what was initially estimated.
  
  "It’s also quite promising in that the find comes after only about a month of drilling,” a source familiar with the ongoings at Ranhill said.

Now Ranhill is now UP a whopping 28 sen because of this news based according to sources!

So if this news is DENIED by Ranhill, then how?

Another thing, why is our news reporter reporting before Ranhill Bhd?

If this story is admitted by Ranhill, then we need to address who are these sources leaking this news to the newspaper.

And also if these sources is able to obtain such stock market price sensitive information, then shouldn't we address the issue of what if certain parties had obtained these info and profited from them? Doesn't this constitute insider trading?

How?