Billionaire and former stockbroker Peter Lim Eng Hock is now Informatics Education’s second-largest shareholder, with just under onefifth of the company, after making successive open market purchases since late July.

 

Lim — whom Forbes Asia this month ranked as Singapore’s eighth richest with some $1.6 billion in net worth — had 239.76 million shares, or 19.05%, of Informatics as at Aug 4, up 158.24 million shares from 4.4% as at July 22, filings show. This puts him behind chairman of Malaysia’s Berjaya Group, Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, who has 34.1%. Twothirds of Informatics’ shares were in public hands as at June 16, according to its latest annual report.

 

At the time of writing, Lim’s Kestrel Capital Partners Pte Ltd’s latest purchase was 31.9 million shares on Aug 4. Informatics’ stock price has more than tripled these past three weeks to close at 21.5 cents last Wednesday, 0.69 times its net asset of 31 cents apiece as at March 31, and the highest since mid-February 2005.

 

Informatics closed at six cents on July 21, and the trading volume spike resulted in a query from the Singapore Exchange on July 22. The education and training provider, which at the time said it did not know why its share price skyrocketed, had in late-May said it intended to broaden its programme offering and geographical reach, and might explore mergers and acquisitions as well as joint-ventures to do so.

 

Lim, who made a good part of his fortune from shares in former client Kuok Khoon Hong’s Wilmar International, also bought shares this month in Rowsley, which owns 18.87% in UPP Holdings (formerly United Pulp & Paper Co) that he controls. In June, Lim emerged as a substantial shareholder in clinic chain operator Healthway Medical Corp, holding 7.21% as at June 10. Other investments include fashion retailer FJ Benjamin.

 

Elsewhere, Dragon Pacific Assets Ltd emerged as a new substantial shareholder in AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT (AA REIT), which invests in industrial property. It bought 66.69 million shares at 22.5 cents apiece on Aug 3, upping its stake to 7.21% from 2.66%. It later added more shares, bought in the open market, “for investment purposes”, ending up with 168 million units, or a 11.46% stake, as at Aug 6. The trust had 25 properties in Singapore and one in Japan as at June 30, where its net asset value stood at 31 cents per unit. AA REIT closed at 22.5 cents last Wednesday. Philip Securities has a “hold” call on the stock and a 23 cent price target as at Aug 3, according to Bloomberg data.

 

Over at Straits Asia Resources, Newton Investment Management emerged as a substantial shareholder with a 5.15% stake on July 23, paying $2.002 apiece or $116.4 million for 58.16 million shares.

 

The unit of The Bank of New York Mellon Corp later raised its holdings in the owner of Indonesian coal mines to 6.12%, or a total of 69.12 million shares, as at Aug 3 via a series of transactions, filings show. Straits Asia closed at $2.05 last Wednesday, about 3.5 times its net asset value per share of 42.83 US cents (58.34 cents) as at March 31.

 

The group, which mines for thermal coal in Kalimantan, in late April said fundamentals for the seaborne thermal coal market remained favourable, when reporting that record production at its Jembayan mine helped increase 1Q2010 revenue 10% y-o-y to US$153.5 million. However, higher cost and lower sales prices caused net profit to fall 68% to US$11.2 million.

 

At the time of writing, three out of nine brokers had “buy” recommendations, the most bullish being Macquarie with a $3.40 price target, according to Bloomberg data. Four others had “hold” calls while two were saying “sell”. Upping its price target from $1.82 to $1.85 on July 9, OCBC Investment Research says it expects Straits Asia to post “a relatively muted” result for 2Q ended June, but believes earnings recovery “should come through from 2H2010 onwards after the group replenishes its loading facility in Jembayan”.
 

 

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