KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd rose as much as two sen or 36% in active trade in the morning session, as it had successfully renewed its operating licence with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) after an almost four-year wait.
Barakah was the fifth most active counter on Bursa Malaysia, with 12.75 million shares traded, which is more than five-fold its average daily trading volume of 2.53 million.
The counter opened higher on the news and was still up 1.5 sen to trade at seven sen per share at the time of writing, implying a market capitalisation of RM65.2 million. Year-to-date the counter has gained 160%.
The licence, awarded to Barakah's wholly owned unit PBJV Group Sdn Bhd, covers all 27 of Petronas’ approved licence categories.
Barakah’s operations currently comprise pipeline laying and commissioning services, as well as ship chartering services.
Petronas had suspended PBJV’s licence on July 9, 2019 following non-performance of underwater services provided to Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd. This means PBJV could not take on any contracts from Petronas or petroleum arrangement contractors during the period.
The service company attempted to claim over RM1 billion from Petronas following what it described as an unwarranted suspension notice, but it was dismissed in court.
Barakah initiated a subsequent legal action against Petronas and its top leadership, but this was discontinued in May, after it was informed of Petronas’ decision to lift the licence suspension on April 6.
In the nine-month ended March 31, 2023, Barakah's net profit came in at RM6.95 million or 0.69 sen per share, with gross profit more than tripling to RM26.81 million from RM7.06 million last year as revenue near doubled to RM110.77 million, from RM57.37 million.
It had cash of RM13.2 million against RM49 million in borrowings. Retained losses stood at RM165.41 million. In the nine-month period, net operating cash flow stood at RM29.42 million.