KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15): Norges Bank, which manages Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) after acquiring 50.05 million shares or a 5.03% stake in the Sarawak-based cement manufacturer.

According to CMS’ filings with Bursa Malaysia, Norges Bank bought the shares on Sept 8, but it did not reveal the purchase price.

Based on the company’s closing price of RM1.05 on Sept 8, a back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that Norges Bank could have acquired the stake for about RM56.75 million.

In a statement on Friday, CMS — citing Norges Bank's website — said that the value of the bank's investments stood at 15.3 trillion kroner (US$1.43 trillion or RM6.7 trillion) as of June 2023, making it the largest single owner in the world’s stock markets.

Norges is currently the fifth-largest shareholder of CMS after Sarawak Economic Development Corp (with a 5.67% stake), Lembaga Tabung Haji (7.46%), the family of Sarawak Yang di-Pertua Negeri and former chief minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud's late wife, Puan Sri Laila Taib (10.33%) and Majaharta Sdn Bhd (12.55%), according to Bloomberg.

It is worth noting that Abdul Taib’s sons sit on the CMS board, namely Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib as deputy group chairman cum non-independent and non-executive director, and Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abdul Taib as managing director.

CMS recently reported a net profit of RM26.35 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), a decline of 33.42% from RM39.57 million a year earlier, due to a lower share of profit of associates and bigger loss before tax by its phosphate division. Revenue, however, increased 38.52% to RM290.52 million, from RM209.74 million driven by its oiltools division.

Shares of CMS closed one sen or 0.94% higher to RM1.07 on Friday, valuing the group at RM1.15 billion.