KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB), a unit trust fund of Permodalan Nasional Bhd, has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Telekom Malaysia Bhd (KL:TM) following a disposal on Wednesday.

According to a bourse filing on Friday, ASB sold 6.82 million shares in Malaysia’s state-owned fixed-line operator. However, the transaction price was not disclosed. The block of shares would have earned ASB over RM47.2 million based on Telekom Malaysia's closing price of RM6.92 on July 24.

Following the latest transactions, ASB is left with 189 million shares or 4.92% in Telekom Malaysia and under the 5% threshold required for substantial shareholding status.

Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd is the largest shareholder of Telekom Malaysia with 20.1% stake followed by the Employees Provident Fund holding 17.39%.

Shares of Telekom Malaysia ended at RM6.90, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM26.48 billion. The stock has risen 24% so far this year as investors bet on rising data transmission from the frenzy over data centres and artificial intelligence.

A majority of 17 out of 22 research houses covering Telekom Malaysia have "buy" calls on the stock, while three have "hold" recommendations and the remainder two are "sell" ratings, according to Bloomberg. The consensus’ 12-month target price is RM7.48, a potential return of 8.4% from its last price.

The company is slated to announce its second-quarter results by the end of August. In the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024), Telekom Malaysia’s net profit rose 29% to RM424.81 million from RM330.1 million a year ago, mainly due to lower operating costs.

Revenue for the quarter edged up 1.8% year-on-year to RM2.84 billion from RM2.79 billion.