KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): Geneva Insurance Group (Barbados) Inc has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in construction and manufacturing company Central Global Bhd (KL:CGB) after disposing of 35 million shares, representing a 4.59% stake.

The value of the off-market transaction, carried out on Tuesday, was not disclosed. However, based on Central Global’s closing price of 87 sen on the day, the stake would be worth about RM30.45 million.

The sale reduces Geneva Insurance’s shareholding in Central Global to five million shares or a 0.66% stake.

Geneva Insurance first emerged as a substantial shareholder in Central Global at the end of December 2022, with a 5.64% stake. On July 3, 2023, it was the third-largest shareholder in Central Global with 52 million shares or a 6.81% stake, according to Bloomberg data.

Currently, the largest shareholder in Central Global is its managing director, Chew Hian Tat, who is also a MCA politician. Chew holds a 26.79% direct stake and a 4.81% indirect stake in the company.

Meanwhile, RYRT Holdings Sdn Bhd holds a 14.16% stake in the company.

In a bourse filing dated Nov 29, Central Global announced the termination of a collaboration involving a mixed development project comprising residential and commercial units on a 99-year leasehold plot of land in Mukim Bukit Raya, Pendang district, Kedah, spanning 11.72 acres.

The collaboration, inked with and Permodalan Kedah Bhd (PKB) in July 2023, was cancelled after the Kedah State Executive Council rejected PKB’s application to develop the land.

Central Global, which has changed its financial year-end from Dec 31 to June 30, saw its net profit fall 70.33% to RM73,000 for the three months ended Sept 30, 2024, from RM246,000 in the same period a year earlier, as revenue fell 45.05% to RM34.2 million from RM62.24 million.

The lower earnings were attributed to slower work progress on ongoing projects, particularly the Lahad Datu Phase 1 Water Supply Upgrade Project, and the non-recognition of revenue from the Gerbang Bukit Kecil Project and the Sungai Pinang Project due to ongoing litigation with customers in the construction segment.

Additionally, lower local and export sales in the manufacturing and trading segment were caused by material shortages and disruptions in obtaining spare parts for machinery, leading to lower production levels, said the group.

Shares of Central Global closed down 1.5 sen or 1.72% to 85.5 sen on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM664.1 million. Year-to-date, however, the stock is up 47%.