KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): The directors of UUE Holdings Bhd, an underground utilities engineering firm, have collectively disposed of shares valued at RM29.14 million on the ACE Market to institutional funds, following the expiry of the typical six-month moratorium period on directors' shares after the company's initial public offering (IPO).

Its managing director and largest shareholder Ting Kok Hwa sold 24.28 million shares, equivalent to a 3.99% stake in the company, for RM19.91 million. This leaves him with a 46.87% stake in UUE Holdings, according to the company's Bursa Malaysia filing on Wednesday.

Executive directors Hin Wai Mun and Chong Tuoo Choi each sold 3.92 million shares, for RM6.43 million. Post-disposal, Hin still has a 7.57% stake in UUE, while Chong retains a 6.35% stake.

Datuk Ting Meng Pheng, a director of a major UUE Holdings subsidiary, also disposed of 3.51 million shares for RM2.80 million, reducing his stake to 6.77%.

All shares were sold at 82 sen each, representing a 4.65% discount to Wednesday's closing price of 86 sen and a 241.67% premium to the company's initial public offering (IPO) price of 24 sen.

UUE Holdings, which debuted on the ACE Market on July 2, 2024, delivered a strong first-day IPO performance, closing its maiden trading day with a 189.58% gain, making it the best-performing IPO of 2024.

The stock climbed further to an all-time high of 96.5 sen on July 15, 2024, before paring some gains over subsequent months. It regained upward momentum from Oct 28, 2024, reaching a six-month high of 91.5 sen on Jan 3.

On Wednesday, the stock closed at 86 sen, down 1.5 sen or 1.71% from the previous day's close, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM523.13 million. Against its IPO price of 24 sen, the counter has climbed 258.33% since July last year.

For the first half of the financial year ending August 31, 2024 (1HFY2025), UUE Holdings reported a net profit of RM12.3 million on revenue of RM82 million. The bulk of its revenue — RM69 million or 84.1% — was derived from its underground utilities engineering solutions segment.

As this is only the company's third interim financial report since listing, there are no comparative figures from the corresponding period in the preceding year.