This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 23, 2026 - March 1, 2026

Tanco Holdings Bhd’s (KL:TANCO) share price hit its 52-week high of RM1.47 in intra-day trading last Friday. It closed at RM1.46, giving the investment holding company a market capitalisation of RM8.95 billion.

To put things in perspective, Sunway Construction Bhd (KL:SUNCON) has a market cap of roughly RM8.3 billion, Genting Plantation Bhd (KL:GENP) RM4.57 billion and Alliance Bank Bhd (KL:ABMB) RM8.99 billion.

Tanco’s stock is trading at a price-earnings ratio of 544.1 times and has risen nearly 90% over the past year. And yet, the stock was trading at barely 1.9 sen five years ago on Feb 19, 2021.

Just who is trading in the stock and what are the merits for its lofty valuations? What is perplexing is that its largest shareholder, Datuk Seri Andrew Tan Jun Suan, has been actively trading in the shares on a daily basis over the past two years, if not longer.

The latest filings with Bursa Malaysia indicate that Tan mopped up 11.86 million shares and disposed of 12.24 million shares on the open market on Feb 20. Similarly, he bought 14.356 million shares and sold 14.29 million shares at RM1.44 on the open market on Feb 19.

Tanco caught the public’s attention when it announced the proposed construction of Malaysia’s first smart artificial intelligence container port, often referred to as Midport, in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. The port will be developed on a 480-acre tract owned by Tanco.

It is unclear how Tanco will fund the massive project. Only time will tell if the project even takes off.

The company made a net profit of RM8 million on revenue of RM128 million for its financial year ended June 2025. It suffered two years of losses in its last five financial years and its best showing was in FY2023 when it managed to post a net profit of RM19 million on revenue of RM94 million.

Does the meteoric rise in Tanco’s share price warrant a closer look by the regulators to find out what is going on at the company? After all, what goes up must come down and, as always, it will be the minority shareholders who will be left holding the baby, in this case Tanco’s shares.

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