KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): Building materials manufacturer Ajiya Bhd (KL:AJIYA) was among shareholders that pared their holdings in Tanco Holdings Bhd (KL:TANCO) ahead of and during the property developer’s sharp share-price collapse.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, Ajiya said it disposed of 49.95 million Tanco shares through off-market transactions between April 29 and June 24 at an average price of 88.7 sen apiece, generating total proceeds of RM44.31 million. The sale reduced Ajiya’s stake in Tanco to 0.76% from 1.59%.
Ajiya said the disposal was undertaken as part of its capital management strategy to realise value, with proceeds earmarked for working capital requirements.
It added that the shares sold had an original cost of RM29.995 million, resulting in a gain of RM14.32 million from the transactions.
Tanco shares were trading at RM1.59 on April 29, the first day of Ajiya’s disposal period, more than a month before the stock entered a steep and sustained decline on June 3. The counter subsequently hit limit-down on multiple consecutive trading sessions.
Since then, the developer has lost about RM10 billion in market value. The stock closed down 0.5 sen or 3.6% at 13.5 sen on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM828.1 million.
The sell-off has coincided with heavy trading activity by Tanco group managing director Datuk Seri Andrew Tan Jun Suan, whose share purchases and disposals across multiple sessions have drawn market attention.
In a separate filing on Thursday, Tanco disclosed that Tan acquired 44 million shares, equivalent to a 0.73% stake, at 14 sen apiece through a direct business transaction on June 18. The purchase was valued at RM6.16 million.
The acquisition was disclosed separately from an earlier Bursa filing showing that Tan had disposed of a total of 72.5 million shares through an open-market transaction and a direct business deal on the same day, for combined estimated proceeds of RM10.61 million.
Following the latest transaction, Tan’s direct shareholding increased to 20.14% from 19.41%, while his indirect interest through TJN Capital Sdn Bhd remained unchanged at 33.32%.
Tanco has received two unusual market activity (UMA) queries from Bursa this year. In its responses, the company said it was unaware of any undisclosed corporate development that could account for the trading activity and maintained that its business operations remained unaffected by the decline in its share price.
Ajiya rose one sen or 1% to close at RM1.02 on Thursday, valuing the company at RM621.4 million.