KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd has yet to appoint representatives for the Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) board since it bought a 30% equity stake in the property firm over a month ago.
The conglomerate’s president and CEO Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh said it would do so “in due time”.
“We have to go through the process. Obviously we would need to table a paper to our nomination and remuneration committee and then to the board of directors. After that we would need to write in [to] E&O, notify them of our nominee directors, etc, etc,” he told the media after Sime Darby AGM yesterday.
Sime Darby became E&O’s single largest shareholder after it acquired the 30% stake for RM766 million cash or RM2.30 per share from E&O managing director Datuk Terry Tham, Tan Sri Wan Azmi Hamzah and GK Goh Holdings of Singapore.
Asked if Sime Darby intends to raise its stake in E&O, Bakke said this is not in the group’s agenda for the near future.
“At the moment we are happy to just work on the 30%. As for the future, that will depend on the kind of developments that will take place subsequent to this date,” he said.
Bakke also ruled out the possibility of Sime Darby looking for acquisition targets.
The shares’ purchase by Sime Darby prompted the Securities Commission (SC) to investigate the requirement for the conglomerate to extend a mandatory general offer (MGO) for the balance of the 70% stake in E&O.
Last month, the SC ruled that Sime Darby was not required to do so.
In a letter to the conglomerate, the SC said it had found no collusion between Sime Darby and E&O managing director regarding the deal.
When asked about possible collaborations with E&O, Bakke replied, “We’re working on it.”
RHB Research said last month that Sime Darby is likely in the longer term to participate in E&O’s Seri Tanjung Pinang 2 project in Penang, which has a gross development value of RM12 billion.
On the price of crude palm oil (CPO), Bakke said Sime Darby and other plantation companies are expecting the spot prices to remain currently at RM3,000 for the rest of the year.
For FY11 ended June 30, Sime Darby posted a net profit of RM3.84 billion, more than tripled RM854.8 million achieved previously. Revenue increased by nearly 29% to RM41.8 billion from RM32.5 billion. Revenue from the motor division contributed the most for FY11 at 35.4%, an increase from 31.1% for FY10.
However, revenue from the plantation and industrial sectors, second and third largest contributors respectively, decreased marginally. Contributions from plantations dropped from 25.6% to 24.5% and industrial from 33.4% to 31.5%.
Sime Darby’s share price has been on an uptrend from its six-month low on Sept 19 at RM7.70. Yesterday, the stock ended at RM8.86, four sen lower than its close on Wednesday.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 11, 2011.
The conglomerate’s president and CEO Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh said it would do so “in due time”.
“We have to go through the process. Obviously we would need to table a paper to our nomination and remuneration committee and then to the board of directors. After that we would need to write in [to] E&O, notify them of our nominee directors, etc, etc,” he told the media after Sime Darby AGM yesterday.
Sime Darby became E&O’s single largest shareholder after it acquired the 30% stake for RM766 million cash or RM2.30 per share from E&O managing director Datuk Terry Tham, Tan Sri Wan Azmi Hamzah and GK Goh Holdings of Singapore.
Asked if Sime Darby intends to raise its stake in E&O, Bakke said this is not in the group’s agenda for the near future.
“At the moment we are happy to just work on the 30%. As for the future, that will depend on the kind of developments that will take place subsequent to this date,” he said.
Bakke also ruled out the possibility of Sime Darby looking for acquisition targets.
The shares’ purchase by Sime Darby prompted the Securities Commission (SC) to investigate the requirement for the conglomerate to extend a mandatory general offer (MGO) for the balance of the 70% stake in E&O.
Last month, the SC ruled that Sime Darby was not required to do so.
In a letter to the conglomerate, the SC said it had found no collusion between Sime Darby and E&O managing director regarding the deal.
When asked about possible collaborations with E&O, Bakke replied, “We’re working on it.”
RHB Research said last month that Sime Darby is likely in the longer term to participate in E&O’s Seri Tanjung Pinang 2 project in Penang, which has a gross development value of RM12 billion.
On the price of crude palm oil (CPO), Bakke said Sime Darby and other plantation companies are expecting the spot prices to remain currently at RM3,000 for the rest of the year.
For FY11 ended June 30, Sime Darby posted a net profit of RM3.84 billion, more than tripled RM854.8 million achieved previously. Revenue increased by nearly 29% to RM41.8 billion from RM32.5 billion. Revenue from the motor division contributed the most for FY11 at 35.4%, an increase from 31.1% for FY10.
However, revenue from the plantation and industrial sectors, second and third largest contributors respectively, decreased marginally. Contributions from plantations dropped from 25.6% to 24.5% and industrial from 33.4% to 31.5%.
Sime Darby’s share price has been on an uptrend from its six-month low on Sept 19 at RM7.70. Yesterday, the stock ended at RM8.86, four sen lower than its close on Wednesday.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 11, 2011.
