Hot stock: Oceanus sees active trading after Yaacob Ibrahim joins board

HEAVY volumes of watch-listed Oceanus Group shares changed hands on Wednesday morning after the abalone producer announced late on Tuesday that it had appointed former minister Yaacob Ibrahim as an independent director.

The counter was the most actively traded by volume on the Singapore bourse with 140.7 million shares changing hands as at 10.42am, surpassing the second most heavily traded counter, coal miner BlackGold Natural Resources, by more than 100 million shares.

Oceanus' stock price hovered within the 0.7 Singapore cent to 0.8 cent range. Shareinvestor data showed there were no married trades.

Before retiring from politics this year, Dr Yaacob had served as Minister for Communications and Information, Minister for Environment and Water Resources, and Minister-inCharge of Muslim Affairs, among other Cabinet appointments.

In a press statement on Tuesday, Oceanus chief executive Peter Koh said Dr Yaacob would be a strategic fit and add greater diversity and depth to the company's board, given his deep and varied experience including in environment and water resources as well as communications and information.

Dr Yaacob said Oceanus had "done well in providing value-added services globally and maintaining the trust of its shareholders", and that the group's businesses are "on a growth path".

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

He is an engineering professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the adviser to SIT's president.

Dr Yaacob is also advising several startups and sits on the boards of several private companies and unions, Oceanus said.

The company has till March 1, 2021 to satisfy the watch-list financial exit criteria, following the further extension of time granted by the Singapore Exchange, according to its June 15 bourse filing. Oceanus had sought the time extension after it resolved "critical" issues inherited from its previous management and needed more time to realise long-term profits under its expansion plan.