Ezra's two deals on Emas Chiyoda Subsea fail to excite investors

SHARES in Ezra Holdings staged a modest comeback on June 8 hours before the Singapore-listed company requested a trading halt pending the announcement of a stake deal involving its 50-50 joint-venture company Emas Chiyoda Subsea (ECS). The stock, however, saw its gains pared when trading resumed on June 13 after the deal for ECS to take in Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) as a strategic partner was announced.

Ezra's share price may have taken a beating along with a broad market slide over Brexit fears. The stock has also failed to hold above the S$0.10 mark since the completion of a deal in March to make ECS a 50-50 JV between Ezra and Japanese contracting group Chiyoda Corporation. Its closing at S$0.078 on Monday was also under a third of its 52-week high of S$0.295.

Is the trouble afflicting the stock just another sign of investor reservations about offshore & marine stocks since the oil price crash in the second half of 2014? For those seeking short-term gains amid recent weeks of oil price rally, there is no denying that the dipping of oil back below US$50 has caused continued concern.