Hot stock: Boustead Singapore says substantial shareholder keen to exit

BOUSTEAD Singapore said on Monday that a substantial shareholder has expressed his intention to make an exit.

That disclosure came in response to a query by the Singapore Exchange as shares of the infrastructure engineering company rose nearly six per cent on heavy trading in the morning session.

Boustead Singapore did not provide further details about the possible exit of the shareholder, noting that the substantial shareholder is obliged to disclose changes to his shareholding within two business days of him becoming aware of those changes.

Otherwise, Boustead Singapore said that it was not aware of any unannounced information that might explain Monday's trading.

Boustead Singapore shares hit a high of 81 Singapore cents before easing slightly to 80.5 cents at noon. Its subsidiary, Boustead Projects - in which Boustead Singapore holds a stake of over 51 per cent - was also one of the top 20 most heavily traded stocks by volume on Monday morning, trading 3.5 cents higher at 83.5 cents. At around 11.30am, some 31 million shares and 6.79 million shares for Boustead Singapore and Boustead Projects respectively had changed hands. Both companies received trading queries from the exchange.

According to Boustead Singapore's latest annual report, its largest substantial shareholders are chairman and chief executive Wong Fong Fui, with a 34.06 per cent stake; former deputy chairman Saiman Ernawan, with 9.07 per cent; and investment fund FMR LLC, with 8.63 per cent.

In an update on its share buy-back programme, Boustead Singapore said it had purchased some 2.22 million shares through the market on 9 March. It went to acquire a further 26.71 million as at noon on Monday.

Commenting on Boustead's outlook and business health, CMC Markets trader Oriano Lizza said: "Boustead acquisition projects in both Vietnam and locally in Singapore have aided the company's balance sheet and the possibility of profit generation in FY2019 (is) fairly high," he said, adding that S$174 million in business development have been generated in the past six months.