On Aug 30, Beng Kuang Marine CEO Yong Jiunn Run acquired 250,000 shares at an average price of S$0.065 per share. With a consideration of S$16,250, this took his direct interest in the company from 4.07 per cent to 4.19 per cent. His preceding acquisition was on Jul 4, with 100,000 shares acquired at S$0.07 per share.

 

Yong&rsquo s responsibilities include making major corporate decisions, developing and steering corporate plans, and implementing business directions and strategies for the group.

 

On Aug 11, Beng Kuang Marine reported its H1FY23 (ended Jun 30) revenue increased to S$31.86 million, representing a growth of 9.7 per cent increase from H1FY22.

 

Yong attributed the result to significant efforts by the teams in implementing the group&rsquo s business strategy to monetise its assets, and with its core infrastructure engineering and corrosion prevention business divisions delivering resilient performance.

On Jul 4, Beng Kuang Marine : BEZ +2.9% CEO Yong Jiunn Run acquired 100,000 shares at an average price of S$0.07 per share, taking his direct interest in the company from 4.02 per cent to 4.07 per cent. His preceding acquisition was on Sep 7, 2022, with 2.4 million shares acquired at S$0.053 per share. Yong&rsquo s responsibilities include making major corporate decisions, developing, and steering corporate plans, implement business directions and strategies for the group.

 

FOR the five trading sessions that spanned Jun 30 to Jul 6, the Straits Times Index declined 1.8 per cent while the Hang Seng Index declined 2.0 per cent and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI gained 0.2 per cent.

 

Institutions were net sellers of Singapore stocks over the five sessions with S$130 million of net outflow. Singapore Airlines : C6L +1.53%, DBS Group : D05 -0.13%, Jardine Matheson : J36 +1.01%, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation : O39 -0.41% and Mapletree Industrial Trust : ME8U -0.91% led the net institutional outflow. Meanwhile Keppel Reit : K71U -1.1%, Seatrium : S51 0%, CapitaLand Ascendas Reit : A17U -1.48%, Jardine Cycle & Carriage : C07 -0.24% and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding : BS6 -0.68% led the institutional inflow.

 

For the month up to Jul 6, all three Singapore Depository Receipts (SDR) on Thai blue-chip companies continued to attract net buying interest from individual investors. The largest inflows were into CP All : TCPD -0.41%, the exclusive operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Of the SDRs traded on SGX, PTT Exploration & Production : TPED -0.17%, Asean&rsquo s largest listed exploration and production petroleum company, was the best performing with returns of 1.6 per cent for the first four sessions of July, and 5.8 per cent since the close of the first SGX trading day on May 30, 2023.

 

Share buybacks

There were 17 primary-listed companies conducting share buybacks over the five trading sessions through to Jul 6 with a total consideration of S$12.8 million. United Overseas Bank : U11 -0.4% and UOB-Kay Hian Holdings : U10 +0.71% led the buyback tally, buying back shares at respective average prices of S$27.89 and S$1.40.

 

Note the table does not include the buyback filings of secondary-listed Comba Telecom Systems Holdings : STC 0% which since Mar 28 has been conducting all its share buybacks on the Hong Kong stock market. These buybacks have seen 36,782,000 shares repurchased for a consideration of HK$55,427,407, at an average price of HK$1.51 per share, as of Jul 6.

 

Director and substantial shareholder transactions 

The five trading sessions saw close to 90 changes to director interests and substantial shareholdings filed for 40 primary-listed stocks. This included 17 company director acquisitions with three disposals filed, while substantial shareholders filed 12 acquisitions and five disposals.

 

 

 

 

Beng Kuang Marine has entered into a conditional land sale and purchase agreement to sell 31% of its Batam shipyard property to PT. Bukit Batu Mulia for $9.89 million.

 

The percentage of the company&rsquo s shipyard amounts to some 100,970 sqm.

 

PT. Bukit Batu Mulia is 51.0% and 49.0% owned by Summit Excellent Enterprises, BVI and George Santos respectively. Summit Excellent Enterprises is associated and affiliated with China&rsquo s Nanshan Group, a large-scale private joint-stock enterprise listed in the Chinese Federation of Enterprises (CFE)' s Top 500 Chinese Enterprises. The group is in the business of aluminium processing, fabric and garment manufacturing and processing, real estate, finance, as well as others.

 

Santos is the founder and owner of the Indonesia Solid Group based out of Batam/Raiu Indonesia and is in the business of mining, shipping, construction, concrete batching, asphalt and stone quarry.

 

The news comes after Beng Kuang sold around 30% of its Batam shipyard property for $8.64 million in April. The sale was made to a subsidiary of Oil States International, a major global provider of integrated energy systems and solutions.

 

In its June 23 statement, the company says it has been &ldquo prioritising cost minimisation and deleveraging initiatives while focusing on monetising fixed assets and high-potential business segments within its core business divisions to create new growth catalysts&rdquo .

 

&ldquo The cash proceeds from both sale transactions of our Batam shipyard property are expected to significantly boost our liquidity resources. Coupled together with the rest of our deleveraging initiatives, it will allow us to stay nimble and agile in navigating through the current rising interest rate environment,&rdquo says Yong Jiunn Run, CEO of Beng Kuang Group.

 

&ldquo More importantly, it provides a stronger financial footing for us to pursue high-growth opportunities within our infrastructure engineering and corrosion prevention business segments where we have an entrenched market position and strong technical competencies,&rdquo he adds. &ldquo We see good business prospects in the marine and offshore industries and the momentum we gained so far underpins our confidence for the year ahead.&rdquo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

&bull Marine & offshore pedestal cranes are used to facilitate heavy lifting, moving tons of material, equipment and cargo to or from marine vessels, barges and structures

&bull The new marine & offshore pedestal crane contracts are secured under the Group&rsquo s Infrastructure Engineering division, which has registered increased orders for such pedestal cranes in FY2022

&bull Opportunities for the Group to expand its revenue stream from the maintenance and repairs work of such pedestal cranes

&bull Barring unforeseen circumstances, the new marine & offshore pedestal crane contracts are expected to be completed and delivered to the customers in the second half of 2023. As such, the new contracts are expected to have a positive impact on the earnings per share and net asset value per share of the Group for the financial year ending 31 December 2023

 

Mr Yong Jiunn Run, Chief Executive Officer of Beng Kuang Group, said: &ldquo Marine & offshore pedestal cranes are a niche business segment and we have established a good track record and brand name in this area over the years.

 

We are encouraged that some of the new contracts are from new geographical markets that includes India and Middle Eastern countries, where oil and gas activities have been buoyant and it is also testament to our efforts to expand our business presence globally and boost our order book in FY2023.&rdquo

 

- In total, the Group has an order book of approximately S$24 million at 31 March 2023

- The Group&rsquo s FPSO and FSO service and maintenance business under ASOM remained a key performer and continued its strong momentum, registering revenue growth of 31.63%

- Revenue from our CP division, which was largely recurring in nature, increased by 14.0% as the demand for CP services for Singapore and Batam shipyards continued to regain momentum

- Overall revenue dipped marginally due to mainly due to the cessation of IE operations at 55 Shipyard Road as well as lower contribution from deck equipment supplies under International Offshore Equipments Pte Ltd

- Excluding currency translation losses of S$0.29 million, the Group would have registered a profit of S$0.22 million from continuing operations

- Achieved positive adjusted EBITDA of S$1.21 million, where there were lower depreciation expenses recognised in 1Q2023

- Secured agreement to sell approximately one-third of our Batam waterfront property for S$8.64 million

- Secured tenancy agreements to lease out partial of our Batam waterfront property, where the leasing income will contribute positively to the Group in FY2023