Gas Malaysia jumps in debut after RM734.4m listing
KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Shares of Gas Malaysia Bhd rose as much as 15 per cent in their debut today after a RM734.4 million initial public offering, overcoming negative sentiment surrounding a slump in global market flotations.
In just the past few weeks, a string of Asian IPOs have been delayed or scrapped amid investor worries about Europe’s debt crisis and China’s slowing economy as well as Facebook’s botched IPO in May.
Shares of the company, Malaysia’s sole supplier of natural gas to the non-power sector counter, rose 10 per cent to RM2.42 a share by 0156 GMT compared with their reference price of RM2.20, outperforming the benchmark index’s 0.49 per cent rise. The listing, which is expected to have raised over RM734.4 million, could be one of Southeast Asia’s largest this year after those of FELDA Global Ventures Holdings Bhd and IHH Healthcare Holdings Bhd.
“It is a high dividend yield stock, it (the share price performance) is reasonable as it reflects well its fair value,” said Affin Investment Bank analyst Chong Lee Len.
Gas Malaysia’s upbeat debut also comes in the face of a 54 per cent drop in first-quarter profit reported last week, dented by lower margins even as revenue rose 9.2 per cent. Analysts said that the drop was a one-off and that earnings would recover in the coming quarters.
The Malaysian government regulates the natural gas industry. It raised the purchasing price of natural gas by more than 25 per cent in June last year, while the selling price increased by about 7 per cent.
Maybank Investment Bank is the adviser for the listing.
MMC Corp Bhd is Gas Malaysia’s largest shareholder with an effective stake of 30.9 per cent.
Malaysia’s seventh-richest person, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, controls MMC Corp.
MMC Corp also plans to relist its 51 per cent-owned Malakoff Corp Bhd — the country’s largest independent power producer — on the local bourse next year in an initial public offering that could fetch up to US$1 billion. — Reuters
