Tell a friend about this website Contact us (Suggestions, complaints, corrections, etc.) Bookmark this page because you'll need it later (OR you can also press CTRL-D)

Note: This article archives are meant to be reference material for MalaysiaCentral.com's internal staffs only.

SOUTHERN Bank Bhd (SBB), which could be the subject of a merger with Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd (BCHB), and Killinghall (M) Bhd continued to see their share prices slide as investors took profit yesterday despite SBB's aggressive share buyback.

SBB closed 16 sen lower at RM3.94 yesterday with 2.34 million shares traded while Killinghall lost 14 sen to RM3.18 with 560,800 shares done. Killinghall has a 17% stake in SBB.

It was the second straight day the share prices have dipped, after rising some 20% to RM4.20 last Wednesday from RM3.50 on Oct 21, when BCHB announced that it would be in talks with two SBB major shareholders for a possible merger.

The SBB board, led by chief executive Tan Sri Tan Teong Hean, is reportedly not in favour of the merger.

Yesterday, SBB, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia, said it had bought back another 730,000 shares at between RM3.94 and RM4.04 per share, bringing its total to 47.66 million shares.

Analysts said the share price fall could be caused by investors cashing in on concerns that SBB's aggressive share buyback would "strengthen its position" and throw a spanner in the works of the merger.

An analyst from Mayban Securities Research said the aggressive share buyback and the sale of SBB's stake in Killinghall were seen as signs that the bank was defending its position.

"This would be seen as an added risk to the deal (merger talks between Bumiputra-Commerce and two SBB shareholders)," the analyst said.

Some analysts have also put SBB's fair value at least two times its NTA of RM1.84 per share.

Tell a friend about this website Contact us (Suggestions, complaints, corrections, etc.) Bookmark this page because you'll need it later (OR you can also press CTRL-D)