Kulim up 2.65% on RM1b dividend from NBPOL stake sale

Hot Stock
Kulim up 2.65% on RM1b dividend from NBPOL stake sale
By Yen Ne Foo / TheEdge Markets.com | October 24, 2014 : 11:13 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 24): Kulim (M) Bhd ( Financial Dashboard) rose nine sen or 2.65% as investors reacted to news that the plantation company would set aside some RM1 billion as dividends.

At 10.35am, Kulim changed hands at RM3.48. For comparison, the FBM KLCI added 1.3 points or 0.1% to 1,811.98.

Yesterday, Kulim said the RM1 billion formed a portion of the estimated RM2.75 billion proceeds from the planned sale of Kulim's 48.97% stake in New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL) to Sime Darby Bhd ( Financial Dashboard). Kulim's RM1 billion dividend translates to about 78 sen a share.

Kulim said it intended to accept Sime Darby offer and the deal was pending approval from Kulim shareholders.

Today, remisiers said investors had not “over reacted” to news on the dividend as Kulim's share price had most likely factored it in following news of Kulim’s plan to dispose the NBPOL's stake

“Kulim’s share price is already fully valued by investors by now. This is why you do not see the share price making that significant a jump despite such positive news,” he said.

From an industry viewpoint, he said investors was not easily excited about oil palm plantation-linked stocks on Bursa Malaysia as crude palm oil prices (CPO) had been volatile.

“I think people are not plunging into plantation stocks at the moment because CPO prices have not been stable in the last few weeks. I believe that if CPO prices have been stable, counters like Kulim would attract more attention,” he said