New substantial shareholder in Perdana Petroleum

O&G INTEREST Sarawakian Tiong Chiong Hiiung's purchase of 8.15pc stake comes amid talk that rival Dayang Enterprise is looking to do the same

A Sarawakian chicken breeder has emerged as a substantial shareholder in oil and gas firm Perdana Petroleum Bhd.

Tiong Chiong Hiiung has bought an 8.15 per cent stake by virtue of his direct shareholding in Achiever Development Sdn Bhd.

Achiever is believed to be a vehicle of the Tiong family in Sarawak.

Tiong is also the managing director of the publicly-traded CCK Consolidated Holdings Bhd, a company founded by his father Datuk Tiong Su Kuok.

The elder Tiong currently serves as the non-executive chairman of CCK.

The Tiong family owns slightly above 36 per cent of CCK Consolidated via two private companies, namely Central Coldstorage Sarawak Sdn Bhd and S.K. Tiong Enterprise Sdn Bhd.

The emergence of the Sarawakian business man in Perdana Petroleum comes at a time when there has been speculation that a rival Sarawakian party is looking into buying a significant stake in the company.

Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd said in October that it may buy a strategic stake in Perdana Petroleum, as part of a potential collaboration with the offshore marine support provider.

Perdana Petroleum now has a fleet of 22 offshore marine vessels comprises anchor-handling tug supply vessels, work barges, work boats and platform supply vessels.

Under the company's fleet expansion and renewal programme, 14 new vessels will be delivered over the next one to two years, Perdana Petroleum said on its website.

For the six months ended June 30 2011, Perdana Petroleum posted revenue of RM140.35 million versus RM108.28 million in the same period a year ago.

Group pre-tax profit for the financial year in review, meanwhile, stood at some RM803,000 versus a pre-tax loss of RM30.67 million a year ago.

As for CCK, it recorded group-level revenue of RM391.97 million for the financial year ended June 30 2011, versus RM351.21 million a year ago.

Group pre-tax profit stood at RM25.53 million versus RM24.35 million before. The company has slightly more than RM25 million in the bank, its unaudited accounts revealed.