E&O shares jump most in a week

KUALA LUMPUR: Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) shares rose the most in a week while Sime Darby Bhd's fell marginally after a related legal suit was brought against the Securities Commission (SC).


An E&O minority shareholder is suing the SC for failing to compel Sime Darby to make a general offer (GO) for all the shares in the property developer after the conglomerate bought a 30 per cent stake.

E&O shares hit a high of 5 sen before ending at RM1.38, 2 sen higher than on Thursday. There were more than 1.55 million units traded yesterday, its highest trading volume in two weeks.

For Sime Darby, its shares fell marginally by 0.11 per cent, or 1 sen, to RM8.99. Trading volume was at about 5.6 million shares, consistent with this month's trading volume of 5.8 million shares.

Singapore's The Straits TImes reported that Michael Chow Keat Thye, a minority shareholder of E&O, is seeking to overturn the SC waiver granted to Sime Darby, which he believes was "irrational and one which no reasonable body would have reached".

It was reported that should Chow succeed in his suit, Sime Darby would be compelled to make a GO for the E&O shares it does not already own. This means Sime Darby would need to fork out another RM2.6 billion for the GO.

Datuk Shafee Abdullah told the Singapore daily that the High Court had decided there are legal grounds to review the SC's decision on the E&O deal.

"This would be a potential upside catalysts for E&O if the court's decision is in favour of Chow. As for Sime Darby, such a decision would result in a net drop in its value," said Jupiter Securities head of research Pong Teng Siew.

So far this year, E&O shares have risen by 16 per cent, while Sime Darby shares up by two per cent.

if mom break 1.40 i am going to be CB