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KUALA LUMPUR (December 15): Top Glove Corp Bhd CEO Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai bought a total of 3.1 million shares in his own capacity on the open market yesterday. The block of shares cost him RM19.98 million.
Top Glove, whose share price plummeted yesterday, said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today that Lim bought the shares in two transactions yesterday. Approximately 1.56 million shares were purchased at RM6.39 per share, while another 1.54 million shares were traded at RM6.49 per share.
In less than a week, Lim, who is also the majority shareholder, has spent RM 49.75 million on the purchase of Top Glove shares. He bought 4.28 million shares of Top Glove for 29.77 million ringgit last Thursday.
Lim’s direct stake is 26.17% and indirect stake is 8.63%.
In addition to Lim, two other parties that also absorbed open market shares in the world’s largest rubber glove maker were Tropicana Corp Bhd and Top Glove itself.
Tropicana announced yesterday that it spent an additional RM20.05 million to purchase 3.07 million shares of Top Glove through its wholly owned subsidiary Desiran Reality Sdn Bhd.
However, Tropicana did not disclose the price of the transaction. Based on a calculation on the back of an envelope, the property developer paid an average of RM6.53 per share for the block of shares, representing a 0.04% stake in Top Glove.
Tropicana bought 11.25 million shares of Top Glove for RM78.47 million on December 4. Following the latest purchase, the property developer’s stake in Top Glove increased to 0.18% or 14.32 million shares.
Lim is also the president and substantial shareholder of Tropicana. It has an 11.07% stake in the real estate firm.
In an announcement to Bursa, Tropicana noted that Lim is considered interested in additional equity acquisitions by virtue of his being the president and principal shareholder of Tropicana, as well as the chief executive officer and principal shareholder of Top Glove. “As such, it has abstained and will continue to abstain from all deliberations and voting in relation to the additional acquisitions,” Tropicana said.
Top Glove also repurchased some 576,900 shares worth RM3.63 million to RM6.30 per share yesterday. The group has spent RM123.5 million on share buybacks this month so far.
The share buyback plan has cost Top Glove a total of RM1.28 billion since September, of which RM354.74 million was spent in September and RM802.55 million in November.
In contrast, the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) continued to cut its stake in Top Glove.
A separate filing showed EPF dumped a total of 846,400 shares last Thursday, after the provident fund sold 3.42 million shares on December 9 and another 12 million shares on December 8.
EPF re-emerged as a substantial Top Glove shareholder on September 21 with a 5.05% stake. The fund subsequently increased the stake to 6.63% on November 20, before beginning to trim its stake.
Following the latest disposals, the provident fund’s stake in Top Glove was reduced to 429.39 million shares or a 5.36% stake.
Most of the analysts tracking the glove maker are optimistic about its prospects, 17 of them have a “buy” or equivalent rating, while five have “hold” calls and a “sell” rating. The 12-month average price target is RM8.99, according to Bloomberg.
Top Glove’s stock price rallied today after it fell 8.7% or 60 sen yesterday. The share rose 11 sen or 1.75% to RM6.41, with some 35.67 million shares traded. At current price, Top Glove is valued at RM51.4 billion. Its share price has risen 308% year-to-date from RM1.57.
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