CERTAINLY not only kids say the darndest things given the same can be expected of retail investors, thus rendering food for thought for the management of companies that they invest in.
This is especially so when there are two schools of thoughts – usually one which is in favour and the other on the opposing view – to a company’s business direction and the performance of its stock price.
With Berjaya Corp Bhd’s (BCorp) share price having consolidated almost 35% after hitting an intraday peak in more than six years at 50.5 sen on April 1 to 33 sen as prior to the Hari Raya festive break on May 12 (Wednesday), it is inevitable for the spot light to shine on its group CEO Jalil Abdul Rasheed whose recent appointment has been brandished as a spring board for the company’s turnaround.
To recap, BCorp’s share price has rebounded sharply from the 17.5 sen region since Jalil’s appointment on March 16 alongside his gradual acquisition of BCorp’s shares which puts him as both the company’s head honcho-cum-minority shareholders.
Henceforth, the exchanges or war of words between two investors who go by the pseudonym Stockraider and Scanluver on the popular i3investor platform is very intriguing to say the least.
The friction started when Stockraider who is on the pro-Jalil fraction described the former youngest Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s CEO (at 39) as an equivalent of a superstar for BCorp as how Argentinian footballer Messi is to Barcelona.
“Jalil is one of the best fund manager in Asia … He has very good track record working Singapore too for many years thus he earns his wealth, mah! … He will be our saviour & hero loh! Come June very bullish, mah! (verbatim quote)”
In his rebuttal of Stockraider’s bullishness, Scanluver belittled Jalil’s capability – “Gamgahteh, Stockraider! What an enthusiastic shoe shine boy. Polish, kao, kao, ya! Hahahaha … (verbatim quote) – only for Stockraider to stand firmer behind Jalil:
“Our superstar Jalil besides helping in the restructuring & monetise of the Berjaya group has put in more than RM40 mil of his own personal monies into BCorp by buying into its share mah! (verbatim quote)
“Now, if this is not hero Jalil, who is he, heh? Jalil is not only our superstar, he is many many minority ‘hero, saviour and our main hope, mah! (verbatim quote)
“So please stop badmouthing our superhero Jalil, lah! (verbatim quote).”
As both Stockraider and Scanluver embarked on their verbal exchanges, an interjection by investor who goes by the pseudonym “sailang_now” sounded sensible:
“It’s good that Jalil is still buying but it would be better if BCorp restarts share buyback. VT (founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun) & gang should also stop selling at least until the restructuring plan is out by end-June to support current BCorp market price.” (verbatim quote) – May 14, 2021
