KUDOS to Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) for mooting a diversified group-wide strategic transformation plan.
Among others, the foresighted plan entails the privatisation of its subsidiary Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand), the disposal of Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) and a proposed hospitality real estate investment trust (REIT) which focuses on five-star hotels in developed countries including Japan.
BCorp group CEO Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed who must have engineered such idea – of course with the consent of its founder and non-executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun – said no time frame has been set to privatise BLand although he hopes this will be done “sooner rather than later”.
The plan to sell BToto is mooted as the number forecast operator (NFOs) is in a highly regulated business (not to mention NFOs are considered a non-essential business thus have been subject to numerous closures, the latest being the current full movement control order [FMCO]).
Doubtlessly, the whole plan looks noble, especially coming from a head honcho who has put his money where his mouth is.
Recall that by end-March – barely a fortnight into his appointment to helm the diversified conglomerate – Jalil has already mopped up 136 million shares or 2.71% stake in BCorp having spent approximately RM41.27 mil in the process.
As of July 5, the once youngest CEO of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (at 38) has expanded his shareholding in BCorp to 184.57 million shares or 3.61%.
Interestingly, BCorp’s share price today is a pale shadow of what it used to be on March 31 when it closed at 45.5 sen as opposed to today’s mid-day close at 28 sen which is a 38.5% discount from three-and-a-half-month ago.
This is really testing the patience of investors – many of whom retail investors – who are keen to see instant results. Obviously, there are always two sides to a coin.
Commenting on the popular i3Investor platform, paperplane regarded the proposed disposal of BToto as a “correct move”.
“In future world, it’s all about ESG (environment, social and governance). Gambling cannot be ESG, ok! … He is using a professional point of view, not like many of you who only think of earning quick bucks.”
Echoing paperplane’s view, stockraider said he personally “see so clearly the plan for BCorp” moving forward. “This is the ‘most transparent transformation disclosure’ ever done by a Malaysian CEO within three months on his jobs loh!”
However, not everyone agreed with paperplane and stockraider. Jeffreyteck regarded what Jalil did as akin to “giving hope before poor results announcement”.
“Obviously the captain is not able to improve operational efficiency hence the profit due to lack of experience in operation and business strategies, but maybe good at drawing big picture,” he pointed out. “Anyway, good to trade at (our) own risk appetite.”
This was seconded by scanluver who expects the euphoria to be short-lived. “The $10 claim will be a double-edged sword in the long run especially for Batikman (Jalil) now that he has painted a target on his back,” added scanluver.
At 2.40pm, BCorp was unchanged at 27.5 sen with 26.02 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM1.48 bil. – July 16, 2021
