By YEOW POOI LING
PETALING JAYA: Gamuda Bhd managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling has reduced his shareholding in the company to 1.7% from 5.2% for “estate planning purposes.”
In a statement yesterday, Lin said he continued to be optimistic about the prospects of Gamuda and had committed himself to an 18-month lock-up on his remaining stake. Lin last sold his shares in 2002.
“With the support of shareholders, I intend to remain in my present management position for the foreseeable future,” he added.
The market, however, reacted negatively to the news as Gamuda shares came under heavy selling pressure yesterday, shedding 78 sen to RM4.20 after touching an intra-day low of RM4.12. It was the day's most actively traded stock and second biggest loser.
Aseambankers analyst Wong Chew Hann said investors could have been concerned since Lin was instrumental in growing the company as well as spearheading several significant projects.
“People are wondering if he'd stay on with the company. Hopefully, his statement would calm investors,” she said, adding that Gamuda's fundamentals remained intact.
“With what the company has now, there is no issue in doubling earnings. It should be meeting the 60% to 80% growth targets for fiscal year 2009 (FY09),” she added.
In a report yesterday, AmResearch said Gamuda's share base stood at two billion, with an estimated free float of 61%.
Its major shareholders are Fidelity Group (with 23%), HSBC Holdings Plc (9%) and Generasi Setia (8%).
Gamuda's outstanding order book stood at a record RM11bil after its 50:50 joint venture with MMC Corp Bhd was awarded the RM12.5bil Ipoh-Padang Besar double-track railway project in December.
Based on Gamuda's 50% share, the project accounts for RM6bil, or 55%, of its outstanding order book.
The brokerage said the downside risks to Gamuda's earnings were margin compression arising from rising prices of raw materials like steel and cement, and the disagreement between MMC-Gamuda joint venture and the Malay Chamber of Commerce on the distribution of 30% of the sub-contracts to bumiputra contractors.
“Gamuda is bidding for up to RM15bil worth of projects, of which RM10bil are local and RM5bil overseas,” AmResearch said.
Based on estimated earnings per share (EPS) of 19.5 sen for the year ending July 31, 2008 and yesterday's closing price of RM4.20, Gamuda shares are trading at a price/earnings (PE) of 21.5 times while at an EPS of 24 sen for FY09, the stock is attractively valued at PE of 17.5 times.
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布林线低部，技术上分析是觉得它还有上涨的空间。上周的下跌已看见综指最近一个月徘徊在1350及1450内的水平。继上周五美国股市收高后，综指有望在明天升高。
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