Timber tycoon Yaw boosts stake in Barakah Offshore

Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd invested some RM300mil in pipelay barge Kota Laksamana 101.

KUALA LUMPUR: Samling group founder Tan Sri Dr Yaw Teck Seng has emerged as the second largest shareholder of Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, having acquired a further 5.9% stake through United Power Group Holdings Ltd.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the offshore oil and gas service provider said United Power, which is based in Hong Kong, boosted its holding in Barakah by 48.62 million shares to 82.56 million shares or a 10% stake last month.

The 5.9% stake has a market value of RM29.42mil based on Monday’s closing price of 60.5 sen per share.

Yaw is deemed interested by virtue of his shareholding in Yaw Holding Sdn Bhd, which owns United Power’s holding company Samling Energy Sdn Bhd.

With the additional purchase, United Power has therefore displaced Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd, which holds 8.91% equity interest, as the second largest shareholder.

Barakah group president and chief executive officer Nik Hamdan Daud’s shareholding fell to 38.61% as he ceased to have interest in United Power.

However, he remains Barakah’s biggest shareholder with a 38.61% stake.

Last month, Barakah announced that it had been awarded two contracts worth a total of RM96.37mil.

One was a US$14.28mil (RM61.37mil) contract from Samling Resources Sdn Bhd to Barakah’s unit PBJV Group Sdn Bhd for the provision of well intervention vessel, support vessel and services to decommission the Chinguetti and Banda deepwater oil field in Mauritania.

The other was a RM35mil contract from Asean Bintulu Fertilizer Sdn Bhd (ABF) to a consortium comprising PBJV and Beumer Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co KG.

This was for the provision of basic and detailed engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning package for rejuvenating the urea ship loading facilities project at the ABF plant in Bintulu.

Barakah reported a net loss of RM4.6mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2017, compared with a profit of RM1.27mil a year earlier. Revenue dipped 26% to RM76.84mil year on year.