KWAP ceases to be substantial shareholder in Econpile

• KWAP’s stake in Econpile dropped to below the 5% threshold necessary to be deemed a substantial shareholder after it sold 2.31 million shares on Tuesday, according to Econpile’s exchange filing on Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 17): Econpile Holdings Bhd (KL:ECONBHD) said Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in the piling and foundation specialist.

KWAP’s stake in Econpile dropped to below the 5% threshold necessary to be deemed a substantial shareholder after it sold 2.31 million shares on Tuesday, according to Econpile’s exchange filing on Wednesday.

The filing did not specify the value of the transaction, but based on Econpile’s closing price of 51 sen on Tuesday, the block of shares was estimated to be worth RM1.18 million.

According to Econpile's previous filing on Monday, KWAP held a total of 72.52 million shares in the group, equivalent to a 5.116% stake.

Econpile group managing director The Cheng Eng is the largest shareholder in the group with a 24.69% stake, followed by its executive director and group chief executive officer Pang Sar with a 17.43% stake, and the Employees Provident Fund with a 7.36% stake, Bloomberg data showed.

Econpile has been in the red since the financial year ended June 30, 2022 (FY2022). For the first nine months of FY2024, the group's net loss widened to RM16.07 million from RM6.68 million in the same period of FY2023, primarily due to lower gross margins, with industry margin pressures and more labour-intensive construction activities leading to higher operating expenses.

As of end-March, Econpile had 19 ongoing projects with an order book of about RM400 million.

Shares of Econpile closed 1.5 sen or 2.94% higher at 52.5 sen on Wednesday, giving the group a market value of RM744.19 million. The stock has risen 69% since the beginning of this year.

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