News in brief.....

Koh Boon Hwee sold 21 million shares of GSH (fka JEL)

Koh Boon Hwee

Perhaps Koh Boon Hwee is no party-pooper.  He could have sold his GSH shares when they were sitting pretty above 10 cents in April and were already a multi-bagger.

But any sale might have proven to be a dampener on market sentiment towards GSH stock. It was also a delicate time given that GSH was firmly stuck on the SGX's watch list.

But with GSH shares now resilient or stable in the 6-8 cent range, and GSH looking likely to get off the SGX watch list, Mr Koh has sold 20.968 million shares at an undisclosed price on last Thursday (May 24).

Assuming 7 cents a share, the sale brought him about $1.4 million.

How much was his net profit? Nearly 100% - ie, $1.4 million!

That was made possible because in February, Koh Boon Hwee had paid merely 0.35 cent a share for 283.9 million rights shares. This is a massive allotment to him as he had subscribed for excess rights shares not taken up by minority shareholders.

His stake shot up from 12.5 million shares to 296. 4 million (15.0% interest in the company).

Now, will his recent 21 million share sale result in a perceived overhang in the market for GSH? Time will tell.

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ANWELL expands into EPC business in Thailand through S$5 m acquisition

Franky Fan, CEO (right, facing camera) and Ken Wu, CFO, speaking with shareholders after an AGM. NextInsight file photo

SINCE its founding in 2000, Anwell Technologies has grown to become a global manufacturer of equipment that produces optical discs, a term that mainly refers to CD-Rs and DVDRs.

Anwell has gone on to vertically integrate: In 2007, it acquired two companies in Henan province which use its machines to make optical discs. They are the two largest manufacturers of DVDRs in China.

An even bigger leap was taken in 2010, when it started mass-production of solar panels.

Anwell's solar PV system at a solar farm in Germany (1.5 MWp, Neubrandenburg). Photo: company

The breakthrough came after some two years of developing its own production line using its own proprietary technologies and tapping on its expertise in its original core business of developing manufacturing equipment for optical discs.

What's next?

In February 2012, it made its first foray into the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) niche. It signed a deal worth US$25 million for the construction of a solar power plant in Thailand.

In double-quick time, late last Friday, Anwell announced another deal in Thailand.

It said that on 18 May 2012, it had entered into an agreement with third parties to acquire 100% shareholding in Lopburi Solar Co., Ltd. for 120.5 million Baht cash (or SGD4.82 million).

In a related deal, Anwell agreed with a third party to acquire 100% interest in a piece of vacant land situated in the Lopburi province of Thailand for 4.5 million Baht cash.

The deals were in line with Anwell’s strategic direction to penetrate the large-scale solar energy market.

Lopburi Solar is entitled to sell electricity of up to 5 MW per annum to the Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand for a period of 10 years from the date of commencement of commercial operations.

The power plant of Lopburi, under a power purchase agreement with the electricity authority, will be constructed on the vacant land that Anwell is buying.

This deal will crystallise Anwell's vision to become an EPC contractor providing integrated solutions under the Build, Operate and Transfer model for large-scale solar projects.


For the press release on SGX website, click here.

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