Hiap Hoe

The deal comprised 4 separate transactions: 10+, 1.4+, 0.4 and 0.3 Million. Couldn't really match these to the top 20 shareholders. The other party should be hidden behind the shroud of one of the nominees.

TWENTY LARGEST SHAREHOLDERS (From the recent annual report)
No. Name No. of Shares %
1 HIAP HOE HOLDINGS PTE LTD 328,693,876 69.85
2 CIMB SECURITIES (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD. 24,631,433 5.23
3 DBS NOMINEES (PRIVATE) LIMITED 11,821,125 2.51
4 SOON LI HENG CIVIL ENGINEERING PTE LTD 9,125,000 1.94
5 SBS NOMINEES PRIVATE LIMITED 8,000,000 1.70
6 MORPH INVESTMENTS LTD 6,431,700 1.37
7 HONG LEONG FINANCE NOMINEES PTE LTD 5,435,750 1.16
8 SING INVESTMENTS & FINANCE NOMINEES (PTE.) LTD. 4,300,000 0.91
9 DB NOMINEES (SINGAPORE) PTE LTD 2,725,700 0.58
10 CITIBANK NOMINEES SINGAPORE PTE LTD 2,458,250 0.52
11 HENG SIEW ENG 2,331,000 0.50
12 SOON LEE HENG TRADING & TRANSPORTATION PTE LTD 2,243,750 0.48
13 TEO HO BENG 2,130,750 0.45
14 ROLAND TEO HO KANG 1,875,000 0.40
15 HSBC (SINGAPORE) NOMINEES PTE LTD 1,726,950 0.37
16 OCBC SECURITIES PRIVATE LIMITED 1,658,111 0.35
17 LEONG CHONG LING 1,239,900 0.26
18 UOB KAY HIAN PRIVATE LIMITED 1,239,076 0.26
19 CHIN KIAM HSUNG 1,149,500 0.24
20 SIAH YANG WEN OLIVER 1,014,800 0.22
TOTAL 420,231,671 89.30

Anyway, Hiap Hoe Holdings Pte Ltd is shared among Mr Teo Ho Beng and his siblings. Mr Teo holds around 40% while Mr Roland Teo owns about 35%. With Mr Roland Teo currently out of action due to his illness, Mr Teo Ho Beng may be looking to delist Hiap Hoe (at a low price around $0.8 - $0.9) and then later spin off the hotels into a Hospitality REIT to safeguard their family fortune.

Hiap Hoe seems to be delaying its dividend announcement. It has been almost a month after the AGM approved the dividend payout, but nothing has been heard so far. For the past two years, the dividends were announced in early May and paid out at the end of May. It seems like something fishy may be going on. Perhaps they have run into some cash flow issues or they are planning to announce something big soon.

Anybody has any opinion on this?

For the Teo family to privatise Hiap Hoe, they would require between $100-$130 million to buy up the remaining shares (at between $0.8-$1 per share). In my opinion, with the recent death of the patriach in January 2016 - my condolences to the family - the Teo brothers may have inherited some cash which may allow them to do so.

Another interesting thing i had uncovered during my research, was that Teo Ho Beng's wife (Sin Wong Chan) was not listed in Teo Guan Seng's obituary (See attachment), but was declared as his wife in the 2015 annual report (page 27). In my opinion, although his marital status is not a public matter, it may have implications on the ownership and control of Hiap Hoe Holdings. More so now with his brother's medical condition.

The co has called for a trading halt this morning.

EDIT: Strange, it was halted for a short moment between 10-11.00am but no updates on SGX about it.

Did anyone noticed the halt as well?

Looks like the construction of Marina Tower is coming along just fine. On track for 1st Qtr 2017 opening.

The CEO just bought another 2.5 million shares this morning. His interest is slowly creeping up to 75%.

Based on my estimates, Hiap Hoe is not expected to make a profit from now till the end of the year. This is due to depreciation of its properties as well as foreign exchange losses. However, the CEO is continuing to buy up huge chunks of shares from individual shareholders. It looks suspiciously like a privatisation move.