DECLOUT: Shareholder buys 23 million shares in 3 weeks

Declout Limited is loss-making but that has not deterred a substantial shareholder from making big purchases of its shares.

On 4 Feb this year, Wong Poh Leng bought 19 million shares at 22.54 cents apiece in a married deal. That amounted to $4,282,540.

Just a little earlier, on Jan 14, he bought 4 million shares for $920,000 (or 23 cents apiece) in the open market.

These are his first two purchases since the company's IPO in Oct 2012.

He now owns 71,060,000 shares, which is more than double the 32,040,000 shares he held just prior to the IPO.

Aside from the two share purchases this year, the rest of the increase in his holding came from his subscription of his shares entitlement in a rights issue in Sept 2013. 

His stake currently amounts to a 16.3% stake in the information and communications technology (ICT) solutions and services provider.

Who is Wong Poh Leng? There is no mention of his background in the IPO prospectus but we understand that he is not related to either Vesmond Wong, the chairman and CEO of DeClout, or any member of the DeClout management team.

Declout has not paid any dividend since its IPO in Oct 2012 but has instead raised funds from shareholders through a rights issue in Sept 2013.
Chart: www.FT.com
It is not very clear what DeClout's prospects are as there is no analyst coverage. A positive though is the company's stated plan to list a subsidiary, Procurri, next year. 

It's also notable that boutique fund, Aegis Portfolio Managers, owns 19,215,000 million shares.

It was a substantial shareholder until Jan this year when its holding of 5.6% was diluted to 4.7% as a result of the issue of new shares by DeClout as part of a M&A transaction.

For more info, see the company's Powerpoint presentation materials.

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