RHB Bank shares down on Aabar stake disposal
KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd shares fell as much as 28 sen, or 4.9 per cent, to RM5.43 yesterday, following news of United Arab Emirates-based Aabar Investments PJS selling a substantial portion of its stake in it.
The stock was among Bursa Malaysia’s top losers in early trade as investors reacted to Aabar placing out some 191 million RHB Bank shares to foreign and local funds.
It was reported that Aabar was selling the RHB Bank shares near the low end of the marketed range of between RM5.43 and RM5.54 each. This valued the shares at between RM1.04 billion and RM1.06 billion.
The RM5.43 and RM5.54 range was a discount to RHB Bank’s closing price of RM5.71 on Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday.
The 191 million shares are equal to about a 4.75 per cent stake, trimming Aabar’s 14.75 per cent stake in RHB Bank to 10 per cent.
At the close of the early session, RHB Bank shares dropped 18 sen, or 3.15 per cent, to RM5.53 with some 11 million units traded.
The stock closed the day three per cent, or 17 sen lower, at RM5.54 yesterday, with 23.26 million shares changing hands. Its highest and lowest prices were RM5.63 and RM5.43, respectively.
The placement was Aabar’s second in less than seven months as the Abu Dhabi investor continued to pare down its stake in the country’s fifth-largest banking group by market size.
In August last year, Aabar sold 120.3 million shares in RHB Bank, or about a three per cent stake, at a price ranging between RM5.07 and RM5.18 each.