Naim Commences Share Buy Back

Naim Cendera Holdings Bhd (Naim) has bought back its shares listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia over the past week, said its chief executive officer Datuk Hasmi Hasnan.In a statement here yesterday, he said the company had bought back some 877,000 shares comprising 0.35 percent of the company’s paid-up capital at an average price of RM3.04.Datuk Hasmi said the current share price of around RM3.00 was below what the company thought was the value of the share based on its strong construction order book of more than RM1 billion.

He said the company had achieved excellent sales of its property development in Bandar Baru Permyjaya in Miri and Desa Ilmu in Kuching, chalking up sales of 1,071 units with a value of RM150.73 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2004.Noting that there had been improvement in the company’s fundamentals over the last quarter, Datuk Hasmi said he was puzzled by the current slide in the company’s share price.Asked why the share price has dropped, he said the shareholders might felt that they had made enough money from Naim and were now moving to other property counters.

He said the property market in Sarawak was strong following increased oil and gas activities in Miri.On Naim’s joint venture with R.S.B Management Sdn Bhd (Realmild Group), he said the partnership would start operations soon with an initial infrastructure project of some RM90 million.It will submit formal application for this project tot the relevant authorities.On what Naim proposes to do with the shares that it had bought back, he said the company could either cancel the shares or sell it at a later date and distribute the profits to shareholders as dividends.The bright note on Naim shares is that reputable analysts including foreign based analysts, are recommending a buy on these shares, he said.