JTOP Shares Surge in Debut, Despite Palm-Oil Land Dispute
April 28, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Shares of Johore Tenggara Oil Palm Bhd., known as JTOP, more than doubled the initial public-offer price on their debut, despite a simmering dispute over the plantation company's property holdings. The shares opened trading on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange at 3.90 ringgit ($1.56) before closing at 3.54 ringgit on volume of 7.4 million shares. JTOP's close represents a 115% premium over its initial public-offer price of 1.65 ringgit a share. ``Despite the concerns over the land dispute, the first day trading of the counter was pretty OK,'' said Morrell Fu-Melani, an analyst with Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn. Bhd.. She added the stock is currently ``fairly valued.'' The JTOP listing, originally scheduled for Monday, was postponed following a dispute between the state government of Johor and the company over the transfer of 15,605 hectares of previously state-owned palm-oil plantations to JTOP. The Johor state government is opposed to the transfer because of alleged irregularities over the privatization of once state-owned JTOP. Several state administrative officials wanted a postponement of the listing until the dispute was settled. The standoff was averted only after senior Finance Ministry officials intervened. While state administration officials say that the land-transfer issue still is being debated, JTOP officials maintain that matter has been sorted out.
