KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 14): Sapura Energy Bhd topped the list of most active stocks in Thursday morning trade, after the oil and gas services provider received in-principle approval for its proposed debt restructuring scheme.

At the time of writing, the counter had risen 10% or half a sen to 5.5 sen a share, giving it a market capitalisation of RM790.96 million.

Trading volume swelled to 117.16 million, 22% higher than Wednesday’s trading volume of 96.12 million, making it the most briskly traded counter on Bursa Malaysia. 

During an event on Dec 6, PETRONAS acknowledged local oil and gas, services and equipment (OGSE) vendors and service providers who have contributed to the growth of the oil and gas industry in the state.

Twenty-one months after receiving restraining orders from the court to work on a proposed scheme of arrangement as part of its debt restructuring plan, Sapura Energy has received approval-in-principle from its RM10.3 billion lenders, with the assistance of the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee of Malaysia as a mediator. 

Though this will go some way in helping the group make progress in exiting its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status, it has yet to receive regulatory approval for the extension to submit its regularisation plan, Public Investment Bank Bhd cautioned in a note. 

In October, Sapura Energy applied for an extension to submit its PN17 regularisation plan until May 2024, pending the local bourse regulator’s approval. 

The group recorded core net loss of RM390.1 million for the nine months ended Oct 31, 2023 (9MFY2024), more than Public Investment Bank's full-year net loss estimate of RM297.2 million and the street's forecast of RM256.5 million. The variance was broadly due to the underperformance of the group's engineering and construction as well as operations and maintenance divisions. 

Its order book stood at RM5.4 billion. while its joint ventures and associates held another RM3.6 billion. “Challenges to access working capital and bank guarantees remain, however, until its financial condition is fully resolved,” said Public Investment Bank, which maintained its "underperform" call and target price of 3.5 sen.  

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/693864