KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Star Media Group Bhd, which has seen a series of acquisitions by its largest shareholder Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) over the last month that raised its stake to nearly 46%, jumped 11.11% or 4.5 sen on Monday to close at its highest since June 19.

The stock, which closed at 45 sen for a market capitalisation of RM332 million after 16.92 million shares were traded, has climbed 20% or 7.5 sen from Aug 21, when the stock closed at a low of 37.5 sen.

The stock had been trending down since it hit a high of 61.5 sen on April 26, following the emergence of The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd and its owner chairman Tan Sri Tong Kooi Ong as the group's substantial shareholder on April 25, with a 5.424% stake, which was trimmed to 5.374% at end August. Nevertheless, the stock is still up by 50% year to date.

According to Star Media’s latest filings, MCA, which had a 45.347% stake in the group at end-March — 43.23% directly held and 2.117% via the political party’s investment arm Huaren Holdings Sdn Bhd — acquired 3.196 million shares in September via Huaren Holdings, raising its total shareholding by 0.48% to 45.827%, as its indirect stake rose to 2.597%.

The group reported a net profit of RM1.93 million for the January-June period of its financial year 2023 (1HFY2023), down 55.48% from RM4.33 million in the corresponding first half of FY2022, though revenue rose marginally to RM110.01 million from RM106.55 million, as it recorded higher operating expenses.