Investors who bought shares of marine construction specialist Benalec Holdings Bhd would have been happy to see the counter surging to a high of 14.5 sen. In just a week, the counter had jumped more than 30%.

Chances are that Benalec would continue to attract traders with the limelight given its association with Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who is now the country’s 17th King.

Filings show Daing A Malek Daing A Rahaman directly owns 2.36% in Benalec.  Daing is known to be associated with the Johor royalty, as his name frequently appears as a shareholder in companies in which the Johor royal family has interest.

He first surfaced in Benalec’s 30 largest shareholders list in its 2018 annual report. The loss-making counter was trading at its low of 8.5 sen last March but doubled to touch a high of 16 sen recently.

As it is, there has been lots of interest in Johor-related counters especially property developers including UEM Sunrise and Sunway Bhd. But this smallish Benalec may offer good buying opportunity for traders given its association with the new Agong.

The marine construction specialist will also benefit the Johor state government is expecting RM60 billion in additional investments covering various projects at the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi.

The PIPC development will cover the years 2026 to 2031, in line with the PIPC Master Plan.

Seven various projects in the pipeline are expected to be realised during the development of the third phase of PIPC, including the construction of solar farms, bio-refineries and facilities producing nitrile-related products.

The PIPC, which is currently in the middle of the second phase (2020-2025), has received a committed investment of almost RM140 billion, which is 90% of the target set in the master plan.

The Group is currently embarking on its next phase of growth via 2 flagship projects in south Johor, namely Tanjung Piai Maritime Industrial Park (TPMIP) and Pengerang Maritime Industrial Park (PMIP). 

With a proven track record as a master developer of its Melaka concessions, Benalec plans to replicate its role as a master developer for both TPMIP and PMIP. TPMIP is a man-made island with sea fronting industrial land spanning 3,485 acres, located within the vicinity of Port of Tanjung Pelepas.

PMIP, a sea-fronting tract of industrial land spanning 1,672.8 acres, sited a mere 5-6 kilometers from the RAPID project by Petronas and Saudi Aramco within the PIPC.

Located strategically on the southeast tip of Johor, it will be the only remaining seafronting industrial land available for third party investment within the vicinity upon completion of reclamation.  TPMIP and PMIP will be developed into oil and gas industrial parks in line with the government’s objective of transforming Johor into a sustainable, world-class downstream oil and gas hub. 

These are definitely exciting times for Benalec. But investors will have to be wary of its poor financial health, which was loss-making since 2018.