IPO - Boustead Plantation Bhd

Here I go again, salivating at an IPO. Since the announcement of the proposed listing of this pure plantation stock following the privatisation of the Al-Hadharah Boustead Real Estate Investment Trust ( BSDReit)  last year, I have made up my mind to apply for this new kid on the block in the plantation counter.

I have a thing about this stock as I had had shares of BSDReit since 2007 purchased at 1.04 and made a substantial gain when I sold all off at 2.06 just before the company's exercise in late 2013. I kept it very long because I was enjoying an annual  dividend rate of about 9%. I had calculated that I would make much more by clearing my position than staying on and be given Boustead Plantation Bhd shares at a given ratio of  three Boustead Plantations shares for every five Boustead REIT units held - without balloting.

And now I am going after its plantation IPO.

The name Boustead itself gives a sense of confidence for me when looking at how the company Boustead Holdings Berhad (Bstead) stock has risen in values over the years. The last closing price on Friday 25 April was 5.56 and currently volatile due to the impending removal of its plantation arm for the new listing.

Lembaga  Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT)-linked Boustead Holdings Berhad, listed on Bursa is involved in businesses of the following sectors: Plantation ,property pharmaceutical,heavy industries, trading & industrial and finance and investment.

To unlock the value of its plantation business, Boustead has decided to list it separately (removing 18 plantation companies from Boustead Holdings Berhad). The indicative price is said to be 1.60 subject to bookbuilding by  AffinBank. So far I am made to understand that the majority of its 580 million new offers of shares are allocated to existing Bstead's shareholders and directors and those of the delisted BDSReit. There are no cornerstone investors as yet. A small proportion (64 million) is allocated to the Malaysian public via balloting.

I used to have several plantation stocks during their heydays before the global financial crisis in 2008: THPlant,Sarawak Plantation,Kwantas,MHC and Unico. I held them for far too long and  as a result made great losses on all those except for THPlant in 2009. It's water under the bridge now. I had wanted to purchase one plantation stock to add excitement to  my portfolio last year but missed the opportunity due to packed commitments. By that time, my target stock (giving generous dividend) THPlant has risen from 1.60 to 2.00.

And so I thought this is another opportunity to own a plantation stock and ride with the current good crude palm oil prices.

The Boustead Plantation Bhd IPO is not launched yet but I would not like to miss the opportunity to compensate for my previous specific losses on those plantation stocks and this time I have to be more aware of factors affecting the crude palm oil (CPO) prices such as rating agency's evaluation of the industry,  production, consumption, "greenie" attacks and competition from other vegetable oil like soya.

Even if I am not successful in my IPO application, I will buy the shares on the open market. And this is when you have to gauge the stock performance on post-listing. A lot may have to do with luck, though, beside good knowledge on the company: one way is through reading its prospectus. And of course, the CPO price factor, which even if it's high may not be reflected in the stock price.

All said, stock market is a playground for people who are not averse to taking risks, and either way, will take it in their stride and move on.

An Update on Boustead Plantation (BPLANT) IPO timetable:

Last day of IPO application : 11 June 2014 at 5pm
Balloting date : 16 June
Allotment of shares to successful applicants : 24 June
Tentative Listing : 26 June, Thursday

Julio Iglesias - Historia de un amor ( A Love Story)

A classic song and sensuously delivered by Julio Iglesias. Sensitive, tender and relaxing. The song is about a man's old love written by Panamanian songwriter Carlos Eleta Almarán . I enjoy listening to the melody and the beautiful Latin voice and the sounds of those lyrics.

Music can be therapeutic to the mind.

Tuberculosis - Unnecessary Spread Through Poor History Taking

Last week a 37-year old woman came all the way from a district to the city in search of a "cure" for her malady. The night before she saw me, she had gone to one of  Klinik 1 Malaysia nearby for breathlessness and she was nebulised ( given a bronchodilator through a spray pump). Normally patients are given this treatment to alleviate their asthmatic attacks.

This poor woman gave a long history of coughs (more than five months). She had gone to the district hospital a couple of times and getting no relief, she started to medicate herself, buying over the counter (OTC) medicine apart from  seeking traditional treatment.

Her relatives brought her to the city when her condition deteriorated with severe breathlessness. Upon questioning, it was revealed that she coughed badly and occasionally her sputum was blood-streaked. She has evening fever and excessive sweating and her weight has drastically declined. Physical examination revealed reduced air entry on her left lung with fine crackles on auscultation but no wheezing was heard. And there are enlarged lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) on the left neck area ( posterior triangle). All classic signs and symptoms of tuberculosis.

This is the patient's Chest XRay- her left lung is
virtually consolidated with a very small unaffected apical area.
The right lung is over expanded to compensate for affected breathing function of the left lung.

The next thing to do was a chest X-ray and sputum test for acid fast bacilli ( Mycobacterium tuberculosis- the germs causing this preventable disease). Her chest xray shows widespread consolidation of the left lung with a tiny area of respirable lung tissues. The sputum was positive for the bacteria.

The question is how many persons has this lady infected over all those months that she was not detected? She had had contact with a health facility last February 2014 on two occasions and yet was not diagnosed.

A colleague opined that the case was due to a low index of suspicion but for me it was more likely due to poor history taking and worst still if it was a case of pure laziness on the case of the health worker to take the history. It could be a case of " What is your complaint?" and the timid patient would have replied "coughs" and the doctor proceeded to prescribe a cough medicine and dismissed the woman without going into the nature,character and duration of the symptom.

The woman is put on an anti-TB treatment but the extensiveness of the infection on her right lung would affect the prognosis and as a result, her morbidity and impact on her family and economic contribution.

As TB is a notifiable communicable disease, Public Health  service  would have to trace all her contacts and test them and given treatment should any found to be positive.

TB is still a public health problem in Malaysia particularly in areas where there are many immigrants, legal and illegal.

Respiratory Virus - MERS-CoV has landed in Malaysia- The First Death in Asia

The first case of death due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus , MERS-CoV has been reported in Malaysia. According to the Ministry of Health, Malaysia's statement, the victim is a 54 year old man who went to Mecca for Umrah (pilgrimage) and returned to Malaysia, using a Turkish airline on 29 March 2014. He started to have signs and symptoms of respiratory disease on 8 to 9 April and as these deteriorated, he was admitted to a hospital in Batu Pahat, Johor on 10 April and expired three days ago on 13 April. The first reported death due to the virus in Asia.

MERS CoV and Distribution of Cases since 2012 with most detected in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of health has put on a public health alert on this potentially fatal disease.

The virus was first detected in 2012 in Middle-eastern countries ( I posted in my blog earlier) . It causes similar signs and symptoms to the dreaded SARS (severe acute respiratory syndromes) and its origin is believed to be from animals such as bats and camels. The disease can be transmitted through close contact. The frightening thing about this disease is that it kills about 50% of reported cases (high case fatality rate) and it has no vaccine. And there are no medications against it. For a more detailed information on this disease you can visit the CDC Atlanta website .

All close contacts of the case would have been investigated. But like all other diseases caused by viruses, they show a spectrum: some are very ill, some have mild disease while other cases may not show the signs and symptoms, in fact they appear well but may carry the virus (known as carriers) and could transmit to others through their body fluid. You might like to read this report from Manila on a health worker tested positive for the virus but has not shown symptoms. This is the part which is causing problems or anxiety to public health so we must all do our part by being overcautious through awareness,good personal hygiene and knowledge of the disease.