RANHILL UTILITIES AMONG MOST ACTIVE STOCKS AFTER STAKE BUY BY YTL POWER

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Ranhill Utilities Bhd has been among the top most active counters on Bursa Malaysia following the stake acquisition by YTL Power International Bhd (YTLP).

MIDF Research said in a note that YTLP has emerged as a substantial shareholder in Ranhill following the acquisition of an 18.87 per cent stake in the latter.

It was understood that the 18.87 per cent block was acquired from Cheval Infrastructure, which in turn is expected to cease to be a shareholder of Ranhill, it said.

"Our quick channel checks suggest this is a strategic investment decision for YTLP as it sees good assets within the Ranhill group such as its exclusive rights to the Johor water supply and the Sabah power sector exposure. 

"Ranhill has been building exposure in the renewable energy (RE) sector via its soon-to-be operationalised 50 megawatt (MW) large scale solar 4 (LSS4) plant and is actively looking to expand its presence in this space," it said.

MIDF Research said YTLP is similarly building its presence in Johor and RE via its upcoming 72MW data centre (Phase 1) and 500MW solar farm in Kulai. 

YTLP has also indicated interest to participate in RE exports to Singapore, pending finalisation of the RE export framework by the government.

"Entry of a large multinational utility as YTLP into Ranhill speaks volumes of the value in the latter. 

"We re-affirm our 'buy' call on Ranhill with an unchanged target price of 80 sen," it said.

At 10.18 am, Ranhill's share price rose 6.5 sen to 80 sen on Bursa Malaysia, with 42.98 million shares traded.

-- BERNAMA