UIS   

UIS' major shareholder (Laxey Partners) seeks EGM

Any shareholders here?

 

 

If any of you are (disgruntled) shareholders in United International Securities please email:

andrew.pegge@laxeypartners.com

for a chance to air your concerns to someone who does give a damn.

 

So does........ United food holding (unifood)! They are both in food industry activities!

Laulan      ( Date: 30-Jun-2010 14:55) Posted: Another example of price below asset I know of is, PSC Corp.  Directors better be careful of a call for EGM.  Also many others should be wary of being questioned on why perhaps hidden skeletons? baberic      ( Date: 30-Jun-2010 14:44) Posted: Actually we can understand a shareholder's plight when his share price is traded way below the company's net asset.  So many Singapore stocks are experiencing this.  Something is sure to be wrong somewhere.  People mus talk and reason why. Is it the shortists refuse to let prices move up because no people willing to sell lower (at a lost)?  Must really meditate on it.

 

Does that mean ? ? ? ?

SINGAPORE's Financial Governance Standard is belOw PAR ? ? ? ?

hOw can SiNGAPORE ever becOme  ASIA  REGiONAL FiNCANCiAL  CENTRE ? ? ? ?

WAiT  lOng lOng lOng lOng ? ? ? ?

 

Another example of price below asset I know of is, PSC Corp.  Directors better be careful of a call for EGM.  Also many others should be wary of being questioned on why perhaps hidden skeletons?

baberic      ( Date: 30-Jun-2010 14:44) Posted: Actually we can understand a shareholder's plight when his share price is traded way below the company's net asset.  So many Singapore stocks are experiencing this.  Something is sure to be wrong somewhere.  People mus talk and reason why. Is it the shortists refuse to let prices move up because no people willing to sell lower (at a lost)?  Must really meditate on it.

 

Actually we can understand a shareholder's plight when his share price is traded way below the company's net asset.  So many Singapore stocks are experiencing this.  Something is sure to be wrong somewhere.  People mus talk and reason why. Is it the shortists refuse to let prices move up because no people willing to sell lower (at a lost)?  Must really meditate on it.

 

UIS defends its corporate governance ...

In response to calls by Laxey Partners to look into its independence

Jo-ann Huang

joannhuang@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE

This was in response to calls by United Kingdom-based hedge fund Laxey Partners, a major shareholder of UIS with a stake of over 10 per cent, that UIS’ board of directors should look into its independence and corporate governance.

In a statement to MediaCorp yesterday, UIS said that it is “subject to the Code of Corporate Governance and has fulfilled the requirements of the Code as to independence”.

It added that it also has on its board “several eminent persons, including Mr Wee Cho Yaw, chairman of UOB, whose reputation is well known in financial circles”.

Mr Andrew Pegge, chief executive officer of Laxey Partners, alleges that with four out of seven directors on UIS’ board linked to UOB and given the bank’s controlling stake in the fund, this may result in a “conflict of interest in terms of the fund’s management”.

Mr Pegge believes UOB holds a sway over the fund’s management direction and the bank’s stronghold over the board may block its efforts to reduce the discount in the fund’s share price to its net asset value (NAV) which is estimated to be about 20 per cent.

“We believe that we and all shareholders should be given the chance to exit at NAV,” said Mr Pegge.

UOB Asset Management is the appointed manager of the fund, which has interests in sectors such as financials, industrials and consumer goods.

The fund made a turnover of $71.6 million last year.

In a separate filing with the Singapore Exchange yesterday, UIS has also rejected Laxey’s requisition for another EGM which sought to remove four of UIS directors, which includes Mr Wee and UOB chief executive Wee Ee Cheong.

UIS also refuted Laxey’s claims and pointed out that the current board of directors were voted in by its shareholders.

With their 1 per cent management fee and higher-than averagedividend yield, most of their longterm investors have not had major objections to the fund’s management style, they added.

Based on its current share price of $1.35, the fund is producing an annualised yield of 4.4 per cent down from nearly 10 per cent in 2008, as a result of its exposure to the recent financial crisis.

* * * * * * * *

We believe that we and all shareholders should be given the chance to exit at NAV (net asset value).

Mr Andrew Pegge,

CEO of Laxey Partners

* * * * * * * *—Mainboard-listed United International Securities (UIS), a closed-end fund which is 49 per cent owned by United Overseas Bank (UOB), defended its corporate governance track record yesterday and maintained that its shareholders have supported its management strategy.

 

 

29-Jun-2010 17:31:05   

REPLY TO RAFFLES NOMINEES (PTE) LTD IN RESPECT OF THE REQUISITION FOR EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING  

http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/AnnouncementLast3MonthsByCompanyNameAndCategory/A25BCD43AAB4949B48257750003A1778?opendocument

 

 

 

 

Published December 31, 2009

EGM WATCH

UIS directors defend fund's structure Some shareholders had sought solution to narrow NAV, share price gap By JAMIE LEE

Terence Ong: 'You don't have to worry about redemption, you don't have to be forced to sell...'

 

 

 

THE board of United International Securities (UIS) yesterday defended the merits of the fund's closed-end structure and also dealt with other criticisms from shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called last month by institutional shareholder Laxey Partners.

 



Laxey, a European hedge fund that manages about US$1 billion in assets, was unhappy over the discount to the fund's net asset value (NAV) at which the company's shares were trading at. The discount then was about 20 per cent.

A proxy shareholder, Mano Sabnani, asked if the fund can be converted into a unit trust so that shareholders can exit at the NAV instead of 'perpetually trading at a discount'.

In mutual funds, managers issue units or shares which can usually be bought or sold at the funds' present NAV per share.

This would be 'a perfect solution', said the head of Laxey, who could not attend the meeting yesterday.

'I don't see any reason why this fund should remain closed-end,' Laxey's chief executive Andrew Pegge told BT separately.

The drastic cut in dividend payout in fiscal 2008 drew some criticism.

'It's full of liquid assets such as large blue-chip companies and UK government bonds. It's got a portfolio that you could sell in a blink of an eyelid,' he said.

But the UIS board - chaired by UOB chairman Wee Cho Yaw - argued that the fund is suitable for long-term investors looking to get dividends based on a payout ratio.

'You don't have to worry about redemption, you don't have to be forced to sell when everyone is panic selling,' director Terence Ong told more than 60 shareholders at the EGM.

'That's what happened to many open-end funds.'

But the drastic cut in dividend payout in fiscal 2008 drew some criticism.

The fund had slashed its dividend payout by 89 per cent to 1.15 cents per share in 2008 from 10.25 cents per share in 2007.

Still, Mr Ong noted that the fund followed a consistent payout ratio of about two-thirds its profits and that UIS' profits had fallen prey to the financial crisis.

In 2008, its post-tax profit slumped 89.5 per cent to $3.41 million from $32.5 million a year ago.

Other shareholders also pressed for benchmarks to measure UIS performance, which offered a total return of 8.26 per cent - including the dividend payout - over the last 10 years, above the 10-year return of 2.79 per cent from the Straits Times Index.

But Mr Sabnani asked why despite the bull run between 2004 and 2007, the fund's NAV rose just 22 per cent over the same period.

UIS investment manager Thio Boon Kiat said the fund's performance is measured against quarterly targets set by the board and against those of unit trusts traded here, but that these were presented internally.

Against suggestions by some shareholders, Mr Ong rejected the use of share buybacks to cut the discount of the share price to the NAV, noting that the buyback scheme is for capital management and not to support the market.

Some shareholders, including Laxey, also asked why they had received their circular late. Mr Pegge said he was unable to attend because Laxey's Singapore custodian only got the notice on Dec 22.

A UIS spokesperson told BT that the EGM had been called in the week leading up to the New Year as the company would like shareholders to consider the matter as soon as possible.

The company will investigate the complaint by some shareholders that they had received the notices late, she said.

The resolution to narrow the discount between the share price and the NAV was not carried, with about 83 per cent of rejection votes polled.

 

 

Date & Time of Broadcast	30-Dec-2009 18:33:13
Announcement No.	00131

Result of UIS Extraordinary General Meeting ("EGM")  

United International Securities Limited (the "Company") wishes to announce that both Resolution 1 and Resolution 2 as set out in the Company's Notice of EGM dated 14 December 2009 were not approved at the EGM held on 30 December 2009.

http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/AnnouncementToday/FE70AF6DABA7B4404825769C00341B0D?opendocument

 

 

http://www.laxeypartners.com/UIS/

30 December 2009

 

 

Business Times - 27 Nov 2009 UIS shareholder calls for EGM over share price Hedge fund Laxey wants steps taken to reduce discount to NAV By JAMIE LEE

UNITED International Securities (UIS), a closed-end fund controlled by United Overseas Bank (UOB), has come under pressure from an institutional investor over the discount to net asset value at which the shares are trading.

 



UIS said yesterday that substantial shareholder Laxey Partners, a European hedge fund, has called for an extraordinary general meeting.

One resolution proposed calls for UIS directors to 'take all steps as may be necessary to reduce the discount to net asset value at which the company's ordinary shares are presently trading'.

Shares of UIS closed a cent lower at $1.33 yesterday. The stock - which has risen 24 per cent over the last one year - is trading at a discount of 21.3 per cent to its net asset value of $1.69 as at Nov 25.

Laxey, which holds about 20.3 million UIS shares or a stake of more than 10 per cent, made the request through a nominee for two separate units of Credit Suisse that are Laxey's prime broker and custodian.

The meeting is expected to be convened within two months. UIS said it has noted the requisition and will make further announcements in due course.

UOB has a stake of about 44 per cent in UIS. The latter holds a diversified portfolio of equity and fixed income investments in parts of Asia, the United States, Australia and Germany, Bloomberg data showed.

This is not the first time Laxey has been unhappy with the discount to the net asset value. In 2007, it similarly called for a meeting to see proposals that will 'substantially and permanently reduce the discount to net asset value at which the company's shares trade in the market'.

UIS posted net profit of $5.65 million for the third quarter ended September, compared to $137,000 a year ago. Net profit for the nine months was $14.9 million, compared to $13 million a year ago, due to foreign exchange gains and lower losses on trading securities.

 

 

 

Business Times - 26 Nov 2009


UIS' major shareholder seeks EGM

By ANGELA TAN

United International Securities Limited on Thursday said it has received the request from Raffles Nominees (Pte) Ltd to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), asking directors to take steps to improve the share price.

'That directors of the company take all steps as may be necessary to reduce the discount to net asset value at which the company's ordinary shares are presently trading,' Raffles Nominees wrote the letter.

It is writing as nominees for Credit Suisse Securities Europe Ltd and Credit Suisse LLC, acting solely in the capacity as prime broker and custodian to Laxey Partners Ltd and being holders of more than 10 per cent of UIS.

It is asking for the EGM to be held within 2 months on receipt of the letter.

Listed since November 1978 on the SGX mainboard, UIS -- whose chairman is veteran banker, Wee Cho Yaw, is engaged in investment trading with its asset mix consisting of equity, bonds, loan stocks and unit trusts.

UIS ended at $1.33, down 1 cent on Thursday.

 

REQUISITION FOR EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING  

26-Nov-2009 18:34:20

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/VwAttachments/Att_3C6E22164B8898D44825767A0036C5B6/$file/UISANN_NoticeOfRequisitionOfEGM.pdf?openelement

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/VwAttachments/Att_3C6E22164B8898D44825767A0036C5B6/$file/LaxeyPartners-Requisition_ltr-24Nov09.pdf?openelement