MTQ Corporation Limited

[Musicwhiz]

CEO Kuah Kok Kim bought another 93,000 shares from open market at 0.72/share on 17/3.

It is indeed a pleasant surprise to note that CEO Kuah Kok Kim has started to purchase shares (in his own name) in MTQ. A purchase of 93,000 shares was made at $0.72 on March 17, 2010, exactly 7 months after his last purchase which was made on August 17, 2009 at $0.685.

His current shareholdings now stand at 22,474,000 shares or 25.52% of the Company.

Note too that this is the first time that the CEO had purchased shares above the $0.70 mark, as all other documented purchases were in the range of $0.65 to $0.68; and this comes after the announcement of the M&A in Northern Australia and 4 months after the deal and tie-up with Bosch to form Bosch Superstores.

Could this be a sign of continued confidence in MTQ's future prospects? :D

[millionairemind]

Here's a chart from your equal opportunity chart uploader

Still in consolidation... nothing exciting yet on the chart.

[Musicwhiz]

Hmm, charts may not be required or reliable in this case as the liquidity is much too low to draw out any meaningful inferences.

To me, the CEO buying means it's an indication that he feels the Company is going to do well in future, or he really really enjoys the yield on the shares!

[tonylim]

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/ ... penelement

[tonylim]

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/ ... penelement

[Musicwhiz]

I was somewhat surprised when I saw the announcement. I had no idea the construction of the new facility would be in two phases, and that MTQ had only awarded the contract so recently.

So Phase 1 will take up about US$9.6 million or S$13.44 million. According to the numbers in the Balance Sheet Sep 30, 2009, and based on their recurring FCF, I was thinking MTQ should be able to fund the entire 1st Phase just purely using internal cash flows and cash reserves, and would not have to draw on bank loans (yet). Of course, they may go for short-term loans to boost their cash flow as their cash probably needs to be deployed for working capital to build up their Engine Systems Division, after all the recent news about MTQES' expansion plans.

This does beg the question, however, of whether MTQ will reduce the final dividend for the upcoming FY 2010 ended March 31, 2010 due to their requirements to channel/funnel some of the cash into:-

1) Building up MTQES' operations in North Australia, as well as to provide support in terms of capex for the Bosch Superstores;

2) Divert part of the cash hoard and recurrent cash flows to capex for the new Bahrain Facility Phase 1 and,

3) Reserving more cash to put down the deposit and subsequent progress payments for the planned Phase 2 of the Bahrain Development, which will be awarded in 2011.

With the 3 events above, there is a significant chance of a dividend reduction from last year's 2c per share to probably 1c per share, or even less, depending on their cash flow requirements and their cash reserves as at March 31, 2010.

One possible boost to their cash flows would be the Bosch Superstores, which has been in operation since November 1, 2009 and would have contributed to 4 months of increased revenues and cash flows for MTQ for FY 2010. If we assume that the Chairman's optimism is justified, and that MTQES is receiving a significant boost to sales and also net margins, then recurrent cash flows will also be boosted. Hence, the Group may be able to sustain their dividend payout even in the presence of heavy capital commitments from both their divisions Oilfield Engineering and Engine Systems.

So I guess the final verdict will rest upon the performance of the MTQES division for the last 4 months, as well as the resilience of the Oilfield Engineering business in the last 6 months since results were announced in Nov 2009.

On a side note, I also feel that MTQ's press release mentions about Tatweer Petroleum building up Bahrain's oil field in 20 years, and this may be construed as being a little too positive as there is still a lot of uncertainty as to whether MTQ can really capture the "lion's share" of the pie. Recall that there were about 3-4 competitors in the Gulf region which MTQ mentioned in Jan 2009 in their interview with NextInsight, and I believe these competitors should already be firmly entrenched within the region and thus will have their own base of customers to serve. It will be a challenge for MTQ to muscle in and wrest some market share away from the incumbents. It will be good to know what market share these competitors are currently occupying, and whether the pie is growing larger for all players which may eventually invite new entrants to also set up shop to compete against MTQ. Although MTQ's business is considered "niche", in the Gulf where oil is plentiful, it may not be so "niche" after all.......

[tonylim]

MW,

Well said.

[Musicwhiz]

This was announced during today's lunch break. From the computations, a gain of A$568,000 will be recognized upon successful completion and execution of the S&P Agreement. This translates to about S$727,000 (using A$1 = S$1.28) and should be recognized in FY 2011 ending March 31, 2011.

SALE OF LAND AND PROPERTY IN AUSTRALIA BY MTQ ENGINE SYSTEMS (AUST) PTY LTD

The Directors of MTQ Corporation Limited (“Company” or “MTQ”) hereby announce that its Australian
subsidiary, MTQ Engine Systems (Aust) Pty Ltd (“MTQES”) has entered into a Sale Agreement to sell off
its premises at 32 Raynham Street, Salisbury, Queensland on 12 April 2010.

The transaction was completed on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.

Rationale of Disposal

As part of MTQES continuous effort to increase operational efficiency through regular reviews, it was
decided that the Salisbury site was not optimised to support the level of business activities. In addition,
the aging conditions of the building pose health and environmental challenges, making the upkeep of the
premises uneconomical.

As a result, MTQES has streamlined its business operations, including shifting all of its support functions,
which were previously house in a separate location, under one roof since July 2009 and put the Salisbury
site for sale in the open market.

Consideration

MTQES has reached an agreement to sell the Salisbury site to some private investors for a consideration
of A$975,000 (Nine Hundred Seventy Five Thousand Australian Dollars), less agent fees. The Written
Down Value of the land and building was approximately A$407,000 (Four Hundred and Seven Thousand
Australian Dollars) as at 31 March 2010.

The transaction will be settled by cash in full upon completion.

Relative figures under Listing Rule 1006

The acquisition is not a discloseable transaction under Chapter 10 of the Listing Manual.

Interests of Directors and controlling shareholders

Mr. Kuah Kok Kim is a controlling shareholder of MTQ and a director of MTQES. Save aforesaid or
through their respective shareholdings in MTQ, none of the Directors of the Company has any direct or
indirect interest in the aforesaid investment. The Directors are not aware of any substantial shareholder
having any interest, direct or indirect, in the investment and have not received any notification of interest
in the investment from any substantial shareholders.

By Order of the Board

MTQ CORPORATION LIMITED
Fong Choon Seng
Company Secretary

14 April 2010

[tonylim]

ANNOUNCEMENT OF APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER


01-07-2010
Name of Person* KUAH BOON WEE
Age * 43
Country of principal residence * Singapore
The Board's comments on this appointment (including rationale, selection criteria, and the search and nomination process) * As part of the Group’s succession planning, Mr. Kuah Kok Kim has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Mr. Kuah Boon Wee has been appointed as the new CEO. The Board is of the opinion that with Mr. Kuah Boon Wee’s many years of senior management experience in several major companies notably PSA International and ST Engineering, plus his participation as a board member of MTQ Corporation Limited, for the preceding 3 years, he is well placed to lead the Group in its next phase of development. Subsequent to his appointment as CEO, Mr. Kuah Boon Wee will be re-designated as Executive Director.
Whether appointment is executive, and if so, the area of responsibility * Executive, accountable to the Board of Directors for the overall performance of the Group's business operations and strategic planning.

Job Title (e.g. Lead ID, AC Chairman, AC Member etc.) Chief Executive Officer
Working experience and occupation(s) during the past 10 years * From March 2004 to date, Mr Kuah has been working for PSA International Pte Ltd, a leading global port operator. From January 2007 to February 2010, he was the CEO of PSA Southeast Asia & Singapore Terminals, during a period when Singapore Terminals achieved the title of ‘World’s Busiest Container Port’ every year. He was also responsible for developing PSA’s interests in Vietnam and Thailand. He joined as Group Chief Financial Officer, where he was responsible for the Group’s world-wide finance functions, including financial management and treasury. In recent months, he was the CEO of PSA Middle East & South Asia, looking after the Group’s business interests in that region.

From December 2001 to March 2004, Mr Kuah was the Chief Financial Officer of ST Engineering, a major listed company on the SGX. He had overall responsibility of the finance functions for the defence and engineering conglomerate.

Prior to that, Mr Kuah worked as a senior finance executive of Jardine Matheson & Co, Ltd. He served as Finance Director of Hongkong Land Holding Limited, a property investment company listed on the SGX from 2000 to 2001.

[kennynah]

Mr. Kuah Kok Kim has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") and Mr. Kuah Boon Wee has been appointed as the new CEO

i wonder...if these 2 Kuahs (punt intended) are related???

if so....as i've always said... so much for public listed family run companies...