Lian Beng Group and Jason Marine see buying activity from top management

Ong Pang Aik, managing director of construction and property firm Lian Beng Group, snapped up 610,000 shares in his company at 51.5 to 52 cents each from May 27 to June 6. This raises his direct stake to 4.14%.

Lian Beng announced in April that it had secured two construction projects, which boosted its order book to a record $1.09 billion. Both contracts are for Oxley Holdings. The first project is the construction of a multiple- user light industrial development comprising a nine-storey factory building, canteen and other facilities on a land site straddling Sunview Road, Jalan Buroh and Pio neer Road. Construction began that month and will take 24 months to complete, says the company. The second project has a three- and seven-storey building on Tampines Industrial Crescent.

Lian Beng is partnering Kim Seng Heng Realty and TEE International in the development of an office building at 160 Changi Road, with a land area of 17,974 sq ft and a plot ratio of three. They acquired the site in April for $68 million. The redevelopment will comprise office and retail components. Lian Beng has a 30% stake in the project.

For the nine months ended February, Lian Beng posted earnings of $30.1 million, a 25.7% fall year-onyear, while revenues stood at $350.7 million, a 5.1% increase. Lian Beng shares closed at 53 cents apiece on June 12.

Meanwhile, Eugene Wong, a director at Jason Marine Group, saw his indirect stake in the company raised to 2.83% when a venture capital firm acquired 200,000 shares on May 27 and 28. Wong is the founder and managing director of Sirius Venture Consulting. He is also a non-executive director of Japan Foods.

Jason Marine is the provider of marine communications and navigation systems. It posted $0.6 million in earnings for the financial year ended March, on the back of revenue of $37.9 million.

The company reversed a loss of $1.9 million in the first six months of the financial year, to earnings of $2.4 million in the next six months. Jason Marine closed at 14 cents on June 12.

In other trades, Chew Hua Seng, founder and CEO of Raffles Education Corp, purchased 500,000 shares in his company at 32 cents apiece on June 10. This raises his direct stake to 32.2%.

In March, the company announced that it was setting up Raffles University in Sri Lanka, a joint venture with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka. The investment costs $25 million and is spread over five years. The university is its newest addition to the four tertiary institutions it has established in Australia, China, India and Malaysia.

For the three months ended March, Raffles Education reported $31.5 million in revenues, down from $36 million one year ago, as well as earnings of $4.2 million, up from $0.2 million in losses a year earlier. Raffles Education also announced an issuance of medium-term notes of $150 million in an effort to repay short-term debt and for long-term investment. Raffles Education shares closed at 31.5 cents on June 12.