Sapura Energy’s RCLs to MoF a surprise move

PETALING JAYA: Sapura Energy Bhd’s issuance of redeemable convertible loan stocks (RCLs) to the Ministry of Finance Inc (MoF) at RM0.024 per share, or RM0.48 per consolidated share has come as a surprise.

In a report, BIMB Securities Sdn Bhd opined that the dilution impact is greater than what was thought, for the RCLs will be roughly at a 40% discount to market price.

The research house noted that management of the upstream oil and gas (O&G) contractor had stated there were two main reasons to justify the favourable pricing to the government – the need to encourage the government to fully subscribe to the RCLs and the urgent funding requirement.

“Consequently, MoF is expected to be a majority shareholder of the company with a stake of 37.7% while the multi-currency financing financiers will hold 47.2%,” the report said.

On Wednesday, Sapura Energy announced its regularisation plan to exit the Practice Note 17 status.

The plan included a number of strategies including proposed capital reduction and share consolidation of 20 shares into one consolidated share, a proposed debt restructuring to reduce its borrowings from RM10.8bil to RM5.6bil, and the proposed fund-raising from MoF amounting to RM1.1bil.

The O&G contractor has also embarked on a reset plan, focused on improving bidding and project delivery capabilities.

The plan has resulted in a sustained annual revenue of RM4bil since its launch in 2022.

The research house said while there are no changes to the regularisation plan as guided by the management, the regularisation plan has provided some clarity in terms of granular details of its turnaround plan.

To recap, the shareholder’s equity position was in deficit of RM3.6bil as of January 2025.