WBL

WBL: Chairman Ng Ser Miang was ousted from the Board at Tuesday’s AGM, led by key investor Straits Trading which holds a 20% interest.
Veteran director Cham Tao Soon, has also stepped down, while independent and non-executive Director, Dr Ser Wee was also not re-elected.
Straits Trading has appointed its own lieutenants, Norman Ip as the new Chairman, and Mark Greaves as non-independent and non-executive director.

WBL has experienced few corporate changes over the past years, with group revenue having stagnated as well. Could the mgt changes signal an intention for the group to embark on a more aggressive growth profile?

Separately, WBL’s US-listed subsidiary, Multi-Fineline Electronix announced prelim financial results for 1QFY12 that exceed the high end of mgt’s previous guidance range, as the supply chain shortages from the flooding in Thailand improved throughout the quarter. The co also saw an increase in shipments to its largest key customer. This may pave the way for WBL to report a more sanguine set of results (estimated out on 14 Feb).

WBL trades at 8.5x P/E, 0.8x P/B, 3.4% yield.
The stock is up 1% at $2.93. We highlight the pick up in volume over the past 2 days, on this otherwise illiquid counter.