Tanco tanks as MD sells shares, brother snaps them up

KUALA LUMPUR (June 10): The sharp fall in Tanco Holdings Bhd’s (KL:TANCO) share price did not stop group managing director Datuk Seri Andrew Tan Jun Suan from buying and selling its shares.

Its bourse filing showed that Jun Suan sold 24.63 million shares or a 0.41% equity stake in a direct business transaction on Tuesday as Tanco’s share price hit limit-down for the second consecutive day.

The shares changed hands at RM1.555, valuing the block at RM38.29 million.

Notably, the transaction price of RM1.555 was 44.5 sen, or 40%, higher compared with the intra-day’s peak of RM1.11. Tanco closed at 80 sen on Tuesday, down 32 sen or 28.6%, with some 77.96 million shares traded.

Jun Suan’s direct interest in Tanco stands at 18.73%, while his indirect stake — held via his investment vehicle TJN Capital Sdn Bhd — stands at 34.62% after the latest share sale.

While Jun Suan managed to sell at a large premium over market price, his younger brother Edwin Tan Kium Suan bought shares at the intra-day low of 78.5 sen.

In a separate filing, Kium Suan bought 7.64 million shares for an estimated RM6 million at 78.5 sen on Tuesday. He is an executive director at two of Tanco’s subsidiaries.

On Tuesday, Tanco extended its losses from a day earlier as it fell as much as 33.5 sen or 30% to 78.5 sen, before closing at 80 sen with 77.96 million shares changing hands.

Some RM6 billion has been erased from the loss-making Tanco over the past four trading days as its share price fell from RM1.76 on June 3. Its market value has shrunk to RM4.91 billion.

Before the stock fell off a cliff, its share price had rallied for more than two years. The stock climbed from the 25 sen-level in early 2024 to a peak of RM1.76 earlier this month (June 3), giving it a market capitalisation of RM10.8 billion then.

The share price rally raised the question of a disconnection between Tanco’s share price and its financials. AskEdge data shows Tanco trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 741.4 times, its highest compared to its historical valuation in recent years. Its price-to-net asset value ratio is also at its highest at 18 multiples.

Tanco posted a net profit of RM6.7 million, or 0.07 sen per share, for the nine months ended March 31, 2026 on higher revenue of RM122 million.

New MOU inked

While the investing public awaits the latest update on its AI container port project in Port Dickson, Tanco announced its exploration in data centre development.

In a separate filing, Tanco said its indirectly-owned subsidiary Tanco Dot Com Sdn Bhd signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China Mobile International Ltd (CMI) to explore the development and construction of a 50 megawatt IT-load data centre in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

CMI is based in Hong Kong, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile Ltd, principally engaged in the telecommunications giant’s international operations, Tanco noted in its bourse filing.

Tanco has been hit by Bursa Malaysia’s queries since April 2026, when it received its first unusual market activity (UMA) query of the year following a sharp surge in its share price. On Monday (June 8), Bursa issued another query after the stock tumbled nearly 30%.

Tanco’s response was that it had ongoing discussions and negotiations, but an announcement would only be made once matters have been finalised and confirmed.

Jun Suan’s share dealings have long drawn market attention, with his daily trading patterns showing frequent buying and selling of shares that have resulted in minor changes to his overall shareholding. Between May 28 and June 9, Tan acquired 17.83 million shares while disposing a total of 35.25 million shares.

The new MOU comes alongside other Port Dickson developments from Tanco as the group proposed up to RM250 million in financial assistance to its joint venture with Menteri Besar Negeri Sembilan (Incorporated) for the acquisition of land and first-phase development of the Port Dickson Free Zone (PDFZ), an industrial park to be built on approximately 575 acres of land acquired from SD Guthrie Bhd (KL:SDG), according to a filing on May 29.

On April 23, Tanco had revised the commercial structure of its proposed smart AI container port in Port Dickson, replacing an earlier long-term lease arrangement with a port development concession model covering about 180 acres of submerged land in Dickson Bay. The EPCC (engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning) contract for the seaport component was awarded to a unit of China Communications Construction Company, and has an indicative contract value of RM3.53 billion.

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