Singapore Stocks to Watch: Olam Group, Trek 2000

Olam Group: Olam Agri has secured a US$2 billion bridge financing facility to support the reorganisation plan of its parent, Olam Group, the grains and animal feed trader said on Monday (Dec 5).

Agri-business giant Olam Group announced its reorganisation plan in January 2020 to categorise its products under two operating businesses, with an intention to potentially spin out each unit and list them separately.

It has since secured multiple loans including a US$2.9 billion facility in August for refinancing its existing loans.

The 18-month bridge loan facility may also be used for general corporate purposes, Olam Agri said.

“This transaction gives Olam Agri significant financial flexibility while Olam Group continues on its reorganisation pathway,” said Olam Group CFO N Muthukumar.

In August, Olam Group posted a marginal rise in net profit for the first half of fiscal 2022, as a weak performance in its food ingredients unit partially countered strength in the Olam Agri business.

Trek 2000: TREK 2000 International’s former chief financial officer Gurcharan Singh has been sentenced to 11 months’ jail and fined S$20,000 for falsifying accounts, forgery and not disclosing interested party transactions.

Singh was convicted of eight charges on Monday (Dec 5), with nine other similar charges taken into account in sentencing him.

This comes after Trek 2000’s : 5AB 0% founder Henn Tan and fomer executive director Poo Teng Pin were convicted of charges in related conspiracies. Tan was sentenced to 16 months’ jail in October, while Poo received nine months.

Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department revealed that in 2011, mainboard-listed Trek 2000 – known for inventing the thumb drive – had entered into seven transactions valued at approximately US$2.79 million with T-Data Systems. The sole shareholder of T-Data is the wife of Trek 2000’s Poo, which makes T-Data an interested party in relation to Trek 2000.

However, Trek 2000 “recklessly failed to make the necessary disclosures”, and this failure was attributable to Singh’s neglect, among other things, the Singapore police said in a statement on Monday. “Singh knew that T-Data was an interested person but did not take any steps to get Trek 2000 to make the necessary disclosures,” the police said.