World’s biggest asset manager BlackRock is now Yangzijiang Shipbuilding substantial shareholder

BlackRock, which manages over US$10 trillion in assets, acquires 10.8 million shares of maritime vessel maker to raise its deemed interest to over 5%

ASSET manager BlackRock is Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s latest substantial shareholder, the maritime vessel maker announced in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Jan 7).

The filing stated that BlackRock on Jan 3 acquired 10.8 million shares of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding for an unknown amount of consideration.

With the purchase, BlackRock’s deemed interest in Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was lifted to about 203.2 million shares or a stake of 5.14 per cent, from about 192.5 million shares or a stake of 4.87 per cent previously.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was one of the top performing stocks on the Singapore Exchange in 2024, delivering total returns of 100.7 per cent.

In its latest financial statements, the company posted a net profit of 3.1 billion yuan (S$553.7 million) for the six months ended Jun 30, 2024. This was an increase of 77.2 per cent from the year-ago period.

This translated to an earnings per share of 77.42 fen for the recorded period, up from 43.69 fen in the year before.

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Revenue for the first half had also gone up 15.3 per cent to 13 billion yuan. The better top and bottom-line results came amid strong performance of its shipbuilding business, which contributed to 95 per cent of the total revenue.

In December, the company bagged US$2.6 billion in shipbuilding contracts, taking its order wins to US$14.3 billion for the year till Dec 2.

The latest contracts are for 21 vessels and they are primarily scheduled for deliveries between 2027 and 2029. They will not have a significant impact on the group’s earnings for the fiscal year ending Dec 31, 2024, said the mainboard-listed company.

Shares of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding jumped more than 4 per cent on Wednesday to S$3.08.

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