Stocks Roundup: JSM stable before vote on chairman's removal

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

Monday, 07 December 2009 15:01 Nathan Green

AIM-listed JSM Indochina was to hold an extraordinary general meeting in London today to vote on a leadership challenge by San Francisco-based hedge fund Passport Capital LLC.

The meeting was originally scheduled for November 26 but was delayed to allow “discrepancies” in voting forms submitted by shareholders “to be resolved”.

The Passport challenge, which called for the replacement of Chief Executive Officer Craig Jones, Chief Financial Officer Rowell Tan and Chairman Michael Tanner on the board on the grounds of underperformance, under investment and “serious corporate governance failures” has already resulted in the resignation of Jones and Tan, effective November 26.

Although the two have resigned from the board, they will continue their roles with JSM Capital Indochina Ltd, which has been contracted by the company to manage the fund’s investment portfolio, according to a statement by the board. Jones holds 14.5 percent of JSM Indochina and Passport 13 percent.

Passport wants to replace the company’s directors with its nominees: Scott Verges, Paul Kaju and John Duggan. However, with the resignation of Jones and Tan, shareholders will need to vote only on whether to remove Tanner. JSM closed Friday unchanged at £0.67 (US$1.10).

Australia-listed miner Oz Minerals closed down 2.78 percent Friday at A$1.23, eroding some of the gains made earlier in the week after it announced last Sunday it planned to boost output at its Prominent Hill mine in South Australia next year from 8 million tonnes to 8.8 million tonnes.

The copper and gold producer also announced last Monday it had identified at least 2 million ounces of gold reserves in its Cambodian concessions.

The stock is near its 52-week high of A$1.33 after the global credit crunch brought it as low as A$0.40. The company was the world’s second-largest zinc mining company before it sold $1.6 billion of mines this year to slash debt.

OSK Holdings Bhd, the Malaysia-listed owner of Cambodia’s OSK Indochina Bank, rose the most in almost seven months in Kuala Lumpur trading last Wednesday after saying it plans a bonus share issue.

The 5.6 percent gain to 1.51 ringgit (US$0.45) was its biggest gain since May 8 and dwarfed a 1.4 percent rise on November 26 when it announced a 92 percent jump in third-quarter net income to 34.6 million ringgit (US$10.23 million).