The Straits Times / The Business Times News on OSIM

Templeton Worldwide becomes substantial shareholder of OSIM

GLOBAL asset management company Templeton Worldwide Inc has emerged as a substantial shareholder of healthcare and lifestyle products group OSIM International.

Announcements to the Singapore Exchange show, as of June 26, Templeton has a deemed stake of 5.03 per cent.

This follows purchases totalling more than 27 million shares over a period, at an average price of $1.05 each.

Templeton Worldwide is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, a global investment management group operating as Franklin Templeton Investments.

At the end of trading yesterday, OSIM shares rose to $1.51, up three cents.

The stock's 52-week high is $1.80 and its 52-week low is 88 cents.

OSIM raked in net profit attributable to shareholders of $46.7 million last year, a 52.7 per cent increase from 2004.

But for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006, net profit fell 94.7 per cent to $430,000 because of financing costs and lower revenue from Brookstone Inc, a US speciality retail company it acquired last year.

The two factors contributed to a net loss from associates and joint ventures of $13.9 million (net of tax credit).

Excluding this, the group's net earnings were actually up 100 per cent at $14.4 million.