november-december . 2020 | @ Halal

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Get To Know

​ Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad ( Hibiscus ) is Malaysia ’ s first listed independent oil and gas ( O & G ) exploration and production company . Their key activities are focused on delivering value from producing oilfields and growing their portfolio of development and production assets in areas of their geographical focus : Malaysia , United Kingdom and Australia .

​As an operator of offshore O & G producing fields , their efforts are concentrated on safely enhancing operational efficiencies to deliver highmargin production from assets .

​Their growth strategy in the current oil and gas market is to leverage on opportunities that are present within existing assets and make quality acquisitions on a selective basis to deliver sustainable returns to shareholders .

​Hibiscus is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur , and their shares are listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ( Bursa Securities ). Hibiscus shares have been classified as shariah-compliant securities by the Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission of Malaysia .

​Hibiscus holds interests in several concessions and a production sharing contract . These are in Malaysia , the United Kingdom and Australia . Their diversified portfolio of assets consists of eight producing fields , five discovered fields and two exploration licences .

Anasuria Floating Production , Storage and Offloading ( Fpso ).

Market players feel this is a good time for companies with cash to grab opportunities in the O & G industry as prices of assets are dampened and offer good bargains .

Meanwhile , the net proceeds from the CRPS will be placed in an Islamic Trust Account pending investments opportunities . Zainul said it would be placed in money market Islamic instruments at the rates prevailing at the point of placement .

Going Islamic has its advantages as both Islamic and conventional investors can invest in shariah-compliant stocks . All things being equal , this leads to shariah-compliant stocks being able to attract more demand than stocks that are not shariah compliant .

For non-Islamic investors , shariah-compliant stocks give an avenue to diversify their investments through shariah-compliant instruments .

Zainul said shariah-compliant stocks were gaining popularity amongst investors , with demand from Islamic investors growing steadily over the past few years . This group of investors include the likes of Islamic fund management companies , Islamic pension funds , Islamic takaful companies and Islamic banks , amongst others .

“ It becomes important for companies to avail themselves to the pool of Islamic investors seeking shariah-compliant investment opportunities . In a nutshell , the larger pool of investor base comprising both the Islamic and conventional investors would translate to better liquidity in the secondary market .”

Furthermore , he said , as the Islamic finance sector was highly-developed in Malaysia , and with clear guidance from regulators and the availability of well-versed advisers , becoming shariah-compliant and adhering to the requirements of shariah is a relatively straightforward and smooth undertaking .

For the record , Hibiscus ’ shares were classified as shariah-compliant on Bursa Malaysia on May 26 , 2017 .

The number of stocks classified as shariahcompliant on Bursa Malaysia as of May 2020 was 697 , comprising 77 per cent of all listed stocks . North Sabah Platforms .