KUALA LUMPUR (June 24): Tadmax Resources Bhd has come out to say that claims made by DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua on the sale of its Pulau Indah land in Selangor to Ivory Merge Sdn Bhd were “misleading” and “incorrect”.

In addressing Pua’s allegations, the company said it owed it to its shareholders and stakeholders, "who may also be just as perplexed by the incorrect accusations made against the company”, to clarify this matter.

It was responding to allegations by Pua that the Cabinet had abused its powers to bail out Tadmax (fundamental: 0.6; valuation: 0.9).

In a statement today, Tadmax said it has always acted in the best interests of its shareholders, and had disposed of its non-core assets as part of its restructuring strategy.

This included the disposal of the Pulau Indah land to Ivory Merge — a subsidiary of debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

“Ivory Merge Sdn Bhd was not the only company negotiating with Tadmax to buy the subject property at that time. There was also no compulsion for Ivory Merge to enter into the transaction. Tadmax was at that time already in discussions with several parties which had indicated interest in the subject property,” said Tadmax.

It added the transaction was done transparently, in full compliance with Bursa Malaysia’s requirements.

On the selling price of the land, Tadmax said the land was sold at the price of RM21.80 per sq ft, in accordance with a valuation carried out by independent valuer, Azmi & Co (Shah Alam) Sdn Bhd on Jan 25, 2014.

“The valuation was also subjected to the approval of the Valuation Department of the Securities Commission Malaysia (in compliance with the Compliance Rules of Bursa Malaysia for sale of assets),” it said.

The company also noted that the recent transaction price of land in Pulau Indah ranges between RM25 per sq ft and RM66 per sq ft.

On Pua’s statement that the land was valued at RM9.93 per sq ft in August 2011, the company clarified the figure was actually the initial cost of the land in 2005, when Tadmax acquired it.

It went on to say that the assets under the land and development expenditure classification are required by law to be stated at the lower of historical cost and net realisable value, which can be assessed by undertaking a revaluation.

On the allegation that Wijaya Baru Global Bhd (now Tadmax), being the parent company of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB), which is the turnkey developer of the controversial Port Klang Free Zone project, Tadmax said this was “factually not correct”.

“KDSB has never at any point in time, been a subsidiary or associated company of Tadmax. A review of the past Annual Reports of Tadmax or Wijaya Baru Global (as it was then known), would confirm this fact,” it said.

The company also clarified that Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Zabidi is no longer the chairman of Tadmax, following his resignation on March 24, 2014.

Tadmax' shares closed unchanged at 33 sen today, for a market capitalisation of RM146.77 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)