Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 25): BCM Alliance has disposed of its entire stake in printed circuit board (PCB) company BSL Corp Bhd at a RM5.51 million loss, citing" market uncertainties" and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as its rationale.

This comes after the group had spent an aggregate sum of RM7.13 million in cash to acquire a 4.38% stake or 4.29 million shares in BSL from the open market between Aug 25, 2021 to Nov 2, 2021, according to its filing with the bourse.

BCM Alliance said it had disposed of its entire stake in BSL on the open market between Sept 13, 2021 and Feb 18, 2022 for a total RM8.32 million.

The initial acquisition of the shares was funded by internally generated funds of the company, it said, while the proceeds from the subsequent stake disposal were used for working capital purposes.

BCM Alliance noted that BSL has growth opportunities going forward, such as the latter’s proposed diversification into the semiconductor segment, which complements its existing PCB assembly operations.

It added that BSL is expected to grow its green energy segment, which it expects would contribute higher operating profits to the firm in the near future.

“BSL also has a very low gearing that stood at 0.09 times, which provides an ample leveraging opportunity to fund its new growth segments, should there be a need.

“However, due to the recent market uncertainties and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the company decided to dispose of [its entire stake] in BSL,” said BCM Alliance, without elaborating further.

Despite booking a loss on the disposal of BSL, BCM Alliance said that it had realised a profit of RM1.9 million for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2022 (FY22), hence the transactions are not expected to have any material effect on the earnings per share, net assets per share, share capital and substantial shareholders' shareholding of the company.

In January, BCM Alliance raised eyebrows when filings showed that two employees, Kiu Cu Seng and Cheng Li Ping emerged as its largest shareholders after exercising their share options.

They exercised a total of 469 million share options at 2.91 sen apiece — a 17% discount to the closing price of 3.5 sen on Jan 17, when the offer was made.

Kiu exercised some 305.12 million option shares, giving him a 15% stake in BCM Alliance, which makes him the largest shareholder in the commercial laundry equipment supplier. Cheng exercised 164.29 million option shares for an 8.08% stake.

It is unclear what their roles in BCM Alliance are.

However, Kiu’s name has appeared in the filings of Energem Corp as its chief financial officer, and according to the Nasdaq-listed blank-cheque company’s prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, he served as group accountant for BCM Alliance and other Malaysian public- listed companies including Sanichi Technology Bhd and Trive Property Group Bhd.

At Friday’s (Feb 25) market close, BCM Alliance’s shares were half a sen or 20% higher at three sen apiece, giving it a market value of RM61.02 million.

BSL’s shares closed one sen or 3.57% higher at 29 sen per share, valuing it at RM62.78 million.

Edited ByAhmad Naqib Idris
      Print
      Text Size
      Share