This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 27, 2021 - October 3, 2021
Last week, Bursa Malaysia denied Sapura Energy Bhd’s application for an extension of one month to announce its quarterly financial results for the period ended July 31, which is due by end-September.
In an announcement to the local bourse on Sept 14, the oil and gas company merely said it had, on Sept 13, submitted an application for a one-month extension of time, but disclosed no details as to why it was required.
If this did not make shareholders anxious, a week later, on Sept 21, the company announced that its chief financial officer (CFO) Reza Abdul Rahim would be stepping down effective from Oct 1, after more than five years in the role, “to pursue other opportunities”.
It added that Reza was “an integral part of the Sapura Energy growth story”. According to CEO Datuk Anuar Taib, the departing CFO had helped build the group into the global integrated energy services and solutions provider that it is today.
The company then went on to announce the appointment of industry veteran Chew Seng Heng, who was previously with Royal Dutch Shell Group, as Reza’s replacement.
Are the two — Reza’s departure and the difficulty in announcing its financials — related? Should Sapura Energy have been more forthcoming with information?
And it is not a company that is doing well financially. While many other oil and gas companies have bounced back, along with higher oil prices, Sapura Energy remained in the red, although its net loss narrowed to RM97.07 million for its first quarter (1QFY2022) ended April 30, 2021, from RM216 million in 4QFY2021. As at end-April, Sapura Energy had accumulated losses of RM4.72 billion and a net gearing of 1.1 times.
The delay in releasing its quarterly numbers, weak financials and departure of its CFO could indicate that the company still has much cleaning up left to do.
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