KUALA LUMPUR (June 14): The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ruled in favour of Stone Master Corp Bhd's major shareholders, stating that the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on May 30 as valid.

The latest ruling, however, sees the immediate removal of Stone Master's managing director Datuk Koh Mui Tee and executive director Datuk Lee Hwa Cheng from the company's board of directors and the company.

At the same time, it sees the appointment of eight new directors, namely Ma Jee Choong, Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohamed, Low Eng Tack, Ng Boon Siong, Tan Wee Hock, Ananda Kumar Ramayah, Foo Chooi Wai and Leong Kam Soon.

"The new directors have assumed their duly elected positions on the company’s board today," said Stone Master in a statement today.

The Court this morning set aside an ex-parte injunction order that had been granted to Koh on June 2, preventing the implementation of the resolutions passed at Stone Master's recent EGM.

In setting aside the ex parte order, Stone Master said the High Court Judge has made further orders that whosoever having possession of any property belonging to the company, including the books and records and the Bursalink password, surrender them to Stone Master vice-president Datuk Karen Lee Fong Yin, who is the company’s single largest shareholder with a 22.29% stake.

The High Court has now fixed for inter parte hearing for the injunction on Aug 1.

Fong Yin said the Court's decision to set aside the injunction allows the company to carry-out the resolutions approved by its shareholders at the recent EGM.

"This will enable the new board to conduct its oversight and fiduciary duties with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

“Moving forward, the immediate responsibility of the board will be to carefully review the actions and agreements undertaken by the former management team and to take the necessary action to safeguard the interest of our shareholders,” she added.

At the EGM, 91.48% of the shareholders who attended the meeting voted for all the resolutions. Based on total issued share capital, 58% voted in favour of the resolutions, which included the appointment of the new directors and the removal of Koh and Hwa Cheng.

Subsequently, an application to set aside the ex parte order was then carried out by Fong Yin, stating that the ex parte order was granted through non-disclosure of material facts and misrepresentations.

On Feb 8, Stone Master’s external auditors, Messrs Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng, had expressed a qualified opinion on the Practice Note 17 company’s audited financial statements for the financial year ended Sept 30, 2016. This was due to a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The external auditors had also recommended that an investigative audit be commissioned to obtain explanations on the Securities Commission Malaysia’s suit against the company’s former deputy managing director Datin Chan Chui Mei for allegedly causing wrongful loss to the company.

Stone Master shares ended the morning session up 0.5 sen or 1.75% at 29 sen, with 397,300 shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM25.62 million.