KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): Lysaght Galvanised Steel Bhd announced today that its board of directors have rejected nomination notices for the election as directors that were submitted by two shareholders ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) on June 22.

In an announcement with Bursa Malaysia today, Lysaght (fundamental: 1.95; valuation: 2.4) said the board had received the notices of nomination from the two shareholders on June 9 and June 10 and after deliberating them at a special board meeting yesterday, decided to reject them.

“The board wishes to announce that following the deliberation and taking into consideration a legal opinion which has expressed that the notices submitted by the two shareholders were not valid, the board has rejected the said two notices,” the filing read.

“Accordingly the persons being nominated in the notices will not be eligible for election as directors and their nominations will not be tabled at the forthcoming AGM,” it added.

Lysaght said the board's decision was arrived at after a vote with three directors voting in favour, two directors against and two directors abstaining.

The Edge Weekly had reported that Lysaght managing director Liew Hoi Foo and his sister-in-law Annie Chew Meu Jong are currently in a tussle over leadership of the company, one that was precipitated by the passing of Lysaght founder Chew Kar Heing in February last year.

The feud reportedly began when Meu Jong objected to Lysaght’s proposal, which was mooted by Liew last year, for a share split, bonus issue and free warrants.

The proposal was aborted in October last year.

Meu Jong is the oldest daughter of Kar Heing and an Australian citizen who sits on the board as non-executive director.

The Edge Weekly had also reported that Liew’s position hangs in the balance until the AGM as shareholders decide on his re-election.

Lysaght was the fourth top decliner on Bursa Malaysia today. The counter, which was trading at a low of RM3.68 today, down 8% or 32 sen, narrowed its losses to close at RM3.78, down 22 sen or 5.5%, for a market capitalisation of RM163.41 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.)