KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 14): The High Court has dismissed Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd's formal application for a stay of the court's order for the oil and gas company to make public the fact-finding update (FFU) by Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd (EY Consulting) on its financials.
Judicial Commissioner Wan Muhammad Amin Wan Yahya made the decision following a hearing in the afternoon on Monday.
In his decision, Wan Muhammad Amin ruled that he found the public interest point raised and the potential harm to the public, including investors and shareholders, to be an overriding factor for refusing the stay under the circumstances.
"I do not find that the special circumstances to warrant the stay have been made up. As such, I dismiss the application, with RM5,000 costs," the judicial commissioner said.
However, Wan Muhammad Amin did not specify the deadline for Serba Dinamik to release the FFU.
It is also understood that Serba Dinamik could exercise its right to appeal against the court's decision to not grant it the stay of the court's order at the appellant court.
Senior Counsel Datuk Loh Siew Cheang, who appeared for Bursa Malaysia, said the oil and gas service provider has yet to reveal the impact of the FFU on its business, financial status and operations and the timeline to carry out and complete each proposed course of action.
He pointed out that Serba Dinamik has to furnish biweekly written updates to Bursa Malaysia.
"An order directing them to complete the special independent review which still remains incomplete and if premature resignation of EY Consulting to continue as independent reviewer, or termination of EY Consulting, they should appoint another independent reviewer," he argued in objecting to the stay.
On Feb 8, Serba Dinamik revealed a portion of the FFU in its filing to Bursa.
To recap, on Feb 7, Wan Muhammad Amin directed Serba Dinamik to make a public announcement of the FFU by EY Consulting, which was appointed to conduct a special independent review on the company's financial accounts for the 12-month period ended Dec 31, 2020, within two market days from the date of this order.
Soon after the court order was made, Serba Dinamik formally wrote in to apply for a stay of Wan Muhammad Amin's decision.
In the written judgement last Monday, Wan Muhammad Amin concluded that the information sought to be announced in the FFU was "material and does not depend whether it is true, false or conclusive".
The judicial commissioner noted that Serba Dinamik was entitled to disagree with the information to be disclosed. However, Wan Muhammad Amin also stressed that the stock exchange was entitled to give the directive in order to uphold and maintain "a fair and orderly securities market to safeguard public and investors' interests".
The judgement by the High Court on Feb 7 was the result of a legal action taken by Bursa Malaysia in November because of Serba Dinamik's "failure to comply" with the stock exchange's directive to disclose the FFU dated Sept 30, 2021.
On Wednesday (Feb 16), there will be a hearing on another case related to Serba Dinamik's interim injunction application to block the release of the FFU on its financials by EY Consulting.