KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 30): Hextar Healthcare Bhd's largest shareholder Datuk Eddie Ong Choo Meng is leaving his post as a non-independent non-executive director on Saturday (Dec 31).
Ong, who has an indirect stake of 29.2% in the company via Hextar Rubber Sdn Bhd, is exiting the board "to pursue other interests", said Hextar Healthcare in a Bursa Malaysia filing.
Besides Ong, Hextar deputy chairman Datuk Mohamed Hamzah is also slated to resign on Saturday, to likewise "pursue other personal interests".
Meanwhile, the healthcare company has appointed Lim Siew Eng and Doris Cheng Chin Ching as independent non-executive directors of the company, effective Jan 1, 2023.
Hextar Healthcare, formerly known as Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd, said Lim has more than 28 years of experience in the financial services industry.
"She started her career with Malaysian International Merchant Bankers Bhd (now known as Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd) where she held various managerial positions and served as head of corporate advisory before joining Maybank Investment Bank in 2004 as its head of corporate finance," the company said.
It added that Cheng has over 28 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She served 10 years as a registered nurse with the government, before joining several private healthcare companies, from being head nursing tutor at Pantai Medical Centre to general manager at Megah Medical Specialist Centre and subsequently chief operating officer at Damai Service Hospital in Kuala Lumpur.
Hextar Healthcare slipped into the red in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 with a net loss of RM4.37 million, versus a net profit of RM25.22 million a year earlier, as revenue dropped 62.16% to RM35.91 million from RM94.9 million.
The company attributed the drop in earnings to the continued fall in nitrile disposable gloves' prices, as well as low-capacity utilisation due to the oversupply in the market. It added, however, that the impact of this was mitigated by the resilience of its other products, specifically those of the household and industrial gloves division.
Coming off the Covid-19 pandemic, Hextar Healthcare diversified into the healthcare industry by acquiring test kit manufacturer Reszon Diagnostics International Sdn Bhd from Revongen Corp Sdn Bhd for RM180 million — satisfied via a combination of RM54 million cash and RM126 million in Hextar shares.
The completion of the acquisition saw the emergence of Revongen as the company's second-largest shareholder with a 16.2% stake. Revongen is 71.2%-owned by Law Eng Lim, who is a director of Reszon. The remaining shareholding in Revongen is owned by Olympia Tier Sdn Bhd (23.8%) and Neogon Holding FZE (5%).
Shares in Hextar Healthcare ended unchanged at 37 sen on Friday (Dec 30), giving the company a market capitalisation of RM399.16 million. Year to date, the counter has declined 28.85%.