KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): Nextgreen Global Bhd, which was issued an unusual market activity (UMA) query by Bursa Malaysia earlier on Tuesday (Feb 21), said it is unaware of any reason for the recent sharp rise in its share price and volume.
In a bourse filing, the printing and publishing firm said it is unaware of any corporate development, rumour or report concerning the business and affairs of the group that may account for the UMA.
“The board is [also] not aware of any possible explanation to account for the trading activity,” the group said in response to Bursa’s query.
Shares of Nextgreen had risen 50.68% over the past two weeks from 73 sen on Feb 9 and 46.67% year-to-date from 75 sen.
The counter opened at RM1.06 on Tuesday and surged as much as 5.7% to hit an intraday high of RM1.12 — the highest since Feb 23, 2022 when the counter closed at RM1.14.
At Tuesday’s closing price of RM1.10, its market capitalisation amounted to RM873 million.
A total of 5.34 million shares were traded, about 12 times the 200-day average volume of 460,587.
Nextgreen's substantial shareholders are Datuk Gan Kong Hiok with a 19.418% stake, followed by its managing director Datuk Lim Thiam Huat (14.092%) and executive director Lim Kah Yen (12.447%). The Federal Land Development Authority also owns 5.7%.
For the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022, Nextgreen’s net profit declined 21.7% to RM1.12 million from RM1.43 million a year earlier, as revenue fell 40.42% to RM10.56 million from RM17.73 million, dragged by lower operating revenue and operating expenses as well as higher finance costs.
Net profit for the nine-month period (9MFY2022), however, soared 263% to RM2.6 million from RM718,000, supported by the increase in other income, which was mainly derived from the gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment and rental income.
This was despite 9MFY2022 revenue falling 10.41% to RM33.88 million from RM37.81 million a year earlier, amid a decline in revenue from land sales in Green Technology Park and lower contribution from the printing and publishing division.