KUALA LUMPUR (July 3): MyNews Holdings Bhd rose as much as 10.71% or 4.5 sen to 46.5 sen on Monday (July 3), after The Edge Malaysia weekly reported that businessman and Umno politician Datuk Seri Johari Ghani could emerge as a shareholder in the company.

At market close on Monday, the counter pared some gains to settle three sen or 7.14% higher at 45 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM306.97 million.

However, the stock has declined by 28.57% or 18 sen year to date.

The Edge, in its July 3 issue, reported that the Titiwangsa parliamentarian has been eyeing a block of shares in the convenience store operator for a while, but "the pricing was not right". 

This comes amid MyNews' announcement of its plan to raise RM29.33 million via a private placement involving the issuance of 68.2 million shares, representing 10% of its total issued shares.

The proceeds will be used to open up 48 convenience stores in Malaysia within the next 12 months.

According to a source, Johari Ghani's interest in MyNews could be due to his investment in a local company that is involved in bottled drinks, for which MyNews' convenience stores could be used as a distribution channel.

Notably, MyNews founder and group CEO Dang Tai Luk and his siblings Tai Hock and Tai Wen have been raising their stake in the group, buying over two million shares at around 46 sen each.

They now hold 401.6 million shares or 58.87% in the company.

MyNews reported a narrower net loss of RM6.28 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) from RM10.22 million a year ago, on the back of a higher revenue of RM174.2 million from RM141.1 million.