KUALA LUMPUR (July 13): Trading in the shares of Scomi Energy Services Bhd, which at one time was a sizzling hot stock that attracted investors like Hong Leong Group's Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, will be suspended 11 days later on July 24, with the stock possibly to be delisted two days after that on July 26, subject to an appeal being filed.
This came after it failed to obtain more time to submit a plan to regularise its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status, according to Bursa Securities in a filing on the company, in which Scomi Group Bhd holds a 12.22% stake, down from 28.46% in February.
Its largest shareholder is now Tan Sri Nik Awang @ Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah with an 18.11% stake, followed by former Renong Bhd managing director Datuk Mohd Zakhir Siddiqy Sidek's 12.77%, held under Gelombang Global Sdn Bhd.
The two emerged as substantial shareholders in the company in 2020 with an 18.6% stake each after opting to take over the company's shares pledged against loans totalling RM42 million — RM21 million each — that they extended to Scomi Group Bhd in 2019. In return, the group had pledged a combined 37.2% stake in Scomi Energy for the loans.
Scomi Energy's application was rejected as the company had “not demonstrated to the satisfaction of Bursa Securities any material development towards the finalisation and submission of the regularisation plan to the regulatory authorities,” Bursa said.
If Scomi files an appeal against the delisting by July 21, the July 26 delisting will be deferred pending a decision on the appeal. “However, Bursa Securities will proceed to suspend the trading of the company’s securities on July 24 even though the decision on the company's appeal is still pending,” it added.
Scomi filed the application for more time to submit its regularisation plan on May 17, asking for the May 31 deadline to be pushed to Nov 30.
The company fell into PN17 status in January 2020, when its shareholders’ equity on a consolidated basis fell below 50% of its issued share capital.
In December 2019, its indirect wholly-owned unit KCOB Capital Bhd defaulted in parts of its Series E bonds amounting to RM55 million, which subsequently triggered a cross-default in the company, raising the total to RM147.8 million.
It then disposed of multiple subsidiaries for a combined sum of RM21 million. This included its core business in offshore drilling services, which provided 75% of its revenue, to several parties including subsidiaries of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd.
The disposal was conditional upon approval of its secured lenders to a scheme of arrangement and was accompanied by a one-time debt waiver of about RM122.1 million to fully resolve its indebtedness.
The secured lenders that approved the disposal included Danajamin Nasional Bhd, with an outstanding debt of RM68.52 million; Malayan Banking Bhd (RM17.53 million); OCBC Bank (M) Bhd (RM14.99 million); Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd (RM9.04 million); CIMB Bank Bhd (RM2.66 million), and Al-Rajhi Bank & Investment Corp (RM393,887).
In January this year, Scomi announced it no longer had any defaults, saying it had resolved its debt obligations to secured lenders after disposing of its offshore drilling services business.
In October last year, the concessionaire of the proposed Petaling Jaya Dispersal Link, PJD Link (M) Sdn Bhd — owned by PJD Link Holdings Sdn Bhd and Noblemax Resources Sdn Bhd — announced plans for the reverse takeover of Scomi Energy. The deal is currently undergoing due diligence that started on April 15, 2023 and is expected to be completed by Sept 15, 2023.
Scomi has been in the red for the past four financial years, with a net loss of RM27.59 million in the financial year ended June 30, 2022 (FY2022), RM211.57 million in FY2021, RM184.29 million in FY2020, and RM93.04 million in 15MFY2019.
Scomi shares closed unchanged at four sen on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM18.7 million.