KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 15): Iris Corp Bhd's share price closed 17.65% or 1.5 sen lower at seven sen on Tuesday (Aug 15), after the Home Ministry cancelled its contract for the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) effective from Monday.
At seven sen a share, the group had a market value of RM215.71 million.
In a bourse filing on Monday, Iris said its wholly owned unit Iris Information Technology Systems Sdn Bhd (IITS), the appointed developer of the new immigration system in which Iris is in the midst of selling an 80% stake, received a notice of termination dated Aug 10 from the ministry.
It said the termination of the contract is expected to have an impact on the group’s financial performance for the financial year ending March 31, 2024, though the extent of the impact had yet to be determined.
Earlier in May, the Home Ministry extended the NIISe contract to IITS by 12 months from Sept 1, 2025 to Aug 31, 2026. The contract worth RM1.16 billion was first awarded to IITS in January 2021 for a period of 54 months from March 1, 2021 to Aug 31, 2025.
On the same day that the ministry awarded the extension of the contract to IITS, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said there was a possibility of the NIISe contractor being replaced if the company is unable to implement the project.
Prior to the contract renewal, Saifuddin commented that the project had not achieved adequate progress as of March this year.