KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): Steel products maker Leform Bhd extended its losses for the second consecutive trading day on Wednesday, down as much as 9.5 sen or 35.19% after it was slapped with an unusual market activity (UMA) query by Bursa Securities.

The counter, which fell 22 sen or 55% on Tuesday, opened two sen higher before selling kicked in to touch a low of 17.5 sen in the morning session.

The most active counter on Wednesday saw some 294.1 million shares traded in the morning session, higher than Tuesday’s overall trading volume of 215.31 million shares.

At noon market break, the counter stood at 18 sen, still down nine sen or 33.33%, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM266.58 million.

The sell-off since Tuesday has wiped out RM459 million in the group’s value.

The sharp fall in the share price on Tuesday led Bursa Securities to issue an UMA query on Tuesday.

In response to the UMA, Leform said its board is not aware of any corporate development, business and affairs that has not been previously announced including those in the stage of negotiation and evaluation.

The group is also not aware of any rumour or report as well as possible explanation that may account for the trading activity.

“The group will make the necessary announcement(s) in compliance with the ACE Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Securities upon the execution of any agreement,” said Leform in a bourse filing on Wednesday.

Listed on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia in November 2022, Leform was trading at a 17.39% discount to its initial public offering (IPO) price of 23 sen per share.

From a peak of 49 sen on Jan 12 to its last trading price of 18 sen, Leform has lost 63% or RM444.7 million in market capitalisation.

Leform’s largest shareholder is its group managing director Law Kok Thye, who owns a 22.99% direct stake and has a deemed interest of 51.03% in the company through Tianwen Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Out of Leform’s five financial quarters since Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) that have been announced to Bursa Malaysia since its listing, the company recorded profits in only two of them.

It widened its net loss to RM11.09 million for 3QFY2023 from RM3.78 million a year earlier despite revenue increasing by 16.9% to RM85.16 million from RM72.85 million.