KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd (HSCB) has appointed Francis Leong Seng Wui as executive director with immediate effect.

Leong, 44, is currently executive director at Revenue Group Bhd, noted HSCB in a bourse filing on Monday.

He previously served as executive director at Green Packet Bhd and Classita Holdings Bhd.

Last week, Leong emerged as a substantial shareholder in HSCB, after acquiring 163.73 million shares through a direct business transaction, bringing his total stake in the group to 5.09%.

Prior to that, HSCB saw its executive director Christopher Chan Hooi Guan cease to be a substantial shareholder after disposing of 178.74 million shares held indirectly through Aurora Crest Sdn Bhd on March 14.

HSCB’s former managing director Datuk Seri Teoh Hai Hin also ceased to be a substantial shareholder in the group after disposing of 99.5 million shares held indirectly through Dalphon Ltd on March 19.

At present, the only other substantial shareholder in HSCB — which is in the business of healthcare, financial services and glove manufacturing — is Radiance Dynasty Sdn Bhd, with an 18.58% direct stake in the company.

The two companies in which Leong has been involved, namely Revenue Group and Classita Holdings, had been embroiled in a series of boardroom tussles in the past.

In January 2023, Leong was appointed to the board of Revenue Group after the company’s co-founders Brian Ng Shih Chiow and Dino Ng Shih Fang were suspended from the board. The duo, who were accused of misappropriating the company’s assets, claimed that there was a lack of due process in their suspension.

Separately, during Leong’s time serving as Classita’s executive director from June 2022 to April 2023, Classita's substantial shareholder Datuk Seri Tee Yam @ Koo Tee Yam and former chief financial officer Ting Yi En lodged a police report against him for alleged witness intimidation in a civil suit.

The suit was filed by Koo and former executive vice chairman Jessie Wong Siaw Puie against Classita to claim RM3.96 million that the duo had advanced to the company to fund day-to-day operations when its accounts were frozen by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

For the financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (5QFY2024), HSCB reported a net loss of RM9.05 million, on the back of RM4.65 million in revenue. There are no comparative figures as the company changed its financial year-end — for the third time since its listing on Bursa Malaysia — to March 31 from Sept 30.

For the full 15-month period, the group reported a net loss of RM40.56 million, on the back of RM18.35 million in revenue.

HSCB shares closed unchanged at one sen on Monday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM51.1 million.