KUALA LUMPUR (April 19): Shares of Awanbiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) fell as much as 53% on Friday, prompting Bursa Malaysia to suspend the counter’s intraday short selling (IDSS).
Awantec’s share price tumbled to a low of 15 sen during the morning session, its lowest since March 2020. The counter pared losses to 20 sen as of 9.45am — still down 12 sen or 37.5% — with some 35.86 million shares traded.
At 20 sen, the software services firm is worth RM157.98 million.
Awantec’s IDSS will resume on Monday at 8.30am.
The selloff comes after the company announced on Thursday that trading in its shares will be suspended from April 26, after failing to submit its regularisation plan within the deadline set by Bursa Malaysia.
Awantec, previously known as Prestariang Bhd, was to submit a regularisation plan after being classified as an affected listed issuer in January 2021, due to the termination of its wholly-owned unit Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd’s membership in the Microsoft Partner Network.
Earlier this month, Awantec disclosed its application for a waiver from the obligation to submit a regularisation plan, citing notable improvements in its financial performance. Simultaneously, it sought reclassification to alleviate its affected issuer status. Additionally, it requested a six-month extension until October 13 to submit its regularisation plan, in case the waiver and reclassification applications are not successful.
In a bourse filing on Friday, Awantec said Bursa Securities’ decision on its waiver and upliftment is still pending. It plans to appeal against the suspension of its trading securities.
To this end, Awantec, as part of its waiver and upliftment application, said it had provided the following to justify that it has undertaken a ‘self regularisation plan’ and to demonstrate that its existing business is viable, sustainable and has growth prospects:
- Two consecutive quarterly results where Awantec and its subsidiaries (Awantec Group) registered profits for the financial periods ended 30 September 2023 and 31 December 2023, accompanied with limited review reports issued by Awantec’s auditors;
- Awantec Group’s business plan that has been established and currently being executed;
- Awantec Group’s existing secured orderbook and tenderbook of contracts that will contribute to Awantec Group’s financial sustainability;
- The results of a review of internal controls and risk management by Messrs KPMG Management and Risk Consultancy Sdn Bhd; and
- An extract from the independent market research report by Providence Strategic Partners Sdn Bhd.
For the six-month period ended Dec 31, 2023, the group posted a net profit of RM1.19 million, compared to a net loss of RM4.31 million a year earlier, as revenue increased 9.7% to RM28.63 million from RM26.1 million.
Awantec was awarded RM231.55 million in its lawsuit against the government over the termination of the RM3.5 billion National Immigration Control System (SKIN) project in March. However, the amount fell short of its RM723 million claim, prompting the group to file an appeal this month.
According to Bloomberg, Awantec's largest shareholder is Areca Dynamic Growth, which holds a 13.06% stake, followed by Eco Cloud Assets Sdn Bhd (10.10% stake) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (7.26% stake).