KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): MAA Group Bhd (KL:MAA), a substantial shareholder of KNM Group Bhd (KL:KNM), has extended a RM13.5 million loan to address the working capital requirements of the Practice Note 17 (PN17) company.

The loan, bearing an interest rate of 12% per annum, was provided to KNM's wholly-owned subsidiary, KNM Process Systems Sdn Bhd (KNM PS) on May 8.

The loan's duration does not exceed 12 months from its disbursement date, according to MAA’ filing.

KNM PS posted a loss after taxation of RM181.8 million and net assets of RM1.2 billion for the 18-month financial period ended Dec 31, 2023.

This financial support is considered to involve related parties, as Tunku Datuk Yaacob Khyra, KNM group non-executive chairman, who holds an 11.75% stake in KNM, also controls a 41.82% stake in MAA through Melewar Equities Sdn Bhd and Melewar Acquisitions Ltd.

The bulk of Yaacob's stake in KNM is held via MAA, which in turn holds an 8.83% direct and a 1.98% indirect stake in the PN17 company.

Just three months ago, MAA provided a RM2.1 million loan to cover the salary of KNM’s CEO Ravindrasingham Balasingham.

MAA has been loss-making for three consecutive quarters. For the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (2QFY2024), MAA posted RM2.5 million net loss versus RM8.48 million net profit a year ago as revenue declined to RM66.49 million from RM71.47 million previously.

Shares of KNM, which has fallen over 22% year to date, closed unchanged at seven sen on Thursday. This values the group at RM283.21 million.

MAA shares were half a sen or 1.27% lower to close at 39 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM101.57 million.