KUALA LUMPUR (July 10): QL Resources Bhd (KL:QL) has proposed to undertake a bonus issue of up to 1.22 billion shares on the basis of one bonus share for every two existing shares held, to reward shareholders.

As at June 28, the agrifood company has an issued share capital of RM620.02 million comprising 2.43 billion shares.

In a Bursa Malaysia filing, QL said its share price adjusted for the bonus issue must not be less than 50 sen, based on the daily volume-weighted average market price (VWAMP) for the three-month period before the application date, to comply with Bursa's listing requirements.

The theoretical ex-bonus price for the group's shares is expected to be between RM3.9336 and RM4.3305, based on the lowest daily VWAMP during the three-month period of RM5.9004 and the five-day VWAMP up to June 28 of RM6.4958. 

QL said the proposed bonus issue is also to encourage the trading liquidity and affordability of QL shares on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia while increasing the number of shares in issue without affecting the market capitalisation of the company; and to encourage greater participation by investors and potentially widen the share spread to a wider pool of investors.

QL’s largest shareholder is its executive chairman Dr Chia Song Kun, who controls an indirect stake of 41.2% via CBG (L) Pte Ltd. He also holds a direct stake of 0.054% in the company. 

The proposed bonus issue is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2024.

QL shares closed unchanged at RM6.53 on Wednesday, valuing the group at RM15.89 billion. The counter has risen over 14% year-to-date.