KUALA LUMPUR (July 24): Tan Sri H'ng Bok San has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Sarawak Cable Bhd (KL:SCABLE) after the disposal of shares by the H'ng family-controlled HNG Capital Sdn Bhd.
HNG Capital disposed of 856,000 shares in the loss-making cable manufacturer, leaving the company with 19.37 million shares or a 4.85% stake, according to a bourse filing.
H'ng was a non-independent and non-executive director of Sarawak Cable, before he resigned in October 2022 due to personal reasons.
Besides him, other members of the H'ng family with a direct stake in Sarawak Cable include Datin Hsieh Ling with a 0.62% stake or 2.47 million shares, and Datuk H’ng Chun Hsian with 0.66% or 2.62 million shares.
According to Bloomberg data, Sarawak Cable's major shareholders are Petra Transit Systems Sdn Bhd (15.89%), Sarawak Energy Bhd (13.13%), Datuk Sri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, the son of the late Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud (12.10%) and Central Paragon Sdn Bhd (6.54%).
Sarawak Cable has been in the spotlight after being sued by Serendib Capital Ltd over the termination of a memorandum of agreement between the two parties to undertake a “resuscitation exercise” to revive the loss-making manufacturer.
Sarawak Cable fell into Practice Note 17 status in September 2022 due to concerns raised by its external auditor about its viability as a going concern, after certain financial institutions suspended the group's credit facilities.
Initially given a deadline of Nov 1, 2023 to submit its regularisation plan, the group was given several extensions to resolve its PN17 status. The latest deadline is Sept 30 this year.
Shares of Sarawak Cable have declined since the start of the year and were trading near their 2024 low of 8.5 sen on July 17. The counter closed unchanged at 9.5 sen on Tuesday, valuing the group at RM37.9 million.