This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 9, 2024 - December 15, 2024

Things seem to be getting worse at Sentoria Group Bhd (KL:SNTORIA), which slipped into Practice Note 17 (PN17) status last week after its shareholders’ equity fell to 33% of its issued and paid-up capital as at Sept 30, 2024 (FY2024).

A few months ago, Sentoria was embroiled in a dispute with its former CEO Datuk Loh Yuen Tuck, who was suspended at the end of May but was reinstated in his CEO position a month later. Loh decided to quit, however, citing constructive dismissal as the reason. The suspension was due to allegations of misconduct, which Loh had denied.

Sentoria Capital Sdn Bhd, controlled by joint managing directors Datuk Chan Kong San and Datuk Gan Kim Leong, is the largest shareholder of Sentoria, with a 35.8% stake.

Financially, the company has been in dire straits, with losses since FY2019. For FY2024, it reported a net loss of RM89.04 million.

Its property development division made only RM2.31 million in revenue in the quarter ended Sept 30, against RM16.7 million a year ago. It has ongoing projects in Morib, Selangor, and Kuching, Sarawak.

Meanwhile, the leisure and hospitality division — which includes facilities such as the Bukit Gambang water theme park in Pahang — even reported a much lower top line of RM177,000, versus RM1.74 million previously.

As at end-September 2024, the company had RM254.27 million in accumulated losses, significantly higher than the RM165.22 million a year ago. Its total borrowings stood at RM453.04 million.

As a financially distressed company, Sentoria is required to submit a regularisation plan within 12 months. How will the company navigate the challenges faced by its core business segments?

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