KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 24): PUC Bhd (KL:PUC) group managing director Cheong Chia Chou has pared his stake in the loss-making digital payment solutions provider to 6.58%.
Cheong offloaded 40 million shares or a 1.44% stake on Monday, according to PUC’s bourse filing on Tuesday.
Bloomberg’s off-market data showed that a 40 million block of shares was traded on Monday at five sen per share or RM2 million in total. The price represents a 25% premium to Monday’s closing price of four sen.
The disposal trimmed Cheong’s shareholding in the ACE Market-listed company to 182.94 million shares or a 6.58% stake, from an 8.22% stake.
Post-disposal, Cheong remains PUC’s second-largest shareholder, behind Cocaland Bhd co-founder Liew Fook Meng, who holds an 8.91% stake.
PUC’s other substantial shareholders include Cocoaland’s other co-founder Lau Pak Lim, with a 5.99% stake, and Genting Bhd’s (KL:GENTING) vehicle GPVF Sdn Bhd, with 5.99%.
Last week, PUC announced its acquisition of digital marketing and business management consultancy firm Alevate Solutions Sdn Bhd (ASSB) for RM100 million, to be satisfied entirely in shares.
The purchase consideration, 800 million shares at 12.5 sen apiece, would dilute Cheong’s stake to 5.11%. The valuation of the consideration shares represents a 212.5% premium to PUC’s four sen closing price on Monday.
The deal would also see ASSB’s sole shareholder and director Tham Lih Chung emerge as PUC’s new single-largest shareholder with a 22.35% stake, based on the company's enlarged share base.
Attached to the deal is Tham’s guarantee for ASSB to achieve minimum aggregate profit after tax of RM12.5 million over two years.
On an annual basis, PUC has been in the red since 2019.
For its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2024 (1QFY2025), the company posted a net loss of RM11.45 million versus a net profit of RM1.01 million in the same period last year, as revenue dropped 67% to RM4.9 million from RM14.67 million. 1QFY2024 was the company's sole profitable quarter in the past four years.
At 4.34pm, shares in PUC stood unchanged at four sen, valuing the company at RM111.17 million.