KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG), formerly known as Datasonic Group Bhd, received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Securities after its shares fell to a six-month low on Tuesday.
The bourse regulator asked the company to clarify if there was any corporate development, rumour or other reason behind the sharp fall in share price amid increased trading volume on Tuesday.
Shares in the supplier of Malaysian passport booklets and identity cards fell seven sen or 20% to close at 28 sen on Tuesday. Volume stood at 193.74 million — 6.7 times its 200-day moving average of 28.91 million shares.
The counter was the most active stock on Tuesday and was among the top losers by percentage.
At the time of writing, NexG has yet to issue a response to the UMA query.
The company had recently been in the limelight due to a slew of government contracts it bagged since August.
The jobs include the supply of Malaysian passport booklets and identity cards, coupled with extensions to its contracts for the supply of consumables used in printing surplus driving licence cards and the supply of foreign worker cards. The contracts are worth a cumulative RM2.5 billion.
Following the contract wins, the company saw a board exodus, with four board members stepping down in mid-October, citing personal reasons.
The four were executive deputy chairman Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman, executive director Datuk Puvanesan Subenthiran and independent directors Datuk Seri Mohd Sopiyan Mohd Rashdi and Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan.
Their departure was in accordance with a planned leadership transition, according to NexG executive chairman and group chief executive officer Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin.
“These individuals played a pivotal role in helping the company successfully secure a major project, and their departure marks the completion of that assignment,” he was quoted as saying in an October report by The Edge Malaysia.
According to a bourse filing on Oct 31, Mohd Khairul Adib’s vehicle, Skyelimit Alliance Sdn Bhd, acquired a 4.31% stake or 150.34 million shares on that day via a direct business transaction, raising his stake in NexG to 16.96%. Bloomberg off-market data showed the block was transacted at 40 sen per share, or a total of RM60.14 million.
A filing on Tuesday showed that Hanifah’s vehicle, Rembulan Lestari Sdn Bhd, sold a 4.31% stake or 150.34 million shares via a direct business transaction on Oct 31 at 40 sen apiece. The disposal slashed his stake to 9.58%.