This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 28, 2026 - October 4, 2026

THE ongoing issues at digital services and technology infrastructure provider Zetrix AI Bhd (KL:ZETRIX) could be a long-drawn affair, with managing director Wong Thean Soon, better known as TS Wong, likely to seek legal recourse after recent developments at the company ravaged its share price.

When asked about his take on the ongoing developments at the company, Wong says in a brief message to The Edge: “I had always announced that I will choose the DRP (dividend reinvestment plan). This will be followed by a suit against issuers of derivatives and nominees for collusion and price manipulation.”

He was referring to the planned dividend payment of 2.89 sen per share on Sept 18, with the DRP option priced at 67 sen per share as part of the final dividend for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025). The exercise, however, has since not come to fruition.

What is likely to have transpired is that financial institutions where Wong had pledged his shares sought for the cash payment of 2.89 sen as opposed to the DRP, which Wong says he had instructed them to opt for.

On Sept 18, Zetrix announced that it was postponing the cash dividend payout following a court order secured by Wong, preventing the payment of the cash portion of the dividends as the nominees had failed to execute instructions to receive shares under the company’s DRP in lieu of cash. The payment of the 2.89 sen was pushed to Sept 23.

On Sept 24, Zetrix announced that it was delaying the 2.89 sen cash dividend payment to Sept 28 as a result of a “computation mismatch in the designated dividend accounts, resulting in computation delays by the company in the remittance of the dividend payment to shareholders”.

In another announcement, pursuant to queries by Bursa Malaysia, Zetrix says: “CGS International Securities Malaysia Sdn Bhd and CGS International Futures Malaysia Sdn Bhd, being the nominee for two CDS accounts, was allowed to intervene in the ad interim injunction proceedings filed by the substantial shareholder against the company’s Share Registrar during the court hearing.”

Zetrix goes on to say that a calculation error led to the delay in payment.

When The Edge asked Wong last Friday if the 2.89 sen dividend payment would happen in the coming week, he would only say: “Just wait till next week.”

Wong’s stake in Zetrix as at the end of trading last Friday was down to 10.89%, from 29.25% as at April 1, as stated in the company’s latest annual report.

The sharp sell-down of Wong’s shares in Zetrix began on Aug 26, when the company’s shares were trading at 66 sen, and forced selling resulted in the company’s stock tumbling to 29.5 sen by Aug 28, and 22 sen by Sept 2. Last Friday, Zetrix closed at 19 sen, for a market capitalisation of RM1.5 billion.

A check on Zetrix’s annual report shows that Wong both directly and via his vehicle Asia Internet Holdings Sdn Bhd had pledged about 23% equity interest to a number of financial institutions, judging by the Top 30 shareholders list. Wong had pledged a 3.46% stake or 274.44 million shares to CGS International Nominees Malaysia (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd while Wong’s Asia Internet Holdings had pledged 92.14 million shares or 1.16% equity interest to the same CGS entity.

On Sept 18, 57 million shares of Asia Internet Holdings were force sold, resulting in the company ceasing to be a substantial shareholder in Zetrix.

Around that time, the market was awash with speculation that Wong was exiting Zetrix and that a politically connected shareholder was emerging. When asked whether he was indeed leaving Zetrix, Wong said: “Forced selling is different from exiting … exiting is voluntary. You are making it sound like I am doing this voluntarily.” Wong emphasised then that he was not willingly disposing of his shares and that they were being force sold.

With Zetrix’s share base of 7.94 billion shares, a 2.89 sen dividend per share works out to a total payment of RM229.5 million.

It is worth noting that before a company pays a dividend, its board must be satisfied that the company is able to do so. As stated on PwC Malaysia’s website: “While a solvency statement is not mandatory for dividend distribution, it does not remove the need to consider solvency. A company may only distribute dividends out of its available profits if it is solvent.”

Hence considering its board approved Zetrix’s 2.89 sen dividend payment, the company should have the requisite funds and capability.

As at end-June this year, Zetrix had cash and cash equivalents of RM541.6 million. On the other side of the balance sheet, the company had long-term loans and borrowings of RM1.34 billion and short-term borrowings pegged at RM853.06 million.

Interestingly, in its books, Zetrix also has RM3.73 billion stated as development costs. As at the end of 2025, the figure was RM2.85 billion, meaning it had gained a 30.88% quantum over the past six months. As at end-2024, Zetrix’s development costs stood at RM1.85 billion, rising from RM1.21 billion at end-2023, and RM599.13 million at end-2022.

Another item on Zetrix’s balance sheet that has generated considerable interest are its digital assets which as at end-June 2026 was given a value of RM532.88 million. The company’s digital assets were valued at RM376.61 million at end-2025, RM256.73 million at end-FY2024, RM301.76 million at end-FY2023 and a mere RM38,000 at end-2022.

For its financial year ended June 2026, Zetrix’s net profit jumped 41.96% to RM540.58 million from RM380.79 million while revenue rose 33.74% to RM813.01 million from RM607.88 million.

There have been murmurings of Zetrix’s accounts being questionable, specifically on the development costs classified under non-current assets. To suggestions questioning the veracity of Zetrix’s accounts, including the amount classified as development costs, Wong merely says “it’s ludicrous” to think that.

However, with Zetrix delaying the dividend payment twice now, the fear of there being financial issues at the company is understandable.

The question, however, is whether Wong and Zetrix will be able to recover from this episode, which has caused the company’s share price to tumble.

And the issue is not just limited to Zetrix.

Wong’s stake in Excel Force MSC Bhd (KL:EFORCE) has been slashed from 30.94% as at end-August to 14% as at last Friday. There is a new substantial shareholder in Excel Force in the form of Jeff Wang Kuen Chung, who surfaced with a 13% stake in the company after mopping up 79.31 million shares on the open market on Sept 1. Wang has since upped his stake to 111.82 million shares or 18.33%.

Excel Force is an IT solutions provider for stockbroking firms and investment banks. Its shares tumbled from 16.5 sen on Aug 27 to 9.0 sen on Aug 28, but gained ground and ended trading at 23 sen last Friday.

In Cuscapi Bhd (KL:CUSCAPI), a provider of point of sale systems, Wong ceased to be a substantial shareholder on Sept 11 after 103.62 million shares of his were disposed of, which resulted in his shareholding falling below the 5% stake required for disclosure.

Tan Boon Seng surfaced as a substantial shareholder with 100.33 million shares or 10.62% equity interest. Tan, sources say, is the son of the late gaming tycoon Datuk Vincent Tan Ting Wong, who was also one of the founders of popular restaurant chain Dragon-i.

Cuscapi’s stock fell from 10 sen in mid-August to a low of 4.0 sen on Sept 4, before gaining some lost ground and closed at 5.5 sen last Friday.

At technology outfit Heitech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU), Zetrix ceased to be a substantial shareholder after hiving off its entire 27.55 million shares or 16.9% stake in the company on Sept 4.

From trading around RM1.27 at end-August this year, Heitech Padu closed last Friday at 91 sen.

Some time back, Wong and Zetrix also had stakes in management services and property rental company MyTech Group Bhd (KL:MYTECH) and digital solutions and application development company Agmo Holdings Bhd (KL:AGMO), but sold out of them.

Back when Wong had come into MyTech in May 2021, one of the large shareholders of the company had described Wong as “the man with the ideas”.

While Wong denies any issues at Zetrix, a number of questions do arise.

From end-December 2025 to the first week of August, prior to the forced selling of Zetrix’s shares, the average daily trading volume of the company’s shares was in excess of 90 million, which would indicate that the company’s stock was being churned.

Who was responsible for the heavy trading volume is not clear.

It is also ironic as one market watcher points out that despite Zetrix’s improving profits (see chart), its share price has largely not climbed in tandem with the better earnings, averaging 78 sen over the past five years prior to the fall in its share price.

 The market watcher says the high trading volume at Zetrix does raise eyebrows given the slew of events, more often negative than positive, that have unfolded. He points out that the high transaction volume means high brokerage costs.

Zetrix, whether it pays the 2.89 sen dividend this week or seeks to further delay the payments, is likely to be in the news for the near term.  If Wong does seek legal redress, it is likely then that what really transpired at the companies linked to him will be made known via court documents. 

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