KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): AwanBiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) said trading in its shares will be suspended from April 26, after the group failed to submit its regularisation plan to the regulators for approval within the stipulated timeframe.

In an exchange filing on Thursday, the software service provider said it was required to submit the regularisation plan to Bursa Malaysia Securities within the extended timeframe that ended on April 13.

Awantec said the group faces the risk of delisting if no appeal is submitted within five market days from the date of notification of delisting.

Awantec, previously known as Prestariang Bhd, had to submit a regularisation plan after being classified as an affected listed issuer in January 2021 due to the termination of its wholly owned unit Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd’s membership in the Microsoft Partner Network.

On April 8 this year, Awantec said it had applied to the regulators for a waiver from the requirement to submit a regularisation plan, citing recent improvements in financial performance. It had also applied for an uplifting of its affected issuer status, the group said.

Awantec also requested a six-month extension until Oct 13 to submit the regularisation plan, in case the waiver and re-classification applications are not approved.

For the six-month period ended Dec 31, 2023, the group posted a net profit of RM1.19 million compared to a net loss of RM4.31 million a year earlier, as revenue increased 9.7% to RM28.63 million from RM26.1 million.

Awantec recently gained attention after winning RM231.55 million in its lawsuit against the government over the termination of the RM3.5 billion National Immigration Control System (SKIN) project in March, followed by an appeal in early April.

The group’s wholly owned unit Prestariang Skin Sdn Bhd (PSKIN) secured the SKIN project in August 2017 under the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak-led Barisan Nasional government, to replace the Malaysian Immigration System (myIMMs).

In December 2018, the then Pakatan Harapan government helmed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad decided to scrap the project, in favour of a new system to save government funds. Despite several rounds of negotiations, both parties failed to reach a consensus on the quantum to be paid by Putrajaya, leading to PSKIN seeking recourse via the legal system.

Shares in Awantec closed unchanged at 32 sen on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM252.77 million.