KUALA LUMPUR (May 2): PUC Bhd has proposed yet another private placement of up to 30% of the existing share base to raise up to RM16.39 million, based on illustrative issue price of three sen, to support its online marketplace Presto Digital and for working capital.

The placement, which is the fourth since 2020, entails the issuance of up to 546.41 million placement shares, based on the group’s current share base of 1.82 billion.

At Tuesday (May 2)’s close, PUC shares traded unchanged at three sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM54.64 million.

PUC has placed a total of 666.59 million shares or 36.54% of its enlarged share base in just the last three years since 2020, raising RM81.74 million, of which RM19.67 million was utilised for the upgrading of Presto Digital and another RM12.21 million spent on marketing.

In 2017, the company shifted away from its two-year old renewable energy venture and pivoted into e-commerce by using Presto, due to a change in leadership.

Amid the challenging e-commerce business landscape, the group has been loss-making in the last four financial years since the financial year ended Dec 31, 2019 (FY2019).

PUC, together with the Sabah and Pahang state governments, was also an applicant of Bank Negara Malaysia’s digital bank licence issued in 2022 but was not successful.

From the latest private placement proposal, PUC intends to spend RM4.5 million to host Presto’s services on cloud servers and for software development. Another RM3 million will be spent on marketing, PUC said.

It will also utilise RM6.13 million for staff costs and RM2.04 million for other expenses. The group said it had cash and bank balances of RM1.25 million.

In FY2022, PUC’s net losses narrowed to RM48.93 million from RM62.43 million in FY2021, despite revenue narrowing to RM19.25 million from RM23.27 million

As at end-December, PUC had accumulated losses of RM213.7 million, against a share capital of RM420.51 million. Total borrowings stood at RM3.45 million.

The group’s largest shareholder is GPVF Sdn Bhd, an indirect unit of Genting Plantations Bhd, with a 8.92% stake. PUC managing director Cheong Chia Chou’s private vehicle RedHot Merdia International Ltd (RHM) ceased to be a substantial shareholder in 2020, amid the series of placements conducted by PUC since 2017 to support operations.