KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Shares in AwanBiru Technology Bhd (Awantec) on Thursday (Aug 17) closed at 17.5 sen — the lowest since their closing price of 16.6 sen on April 6, 2020 — after Bursa Malaysia rejected the company's application for another extension of time to submit its regularisation plan to the relevant authorities.

At 17.5 sen, the counter had dipped 56.25% or 22.5 sen from Wednesday’s closing price of 40 sen, making it the seventh top loser on the local bourse, with a market capitalisation of RM136.59 million.

The stock struggled to perform after it opened at 17 sen, swinging between 16.5 sen and 24.5 sen amid heavy trade, ending the day as the fourth most active stock on Bursa, with a trading volume of 95.04 million shares.

The drastic fall in the share price of the information and communications technology software services provider had prompted Bursa to suspend proprietary day trading (PDT) and intraday short selling (IDSS) of its securities.

Short selling under PDT and IDSS will only be reactivated at 08.30am on Friday.

On Wednesday, Awantec said its application for another extension of time had been rejected, as the company had not demonstrated to the satisfaction of Bursa Securities any material development towards the finalisation and submission of its regularisation plan.

The company, formerly known as Prestariang Bhd, had to submit a regularisation plan after it was classified as an affected listed issuer in January 2021, following the termination of the membership of its wholly owned subsidiary Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd in the Microsoft Partner Network by Microsoft.

Awantec was also issued a show-cause notice by Bursa, where it is required to provide written representations within five market days from Wednesday to explain why its securities should not be suspended from trading and delisted.

In response to Bursa's rejection of its application, Awantec in a statement on Thursday said it is confident that its transformation journey into the cloud business, guided by its software and services, and talent segments, will continue to drive business growth.

“We remain committed to our investment in the 3Ps — people, partners and products and services — throughout our journey. These principles underpin our growth strategy and future success.

“The board and the management team wish to assure all shareholders, stakeholders, and the public that the company is working towards an appropriate reply to the above matters, and to remain listed, with an appeal to Bursa over our regularisation plan,” Awantec said.

According to Bloomberg, Awantec's largest shareholder is Affin Hwang Multi-Asset, with a 13.12% stake (103.39 million shares), followed by Areca Dynamic Growth (13.06% or 102.93 million shares), Eco Cloud Assets Sdn Bhd (10.10% or 79.58 million shares), and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (7.26% or 57.19 million shares).

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PDT and IDSS of AwanBiru securities suspended
AwanBiru Technology fails in its bid for more time to submit regularisation plan