KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21): Ewein Bhd has appointed Tay Seng Chew as executive chairman of the Penang-based property development company, effective Tuesday (Aug 22).

He replaces Ewe Lay Khim, who is resigning to pursue other business interests and personal commitment.

Goh Kiang Teng, 51, will assume the role of executive director and chief executive officer at Ewein from Tuesday as well. Goh currently holds a 2.59% direct stake in Ewein.

According to Ewein, Tay, 58, has more than 25 years of working experience in the field of banking and finance in Malaysia.

Tay Seng Chew (Photo credit: Ewein Bhd)

“From 2000 to 2016, he joined United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd as the head of corporate and commercial banking for the northern region. He was responsible for supervising and developing the corporate and commercial banking business covering Perak, Penang, and Kedah for the bank,” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Tay was an independent non-executive director of XL Holdings Bhd from May 2018 to March 2020. In June 2020, he came out of retirement to join NationGate Solution (M) Sdn Bhd as corporate service director and is presently serving in the same capacity at NationGate Holdings Bhd.

At the same time, Ewein managing director Chuah Poh Lim, 55, will step down from his role “to focus on Ewein’s subsidiaries business performance”, the company said.

Ewein also announced the resignation of Datuk Choong Khuat Seng and Eric Lim Seng Keat as the group’s independent, non-executive directors, citing to pursue other business interests and personal commitment as the reason for their departure. Replacing them are Mazlina Mohamad and Rosnani Mahmod.

The changes to the board follows the entry of Ooi Eng Leong, the managing director of ACE Market-listed NationGate Holdings, as Ewein’s largest shareholder with a 43.82% stake as at June 16.

Ooi had on June 14 triggered a mandatory takeover offer threshold after he acquired RM72.36 million worth of shares in Ewein that was previously owned by Hijauwasa Sdn Bhd, lifting its stake to 132.17 million shares or a 43.82% stake. Before this transaction, Ooi held 3.84% of shares. Hijauwasa is controlled by Datin Sit Chin Leng, who was holding the shares as an administrator of her late husband’s (the late Ewein’s founder and former executive chairman Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng’s) estate.

In a separate filing, Ewein said it managed to return to the black in its second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), with a net profit of RM609,000, compared to a net loss of RM923,000 a year earlier. It reported an earnings per share of 0.2 sen, compared to a loss per share of 0.31 sen in 2QFY2022.

Revenue for the quarter, however, fell 13% to RM7.79 million from RM8.96 million in 2QFY2022, due to lower contribution from the manufacturing segment.

“This was due to lower demand in the overall electrical and electronics industry. The company is actively seeking for new business opportunities in different market segments, with the hope to cushion the impact of decrease in demand from this revenue stream,” it said.

In the cumulative six months ended June 30, 2023 (1HFY2023), Ewein reported a net profit of RM1.33 million, compared to a net loss of RM591,000 in 1HFY2022. Revenue fell 16% to RM15.28 million, from RM18.3 million a year earlier.

On prospects for FY2023, Ewein said it is actively marketing the unsold property units to monetise its inventory of completed units.

“The manufacturing segment is facing challenges due to the lower demand in this industry, but management is actively approaching new business opportunities.”

As for its investment holding, property management and letting segment, Ewein said the prospect of this segment remains positive, due to the strategic location and take up rate of the Menara IJM land in Penang.

Shares of Ewein have risen 133% following the takeover cash offer price of 60 sen, to close at RM1.40 on Monday (Aug 21), giving the company a market value of RM422.2 million.