Short selling on Pertama Digital halted again as share price dives further. The stock lost RM1.40 or 30.11% in the last two days.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Shares of Pertama Digital Bhd fell as much as 94 sen or 26.78% in early trade on Wednesday, prompting Bursa Securities to suspend the counter’s intraday short selling (IDSS) for a second day.

The counter, which fell 24.5% on Tuesday, extended its losses in the first hour of trading, with 4.66 million shares changing hands — double its two-month average daily volume of 2.11 million shares.

From its peak closing price of RM4.65 on Monday, the counter dropped as much as RM2.08 or 44.73% to as low as RM2.57 on Wednesday. It later pared some losses to close at RM3.25 — down 26 sen or 7.41% from Tuesday's close. The stock has lost RM1.40 or 30.11% in the last two days.

In a filing, Bursa said IDSS for Pertama Digital will resume at 8.30am on Thursday.

The reason for the steep drop in Pertama Digital’s share price over the last two days is unclear. The Edge has reached out to the group for comments.

Earlier this month, Pertama Digital announced the cessation of Sivabalan Poobalasingam as its chief financial officer after the end of his contract. Less than two weeks earlier, CEO Saifullah Akhtar resigned “to pursue personal interests”. No replacement has been announced for both positions.

In September, Pertama Digital saw the emergence of CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd as a substantial shareholder, with a 7.588% stake following acquisitions in the open market.

Notably, Pertama Digital in August announced the mutual termination of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with CGS-CIMB Securities in December 2021 “to jointly develop digital financial services to empower investors” in support of Malaysia’s Capital Market Masterplan 3.

The group's largest shareholder is non-executive chairman Tun Datuk Seri Zaki Tun Azmi, with a 10.07% stake in the company held via Mypay Capital Sdn Bhd.

Other substantial shareholders include executive director Sabri Ab Rahman (10%) and non-executive director Datuk Ahmad Nazri Abdullah (5.06%).

The group in August appealed to Bursa Securities for a 12-month extension until Aug 9, 2024 to submit its regularisation plan. It is an affected listed issuer, following the sale of its core business which resulted in current operations bringing in revenue less than 5% of its share capital.

Pertama Digital (formerly Sinotop Holdings Bhd) has been in the red for five consecutive quarters since the quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY2022), ahead of the sale of its main business, a China-based textile unit Be Top Group Ltd in August for RM70 million cash.

It now provides government SMS gateway service ‘mySMS 15888’ and digital bail payment platform eJamin.

At end-September, Pertama Digital had cash of RM155.85 million, against borrowings of RM8 million for a net cash position of RM147.85 million. However, its net assets per share stood at just four sen, due to sizeable payables and accruals of RM160.39 million. Its retained losses stood at RM40.55 million.

In the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), Pertama Digital's net loss narrowed to RM338,000 or 0.08 sen per share from RM2.51 million or 0.58 sen per share, on the back of lower expenses and an 18.93% increase in revenue to RM1.6 million, from RM1.3 million.

However, its 9MFY2023 bottom line remained in the red with net loss of RM6.61 million or 1.51 sen per share against RM2.55 million net profit or 0.59 sen per share, with revenue down 39.9% to RM4.6 million, from RM7.65 million.

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Bursa suspends intraday short selling of Pertama Digital