YNH Property says it has received offers for its Mont Kiara mall

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): Property developer YNH Property Bhd said it has received offers to buy its Mont'Kiara retail shopping mall, which sits on a six-acre land, and is expected to finalise the selection of the buyer in a month.

It announced this in a bourse filing on Tuesday, in response to Bursa Malaysia Securities' request for more information on the proposed disposal it said it was mulling in its Jan 12 response to Bursa's unusual market activity query.

At the time, it only said that its management was "considering proposals to sell certain landed properties of the company and its subsidiaries".

“The company will release the announcement on the proposed disposal once the decision is made and terms are finalised and agreed by both parties,” read YNH's disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday.

YNH, however, did not reveal the indicative price range or materiality of the disposal, though Bursa had, in its request for more information issued on Jan 19, also asked for that, besides the indicative timeline to finalise the disposals, current stage of negotiation, and identity of the property or properties, including location and land size.

YNH — in which prominent investor Datuk Dr Yu Kuan Chon holds a 32.6% stake — regained some footing on Tuesday, after slumping to 55.5 sen, its lowest in 14 years, on Monday.

The stock, which saw over 300 million shares or 57% of its total issued share capital traded on Tuesday, started the day at 60 sen, and traded between 57 sen and 82 sen throughout the day. It closed 5.5 sen or 9.91% higher at 61 sen, giving the stock a market capitalisation of RM208 million.

Year-to-date, the battered stock has plunged 86% or RM3.64, which lost the group some RM1.92 billion in market capitalisation.

The group has been loss-making over the past three years. It posted an annual net loss of RM2.79 million in FY2021, which swelled to RM14.59 million in FY2022, and rose further to RM18.23 million in the 18 months ended June 30, 2023 (FY2023).

For the first quarter of FY2024, YNH remained in the red with its net loss for the July-September months widening to RM10.22 million from RM2.22 million a year before, despite revenue rising 19% to RM62.74 million from RM52.84 million. The quarterly performance was dragged by higher cost of sales, expenses and lower other income.