KUALA LUMPUR (April 24): Tan Sri Muhammad Ikmal Opat Abdullah, founder and controlling shareholder of Widad Group Bhd, has continued to trim his stake in the construction company as well as in IT products and services firm Dataprep Holdings Bhd.

Muhammad Ikmal, through his private vehicle Widad Business Group Sdn Bhd, divested 12.59 million shares in Widad via open market transactions between April 22 and April 23. Consequently, his indirect stake in the company decreased from 18.11% to 17.702%.

Additionally, his direct stake declined to 0.166% following the sale of 100,000 shares during the same period. The combined value of these share transactions amounted to RM81,408.74, according to Widad’s bourse filing.

Currently, Ikmal holds a 17.868% direct and indirect stake in the company.

In a separate filing, Muhammad Ikmal, through Wardah Communication Sdn Bhd, sold 16.13 million shares or a 2.19% stake in Dataprep via the open market on April 2. Wardah Communication now holds a 3.79% stake in Dataprep — below the 5% threshold required for substantial shareholding status — a decrease from the 7.859% it held in early January this year.

The transaction price was not disclosed. Based on Dataprep’s closing price of 13.5 sen on April 22, the block of shares would have been worth about RM2.18 million.

Shares of Widad, which have fallen over 85% since the start of this year, closed at seven sen on Wednesday, valuing it at RM216.75 million.

Meanwhile, Dataprep’s share price was unchanged at 12.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM88.95 million. The counter has fallen over 26% year-to-date from 17 sen, and 52% from 2023’s closing price peak of 26.5 sen.

Muhammad Ikmal has been selling Widad and Dataprep shares since the start of this year. He dumped a total 64.6 million shares in Widad this month alone and 29.84 million shares in Dataprep between Jan 19 and April 22.

Muhammad Ikmal has been forced to sell his shares in Widad and Dataprep in the past.

Widad is mainly known for providing building maintenance support services for Malaysia’s royal palaces.

Muhammad Ikmal gained control of Widad in 2018 when his private vehicle, Widad Business Group (WBG), undertook a reverse takeover of industrial labels manufacturer Ideal Jacobs (M) Corp Bhd and changed its name to Widad Group Bhd.

He took over Dataprep from controlling shareholder VXL Holdings Sdn Bhd in 2017. VXL is owned by Datuk Lim Chee Wah, the son of the late Genting group founder Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong.

On the financial front, Widad posted a RM16.58 million net loss for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023) on the back of revenue of RM230.61 million. Dataprep, which has been in the red for more than 10 years, widened its net loss to RM23.29 million for FY2023, from RM17.61 million the previous year, due to expected credit loss on receivables, allowance for obsolete inventories, as well as depreciation and amortisation charge.