KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 6): Cape EMS Bhd, whose shares fell 28.3% on Tuesday, saw approximately 7.78 million shares, or 0.79% stake, traded off-market for a total value of RM3.15 million.

According to Bloomberg data, shares in the electronic manufacturing services (EMS) provider were traded in the final minutes of the trading session across 78 blocks at 40.5 sen apiece.

The identities of the parties involved in the transactions are not immediately known, and the company has not filed any changes in shareholding with the local stock exchange on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Cape EMS shares fell 16 sen to an all-time low of 40.5 sen, with over 265 million shares changing hands.

Tuesday's selldown dragged the counter to a fall of nearly 60% within the last two weeks, valuing the Johor-based firm at RM401.76 million.

The latest round of selling pressure on Cape EMS began on July 22. During this period, the company's managing director and CEO, Christina Tee Kim Chin, offloaded over 17.11 million shares.

Tee’s current shareholding in the company stands at 38.38%. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) holds a 5.04% stake and has emerged as a substantial shareholder after acquiring 3.5 million shares last month.

Meanwhile, Tee’s sister, Kim Yok, who is also an executive director, transferred 20.4 million shares to Tee on Aug 1, reducing her stake to 4.75% and ceasing to be a substantial shareholder.

Shares of Cape EMS were listed in March 2023 with an initial public offering (IPO) price of 90 sen. The counter touched a peak of RM1.51 in April that year, but has retreated since then.

It first experienced a steep sell-off in February which dragged its share price to below its IPO price.

This was due to weaker-than-expected results at the time, with RM5.5 million net profit in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023), as revenue climbed to a high of RM147.7 million.

In 1QFY2024, Cape EMS' net profit came in at RM13.4 million, with record quarterly revenue of RM154.5 million.

As at end-March, the group had cash of RM59.63 million on total borrowings of RM159.45 million.

Also in its books are RM85.7 million in goodwill on acquisition, and trade receivables of RM220.94 million — up from RM177.58 million the year ago.