KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): Bursa Securities has issued an unusual market activity (UMA) query to Jentayu Sustainables Bhd (JSB) after its share price dropped as much as 30% or 39 sen to a three-month low of 91 sen on Wednesday.

The stock exchange asked the company, formerly known as Ipmuda Bhd, if there is any corporate development, rumour or report as well as possible explanation that may account for its trading activity.

The steep drop in JSB's share price - which exceeded 15 sen or 15% of its reference price - prompted Bursa to suspend intraday short selling of the stock on Wednesday morning, until 8.30am on Thursday.

The year 2023 was not an easy one for businesses. With interest rate hikes up to 3% while inflation remained above its long-term average since the pandemic, businesses had to fight against currency fluctuation and gain a competitive advantage in the market to survive.

Over the last two weeks, shares of JSB - which is engaged in renewable energy, healthcare and trading of building materials - have been on a downtrend, experiencing a decline of 21.2% from a high of RM1.32 on Jan 5.

However, over the past year, the counter has risen over 46%.

JSB’s largest shareholder is Datin Norhaida Abu Sahid, who is the spouse of the group’s executive chairman Datuk Beroz Nikmal Mirdin with a 14.47% stake, Bloomberg data showed.

Norhaida is the director of Jentayu Capital Sdn Bhd as well as Borneo Sustainable Energy Sdn Bhd. Beroz Nikmal holds a 4.42% stake in JSB.

JSB booked a RM7.15 million net loss for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) versus a RM11.12 million net profit in 1QFY2023, despite revenue increasing by 24% to RM7.57 million from RM6.1 million a year earlier. 

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/node/697696