SHARES in MOL Global Inc, the first Malaysian company to list in the United States, fell more than 60 per cent on Monday after the online payment company reported accounting errors at its Vietnam unit and a 61.5 per cent fall in net profit.

The company, majority owned by billionaire Tan Sri Vincent Tan, is now trading 80 per cent below the price it was listed at on October 10.

It is also facing two class action suits from investors who said they had been misled by its listing prospectus.

MOL said the Vietnam unit initially overstated its revenue and direct costs slightly. The error, though, will add to investors' worries about the company after the departure of chief financial officer (CFO) Allan Wong last week and a delay to its results announcement.

"It's a perfect storm that resulted in a delay in our earnings result," chief executive Ganesh Kumar Bangah said on an analyst conference call.

"We hope we get up and continue to deliver on the promises we have set forth in our prospectus and to our investors," he said.

Trading of MOL shares was halted on November 24 after falling more than 50 per cent when the company announced that Wong was leaving, a departure the company stressed was for personal reasons.

The eventual release of the company's results on Monday offered little respite to investors, showing that the profit attributable to shareholders fell 61.5 per cent to RM3 million in the three months ended September 30.

The company blamed the fall on the "rapid" shift in gaming habits of consumers, who are now playing more games on their smartphones rather than online.

"This decrease was further compounded by technical delays in introducing and monetising new mobile games on the company's platform," MOL said.

The company, also known as
Money Online, is one of the
largest e-payment enablers for
online goods and gaming in Southeast Asia by payment volume. Reuters