KUALA LUMPUR: Interest in hardly traded Takaso Resources Bhd spiked yesterday with 100 million shares changing hands, making it the most active stock by volume and the sixth highest by value.
The loss-making company’s share price rose 5.1% to 20.5 sen. Some 99.5 million of its 135.22 million issued shares were traded yesterday, or a 129% float of roughly 77 million shares.
When queried, Takaso chief financial officer Su Seong Yeen told The Edge Financial Daily: “We are unaware of any reason for the market activity.
All related parties, substantial shareholders and company directors have been contacted but there are no transactions or corporate exercises that the company is aware of other than the corporate exercise which the company has announced.”
The surge in volume traded is all the more curious when considering that the manufacturer of condoms and baby products has been on a five-year loss-making streak. “The market for our products has been highly competitive,” said Su.
“In a bid to turn the company around, the management of Takaso is planning to invest in new businesses,” said Su, who declined to disclose them. To fund its plans, the company had raised RM32 million through a rights issue of 94.034 million new shares and 56.42 million warrants in September.
Two weeks ago, Takaso announced that it had fully acquired Benchmark Vista Sdn Bhd, a cathode ray tube recycler, for RM2 million via the purchase of one million shares in Benchmark.
Takaso also acquired two dormant companies as part of its restructuring process. It had subscribed for S$100,000 (RM244,215) worth of shares in its unit Takaso Industries Pte Ltd (TIPL) on Nov 23. It also bought Secret Universal Sdn Bhd, which was renamed Takaso International Sdn Bhd, for RM2 on Nov 3.
According to its most recent annual report, Takaso’s net loss widened to RM2.16 million for FY11 ended July 31 from RM1.28 million the previous year. Revenue shrank by 11% from RM19 million for FY10 to RM16.8 million.
“The losses in 2011 were exacerbated to the political crisis in the Middle East as well as the eurozone crisis which are two of our major export markets,” said Su. “To reduce our
exposure to the Middle East and Europe, Takaso is targeting new markets like Thailand.”
To offset the growing losses, Takaso had reduced the value of its shares from RM1 to 25 sen on July 22.
The group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Yakin Hakikat (Thailand) Ltd on Aug 10 under which Yakin will be the sole distributor of Takaso’s condoms and related products in Thailand.
The MoU also grants Takaso the option of acquiring a 39% stake in Yakin, which is the maximum allowed for foreign companies.
Penny stocks continued to garner investor interest yesterday with the top 10 active counters having values of less than RM1. The top four were Takaso, Sanichi Technology Bhd, Envair Holdings Bhd and Asia Media Group Bhd.
Asia Media rose 18.18% to 32.5 sen, Eduspec Holdings Bhd was up 17.39% to 12.5 sen and BCT Technology Bhd ended 16.67% higher to 3.5 sen.
The loss-making company’s share price rose 5.1% to 20.5 sen. Some 99.5 million of its 135.22 million issued shares were traded yesterday, or a 129% float of roughly 77 million shares.
When queried, Takaso chief financial officer Su Seong Yeen told The Edge Financial Daily: “We are unaware of any reason for the market activity.
All related parties, substantial shareholders and company directors have been contacted but there are no transactions or corporate exercises that the company is aware of other than the corporate exercise which the company has announced.”
The surge in volume traded is all the more curious when considering that the manufacturer of condoms and baby products has been on a five-year loss-making streak. “The market for our products has been highly competitive,” said Su.
“In a bid to turn the company around, the management of Takaso is planning to invest in new businesses,” said Su, who declined to disclose them. To fund its plans, the company had raised RM32 million through a rights issue of 94.034 million new shares and 56.42 million warrants in September.
Two weeks ago, Takaso announced that it had fully acquired Benchmark Vista Sdn Bhd, a cathode ray tube recycler, for RM2 million via the purchase of one million shares in Benchmark.
Takaso also acquired two dormant companies as part of its restructuring process. It had subscribed for S$100,000 (RM244,215) worth of shares in its unit Takaso Industries Pte Ltd (TIPL) on Nov 23. It also bought Secret Universal Sdn Bhd, which was renamed Takaso International Sdn Bhd, for RM2 on Nov 3.
According to its most recent annual report, Takaso’s net loss widened to RM2.16 million for FY11 ended July 31 from RM1.28 million the previous year. Revenue shrank by 11% from RM19 million for FY10 to RM16.8 million.
“The losses in 2011 were exacerbated to the political crisis in the Middle East as well as the eurozone crisis which are two of our major export markets,” said Su. “To reduce our
exposure to the Middle East and Europe, Takaso is targeting new markets like Thailand.”
To offset the growing losses, Takaso had reduced the value of its shares from RM1 to 25 sen on July 22.
The group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Yakin Hakikat (Thailand) Ltd on Aug 10 under which Yakin will be the sole distributor of Takaso’s condoms and related products in Thailand.
The MoU also grants Takaso the option of acquiring a 39% stake in Yakin, which is the maximum allowed for foreign companies.
Penny stocks continued to garner investor interest yesterday with the top 10 active counters having values of less than RM1. The top four were Takaso, Sanichi Technology Bhd, Envair Holdings Bhd and Asia Media Group Bhd.
Asia Media rose 18.18% to 32.5 sen, Eduspec Holdings Bhd was up 17.39% to 12.5 sen and BCT Technology Bhd ended 16.67% higher to 3.5 sen.
