Malaysia Pacific holds cards close to its chest

PORT KLANG: Ailing property development and investment company Malaysia Pacific Corp Bhd (MPC) is keeping silent on its restructuring plans.
“At this moment, we are not in the right position to give comment on that before Bursa gives us the feedback,” MPC CEO Ch’ng Soon Sen told reporters at its four-hour AGM yesterday.
The company has applied for more time to submit its regularisation plan, which was due on Dec 1, 2015. It has asked for time until Feb 29, 2016 to hand it in to Bursa Malaysia Securities.
Ch’ng said the request is still pending a decision from the regulator, noting that the company is in the midst of formulating the plan to regularise its financial condition.
According to a shareholder, MPC board members were questioned on the same issues raised at its AGM last year, lamenting the lack of improvement in the company’s financial performance.
The company suffered losses in three out of five years, from FY10 to FY14. For the financial year ended June 30, 2015 (FY15), it reported a net loss of RM14.6 million.
For the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (Q1FY16), the group narrowed its net loss to RM3.03 million, from RM3.3 million in the previous corresponding quarter, due mainly to lower of cost of sales. Revenue was down 29% to RM2.18 million, compared with RM3.08 million, due mainly to lower contribution from rental of investment property.
MPC was designated a Practice Note 1 (PN1) company for defaulting on its debts in March 2013. Last year, it was designated a PN17 company after its auditor BDO expressed a disclaimer opinion on its financial statements citing insufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion.
A special audit commissioned in June this year to address queries made by minority shareholders and Bursa Malaysia Securities in relation to issues raised at its AGM on Dec 30, 2014 recommended, among others, the company to keep appropriate accounting records and documentation and maintain a healthy level of staff in the finance department.