Utusan Melayu defaults on RM1.18m loan payments, plans private placement to raise up to RM2.1m

PETALING JAYA: Utusan Melayu (Malaysia), which has defaulted on another two loan payments totalling RM1.18 million due to financial constraints, proposes to undertake a private placement to raise up to RM2.1 million for the repayment of bank borrowings.
It told Bursa Malaysia that the loan payments owed to Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd and Maybank Islamic Bhd stand at RM530,121 and RM654,750, respectively.

The group said it intends to submit a proposal to restructure the loan facilities with the banks.
"In the meantime, the company is working towards restructuring all its loan facilities in line with its business transformation plan."
Early this month, Utusan Melayu also announced a loan default of RM2.96 million to Affin Bank, bringing the total amount of default to RM4.14 million.
In a separate filing, Utusan Melayu said its proposed private placement will involve an issuance of up to 11.07 million new shares representing about 10% of its issued shares to third party investors.
Based on an indicative issue price of 19 sen per share, the proposed private placement is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to about RM2.1 million.
Utusan Melayu said it intends to use up to RM2 million to repay bank borrowings, while the remaining will be used for the private placement expenses.
The exercise is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.