Syed Mohktar’s lossmaking Pos Malaysia surges 36%

 

Pos Malaysia has been in a downward spiral after suffering huge losses over six consecutive financial years.

PETALING JAYA: 

Pos Malaysia Bhd’s shares surged as much as 36% today on high trading volume for no apparent reason.

The company, which is controlled by reclusive tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, rose as much as seven sen to 26.5 sen before closing at 25.5 sen, a 30.8% hike, valuing it at RM200 million.

The number of shares traded surged to 25.7 million, a 33-fold jump from its daily average volume over the past four weeks.

However, there has been no news recently of any corporate developments that could be seen as a catalyst for the spike in its shares.

Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.

Its last bourse filing was a month ago when the group released its financial results for the year ending Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024).

That filing disclosed more bad news for Pos Malaysia as its net loss widened to RM202.7 million in FY2024 from RM157.9 million in FY2023 while revenue fell by 0.9% to RM1.85 billion from RM1.87 billion.

The only bright spot was the group’s aviation segment in which its net profit nearly tripled to RM20.2 million in FY2024 from RM7.38 million the previous year.

However, this was offset by the postal segment which saw its net loss rising to RM196 million from RM153.6 million in FY2023.

Mired in a sunset industry, the national postal company has been in a downward spiral after suffering significant losses over six consecutive financial years.

Year to date, its shares have edged up 2% but over the past one year it has dropped 47%. Its shares have been fluctuating between 17 sen and 25.5 sen since the start of the year.

Khazanah’s landmark divestment

Syed Mokhtar’s control of the group is via his conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd which owns 53.5% of Pos Malaysia.

In 2011, DRB-Hicom acquired Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s 32.21% stake in Pos Malaysia, forking out RM622.79 million or RM3.60 per share.

This was seen as a landmark divestment given that it was the national wealth fund’s first divestment of its entire stake in a major GLC.

This decision was made following a “rigorous selection process” initiated by Khazanah to ensure the new shareholder will be able to “bring POS to the next level of growth”.

Whether the conglomerate has been able to elevate POS Malaysia to the next level of growth is up for debate.

However, given its shares are now languishing at around the 20 sen level, it is clear this has not been a profitable investment for DRB-Hicom and Syed Mokhtar. - FMT