Bus services operator Epicon to exit PN17 status

 

Epicon’s transportation business, under the Cityliner brand in Seremban, contributed 25.5% to group revenue in FY2023. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: Epicon Bhd, formerly known as Konsortium Transnasional Bhd, will be uplifted from its Practice Note 17 (PN17) classification tomorrow following the completion of its regularisation plan.

In a bourse filing today, the bus services cum construction group said Bursa Malaysia Securities (Bursa Securities), via a letter today, had approved its application for upliftment from being classified as a PN17 company.

Bursa Securities said Epicon had regularised its financial condition and no longer triggers any criteria relating to PN17 under the Bursa Malaysia Main Market Listing Requirements.

The group will exit from its PN17 status effective from 9am tomorrow.

The company had triggered the PN17 criteria in April 2020 after its auditors highlighted a material uncertainty in its ability to continue as a going concern, in its audited financial statements for the year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY2018).

As part of its regularisation plan, the group announced in 2022 it would dispose its wholly-owned express bus business under Park May Bhd to Nadicorp Holdings Sdn Bhd for a nominal sum of RM1 plus a debt waiver of RM51.46 million. The divestment resulted in a net gain of RM18.63 million when it was completed in August 2023.

The major shareholder of Nadicorp is Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, who was previously one of the major shareholders of Konsortium Transnasional.

Its regularisation plan also included a share capital reduction, and a private placement of 125 million new shares, representing 26.61% of its existing shares to independent third parties at an issue price of 16 sen per share.

In addition, Epicon ventured into the construction business as part of the plan, focusing on affordable housing and commercial properties.

The construction segment is now the main contributor to the group, making up 74.5% or RM150.15 million in revenue in FY2023.

The remaining 25.5% was contributed by its transportation business, with a fleet of 92 stage buses in Seremban under the Cityliner brand.

Doh Tee Leong.

Epicon managed to finally return to the black in FY2023, posting a net profit of RM68.21 million from a net loss of RM11.26 million a year earlier, attributed to its construction business and the one-off gain from the debt waiver and disposal of Park May.

This was the group’s first annual profit following consecutive losses since FY2016.

The company’s largest shareholder is Doh Properties Sdn Bhd, a private vehicle of Doh Tee Leong, the former chairman of Lagenda Properties Bhd, who holds a 11.26% stake.

He emerged as a substantial shareholder after acquiring a 14.26% stake in the group through a private placement exercise in December 2021. He is currently an executive director of Epicon.

The group closed 1 sen or 2.17% higher at 47 sen, valuing it at RM279.85 million. - FMT