Ho Hup seeks to hasten exit from PN17

KUALA LUMPUR: Ho Hup Construction Company Bhd will submit the proposal for its upliftment from PN17 status to Bursa Malaysia after the completion of its financial regularisation exercise today, said executive director Derek Wong Kit Leong.

He told The Edge Financial Daily yesterday that the firm is expected to be lifted from its PN17 status much earlier than the original June 2014 target.

“Compared with other [PN17]companies, we have already registered five consecutive quarters of profit and we hope to get an earlier upliftment,” he said.

Under Bursa Malaysia’s guidelines, a company can apply to exit PN17 status following two consecutive quarters of operational profit after the completion of its financial regularisation scheme.

Ho Hup, which was designated a PN17 company in 2008, said in a press statement yesterday that the regularisation exercise will conclude with the listing on Bursa Malaysia today of the irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS), warrants and redeemable convertible preference shares (RCPS) issued in relation to its restructuring exercise.

A total of 102 million ICPS, and 51 million free warrants, are being issued. A total of 133.56 million RCPS are also being issued to settle debts owed to unsecured creditors.

Following the completion of the financial regularisation exercise, Ho Hup will have a paid-up capital of RM51 million, comprising 102 million shares of 50 sen each.

Wong said armed with a healthy and clean balance sheet, Ho Hup is poised to take on new projects.

He said its subsidiary Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd will continue to roll out its Aurora Place project in Bukit Jalil and other developments over the next two to three years.

Apart from property development and construction, Ho Hup is also expanding its ready-mix concrete business through its subsidiary Tru-Mix Concrete Sdn Bhd by setting up new batching plants and buying additional new trucks.

According to its abridged prospectus for the financial regularisation exercise, Ho Hup said the firm is currently scouting for new landbank for future developments and joint venture partnerships for infrastructure construction projects.

For the quarter ended Sept 30, Ho Hup posted a net profit of RM2.77 million on the back of RM61.59 million revenue.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 31, 2013.