KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 2): Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah, the main shareholder and group managing director of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, was compelled to cut his interest in the company again this week. The Serba Dinamik MD announced in a bourse statement yesterday that he sold 61.71 million shares on Tuesday, citing “forced selling” as the cause.
With the most recent sale, he now owns 896.05 million shares, or a 24.16 percent interest in the firm.
Abdul Karim controlled one billion shares, or a 27 percent interest in the corporation, before being forced to sell 46.3 million shares on Monday.
In terms of share price performance, the counter rose 15.15 percent, or five sen, to settle at 38 sen yesterday, up from 33 sen on Wednesday.
Serba Dinamik climbed 1.32 percent or one sen to 38 sen during today’s morning trading session, valuing it at RM1.43 billion.
At the time of writing, it was the most actively traded counter on the local exchange, with a trading volume of 247.05 million shares.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) declared on Wednesday that it has stopped being a significant shareholder in Serba Dinamik after selling a block of 96 million shares on the open market on June 25 for 2.57 percent.
The recent sale left the EPF with 185.08 million Serba Dinamik shares, or just under 5% of the company, according to a back-of-the-envelope calculation.
The EPF is the second institutional fund to pull out of Serba Dinamik as a significant stakeholder. Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) sold 26.03 million shares on June 1 to cut its interest from 5.24 percent to 4.53 percent.
Serba Dinamik is embroiled in a storm following a disagreement with its previous external auditor, KPMG, on anomalies affecting RM4.54 billion in transactions.
Abdul Karim has asserted numerous times that Serba Dinamik’s management did nothing improper in regards to the KPMG audit issues.
Meanwhile, Serba Dinamik has accepted EY’s offer to be its independent auditor, subject to certain restrictions.
KPMG must provide EY with written confirmation that cooperation in the form of access and information will be provided to EY for the purpose of understanding the alleged irregularities and anomalies identified, such as the confirmation process of matters sent to identified customers and the relevant work papers, including confirmations and correspondences in relation to the findings and concerns rai.
Serba Dinamik is waiting for a response from KPMG regarding EY’s request.
Also read:EPF ceases to be a significant stakeholder in Serba Dinamik, and Abdul Karim is compelled to reduce his position/n
