Vertice, Ewein shares down following Penang arrests

Vertice falls nine sen to RM1 while Ewein slips two sen

PETALING JAYA: Shares of fashion apparel retailer Vertice Bhd fell nine sen to RM1 while that of Penang-based Ewein Bhd, a sheet metal fabricator turned developer, slipped two sen to 45 sen at the close yesterday following the arrests of senior company officials in relation to the RM6.3bil Penang Undersea Tunnel project.

The Ewein official was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) late on Dec 9 after raids were carried out on two companies related to Ewein – 60%owned subsidiary Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd and, 555 Capital Sdn Bhd, which also owns a 0.96% stake in Ewein.

Vertice has a 13.2% stake in Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd, the main contractor of the tunnel project whose office was also raided by the MACC.

Ewein’s board said in a stock exchange filing that its official been remanded to facilitate and assist in an investigation currently being conducted by the MACC.

Ewein’s directors clarified that neither the company nor its subsidiaries were involved in the undersea tunnel project, currently investigated under the MACC Act 2009.

The company does not expect any operational, management or financial impact from the arrest.

The board said the deputy managing director, Chuah Poh Lim, would continue to run the business.

“The board of directors will accordingly make further announcement on any further material development to the MACC investigation that they have been made aware of,” the board said.

Meanwhile, Vertice said in a separate stock filing that to its best knowledge, the MACC investigation on the undersea tunnel project would not impact the project’s progress, an integral component of the Penang Transport Master Plan.

“The role of Consortium Zenith as the main contractor for the project will continue as previously planned,” it said.

The company also pointed out that the project was part of Vertice’s diversification efforts.

Vertice said the main revenue driver for the company going forward would come from construction projects secured and executed by Vertice Construction Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned unit that has been awarded multiple projects worth more than RM100mil in recent months.

“We expect that this growth momentum will continue in financial year 2018 and beyond,” it said, noting that the company’s financial performance will not be adversely impacted by the recent reported events.