MORE to proceed with capital increase

More Return Plc (MORE) insisted yesterday it would continue with a plan to raise capital amid an ongoing investigation into suspicious transactions of its shares that prompted the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to suspend trade of the stock last week.

In a filing to the SET, MORE said its chief executive Ummarit Klomchitcharoen confirmed he did not sell any shares.

Mr Ummarit provided clarification to government agencies on the transactions being probed and the company believes after the investigation is finished, investor confidence in the company will return, according to the statement.

MORE shares, which are listed on the Market for Alternative Investment, were suspended from trade during Nov 14-18 after the SET noticed unusual trading on Nov 10.

The SET removed the SP (suspension) sign on MORE on Nov 21. The share price plunged to 0.68 baht yesterday, down from 0.96 baht on Monday.

“It is necessary to proceed with the capital increase,” MORE said in the statement.

The company needs additional cash to organise the Rolling Loud project, an international hip hop music festival, with a total cost of 889 million baht.

Roughly 691 million baht received from the conversion of MORE-W2 may not be enough for the whole project and the withdrawal of the original co-investor will make the company’s search for new investors “even more difficult”, the firm said.

“The company does not have other sources to secure funding and is at risk of being sued by Rolling Loud USA if the project does not achieve its target,” said the statement.

To organise the festival according to plan and provide support against unpredictable events, capital needs to be raised to give the company more flexibility to manage projects, said MORE.

Under the plan, MORE will issue 300 million capital increase shares, with the price to be determined by the board of directors at the time of issuance. Mr Ummarit currently holds more than 1.5 billion shares as the company’s largest shareholder.