Caution on Patimas
Bursa advises investors to be careful in trading the company’s shares
PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia has advised investors to exercise caution and to make informed decisions in the trading of Patimas Computers Bhd shares.
The counter was issued an unusual market activity query last Thursday following a recent spike in its trading volume and stock price.
In its reply, it said it was unaware of any development which may have caused the spike save for a memorandum of understanding in which it had entered with a third party which is a telecommunication company, to consider the possibility of providing technology know-how to assist the telecommunication company to manage and run 4G services in a foreign country. It added that depending on the outcome of a due diligence process, the proposal may or may not materialise. A day later, businessman Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi emerged as a substantial shareholder in the firm with a 5.4% stake.
Patimas shares have been on a general uptrend in the past one month, rising from 2.5sen to 14sen at yesterday’s close. The stock which fell 4 sen yesterday was the most actively traded counter with more than 298 million shares changing hands. Bursa Malaysia said it would not hesitate to take appropriate regulatory action to ensure fair and orderly trading of Patimas.
Bernama reported that former Bank Simpanan Nasional chairman Abdul Azim was in talks to rope in a foreign strategic partner to help revive the fortunes of Patimas, a PN17 company. The talks were expected to be concluded in the next 10 working days, he was quoted as telling Bernama. “Lets just say that while Patimas as a company might not excite, its data centre and its ability to manage data storage is very valuable,” he said. Abdul Azim recently also emerged as a substantial shareholder in Tiger Synergy Bhd.
In a separate announcement, Patimas said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a limited company in Tanzania.
It said the MOU was at a preliminary negotiation stage and that it was still in a state of flux and no specific terms and conditions have been agreed to yet.
“No decision has been made on whether or not to proceed further pending due diligence to be carried out by both parties on each other. Depending on the outcome of the due diligence, the above proposal may or may not materialise,” it added. Its directors had yet to deliberate on the nature of and viability of the project, it said, adding that the MOU was signed to formalise the intention of both parties to further explore the possibilities of working together in the project.