PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia has suspended the intraday short selling (IDSS) of Pertama Digital Bhd’s shares for the rest of today after its last done price fell more than 15%, or five sen of its reference price.
Short selling of the shares under IDSS will resume at 8.30am tomorrow, according to a Bursa filing.
At the start of today’s trade, Pertama’s shares experienced a 10% drop to RM4.20 from a high of RM4.65 yesterday.
By 12.29pm, the share price had plunged further by RM1.14 (24.52%) to RM3.51. Its market capitalisation stood at RM1.54 billion.
Prior to this sharp decrease, the counter had gained 166% year-to-date from RM1.75. It had appreciated 206% over the past year from RM1.52.
Pertama has suffered financial losses for five consecutive quarters.
The group recorded a net loss of RM4.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (Q2 FY2023) from RM24,000 in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, due to higher administrative and operating expenses.
For the first six months ended June 30, 2023 (6M FY2023), Pertama recorded a net loss of RM6.27 million, compared to its net profit of RM5.05 million a year ago.
The net loss was due to a 52.42% drop in revenue to RM3 million from RM6.31 million mainly due to the termination of its mySMS services supporting MySejahtera functions for the health ministry at the end of last year.
Pertama, formerly known as Sinotop Holdings Bhd, is primarily engaged in mobile and digital solutions businesses.