PETALING JAYA: The share price of MyNews Holdings Bhd has soared following reports that Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani could emerge as a shareholder in the convenience store chain.
The group’s shares jumped as high as 4.5 sen or 10.71% to 46.5 sen during the early morning trade, before paring some of its gains to settle at 45.5 sen as at 10.42am, up 3.5 sen or 8.33% from Friday’s closing price of 42 sen.
Year-to-date, however, the stock has declined by 27.78% or 17.5 sen.
The Edge weekly had reported in its July 3 issue that the Umno lawmaker has been interested in acquiring some equity in MyNews for quite some time. However, the report mentioned that the pricing during that period was “not right” for such an investment.
A source has indicated that Johari’s interest in MyNews may be related to his investment in a local bottled drinks company.
It is speculated that MyNews’ convenience stores could potentially serve as a distribution channel for these beverages.
On June 27, MyNews announced its intention to raise RM29.33 million through a private placement.
The exercise involves the issuing of 68.2 million shares, about 10% of the company’s total issued shares.
The raised funds are earmarked for the expansion of MyNews’ operations. Specifically, the company plans to utilise the proceeds to open 48 new convenience stores across Malaysia over the next 12 months.
In its first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (Q1 FY2023), MyNews posted a lower net loss of RM6.28 million compared to RM10.22 million a year earlier. Revenue increased to RM174.2 million from RM141.1 million.