ABC ordered to explain 'odd activity'

ABC ordered to explain 'odd activity'

The Stock Exchange of Thailand is requiring Asset Bright Co (ABC) to clarify its second-quarter and first-half earnings by Friday.

The bourse has cast doubt on an 87.3% decline in the company's first-half sales revenue to 7.05 million baht and an 87.3% surge in administrative expenses to 15.6 million, according to an SET statement.

ABC came under scrutiny after the SET suspended the stock's trading yesterday in the wake of a near-quadrupling in price to 8.20 baht over the six trading days from Aug 15-22.

The SET has required the stock to be traded using a cash balance account, with investors paying the full amount in advance before buying the stock.

Moreover, ABC's second-quarter and six-month earnings plunged to a net loss when a 201-million-baht one-time gain from asset divestment was stripped out, the SET said, adding that it had ordered the company to provide details of the asset sales transaction such as buyer name, value of assets, pricing rules determination, reasons for selling the assets and the date of sales.

ABC posted a net profit of 158 million baht for the second quarter and 191 million for the January-to-June period.

The SET has also told ABC to provide information about the progress of its e-commerce operations and the expected date the company will start the new business.

"ABC's shares are red hot, and all we're doing is a trading alert and notice of suspension," said SET president Kesara Manchusree. "The SET will suspend the stock from trading until the company can provide satisfactory information."

She warned investors, novices in particular, to be prudent and avoid trading stocks based on rumours.

The company, a sock manufacturer and distributor under the brand names Arrow, S'Fare, John Henry, Grand Slam, Elle Homme, Guy Laroche and Pierre Cardin, said repeatedly in a filing with the SET yesterday that there was no such material development at the company and that it did not know of any cause for the share price surge.  

An auditor said in a note to ABC's interim financial information for the 2014 statements that its review was "substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with auditing standards and consequently does not enable me to obtain assurance that I would become aware of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit".

"Accordingly, I do not express an audit opinion," the auditor concluded.

Separately, the SET is requiring Sub Sri Thai (SST), CyberPlanet Interactive (CYBER) and DNA 2002 (DNA) to clarify unusual movements in their share prices.

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