Monday 23 June 2014

Maemode: accurate predictions by Ze Moola, but why did nobody notice? (4)

I wrote before about Maemode (Malaysian AE Models Holdings Berhad), here, here and here.

I am afraid that my fears regarding Maemode being delisted appear to be come true, according to this announcement:


the securities of the Company will be de-listed on 2 July 2014 unless an appeal against the de-listing is submitted to Bursa Securities on or before 27 June 2014 ("the Appeal Timeframe")


The shares have been suspended for a long time, so it doesn't look like a big deal. But the issue that I have with this is that Maemode's minority shareholders and interested observers might never know what exactly has happened.

The following are the financial results between 2002 and 2012, the company appeared to be nicely profitable, and although margins were not that great, Maemode looked like a pretty decent company. Its accounts were audited and approved by Ernst & Young, one of the top accounting companies.

 
(all amounts in million RM)

However, when one digs deeper (and blogger "Where is Ze Moola" did exactly that), a troubling trend appears:


The build up of debt is very troublesome. And why have the receivables grown much faster than the sales? From about 45% in 2002/04 to 77% in 2010/12. If the receivables are "able to receive" in a timely matter, then the loans can be repaid, but what if that is not the case?

In an interesting twist, well-known businessman Tey Por Yee became a large shareholder. With hindsight, that might not have been the best timed investment, to put it mildly.

The 2013 results were not so good until the third quarter (a small loss), and financial troubles started to appear when a subsidiary defaulted on a loan.

But the real shocker came when the fourth quarter results were announced:


In one foul swoop, the company went from a large accumulated profit to an accumulated loss of 69 million.

The explanation offered was (in my opinion) completely insufficient:


The company would not issue its 2013 audited accounts, its year report, nor any other quarterly reports anymore. In other words, we are completely left in the dark what actually has happened.

Unfortunately, the authorities (BM & SC) also did not order an investigative audit, something that I think was very much needed.

The "commentary of prospect" in the last quarterly report looked rather "comical" (writing about the Malaysian and Chinese economy when the company is going under):


Will we ever know what really happened with Maemode and will the authorities take appropriate action?

I sincerely hope so,  time will tell.

1 comment:

  1. The auditors are incompetent amateurs because they approved years of this company's accounts with hardly any adverse comments (until very recently) WHEN THE SHARE PRICE WAS JUST 25 to 30% OF ITS AUDITED NET WORTH PER SHARE, for many years!! They were not put on enquiry which any auditor worth his or her salt, must be expected to do. Even a chartered accountant from Bangladesh would have discovered the massive window dressing year in year out!

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