The share price of 1Malaysia email project operator Tricubes Bhd dropped a massive 70 percent this morning after Bursa Malaysia rejected its regularisation plan, resulting in the possible delisting of the company from the stock exchange.

The IT company, which is listed on the secondary ACE market, will be suspended with effect from July 11 and it has been given until Aug 2 to appeal against the delisting, according to the company’s announcement to Bursa yesterday.

NONE This prompted a fire sale of the company’s shares by jittery investors when the stock exchange opened, which saw Tricube's share price plunging to 3 sen at 10.23am - 70 percent lower than its last traded price, 10 sen.

It closed today at 3 sen, with 25.9 million shares changed hands, making it the fourth most traded share of day.

The troubled company was awarded the controversial 1Malaysia email project in April last year to serve as a designated digital channel for government bodies to communicate with the public.

The project elicited fierce public criticism as all government bodies are required to pay for every email sent using the 1Malaysia email accounts.

Its critics also questioned whether the plan was intended to “bail out” Tricubes which has been categorised as GN3 by Bursa since October 2010.

Tricubes to appeal

Under Bursa Malaysia guidelines, the GN3-status requires the company to submit a proper recovery plan with 12 months which will be able convince Bursa, or else it could be delisted.

 

It is reported that the counter surged to a six-year high of 32.5 sen from 4 sen in April last year when it was first announced that it had won the email project, which will involve RM50 million over the next few years to roll out the service.

However, in an advertorial published in several media, including Malaysiakini , Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris Jala has denied that the email project was awarded to rescue the “crony” company and no public funds are involved.

Last January, Tricubes Bhd’s 70 percent-owned subsidiary Tricubes NCR JV Sdn Bhd was awarded a RM6 million project by the Home Ministry to maintain the police force’s hardware and software and server enhanced mobile management system (EMMS).

Meanwhile, according to Bernama , Tricubes Bhd will be submitting an appeal against Bursa Malaysia's decision to reject its proposed regularisation plan as soon as possible.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, Tricubes said the rejection by Bursa will only affect the listing status but will not affect the company's ability to carry out its business as usual.

"The company wishes to assure its shareholders and customers that the company is in good financial standing and is continuing with business as usual," it was quoted as saying.