IF Dataprep Holdings Bhd were to be a spaceship, it would have shot up to the moon at supersonic speed, having completed one full cycle and return to earth at somehow a ‘crashing’ pace.
One year after its meteoric rise from a low of 16.5 sen on the eve of the 2021 Chinese New Year (Feb 11, 2021) to an all-time high of RM4.13 on March 16 that year, the company which holds the distinction of being the first Malaysian IT company to be listed on Bursa Malaysia back in 1991 has lost much of its glitter.
At the close of today’s trading, Dataprep which had reinstated its status as an investors’ darling for most part of 2021 was up 1 sen or 1.9% to 53.5 sen with 16.32 million shares traded, hence giving the company a market capitalisation of RM360 mil.
A close look at the company’s chart indicates that the gradual slide of Dataprep’s share price actually commenced on March 16, 2021 itself, culminating into the stock further slipping 35% year-to-date from 81.5 sen on Jan 3 this year to 53.5 sen currently.
At one stage, FocusM had described Dataprep as “a stock with nine lives” when after having plummeted to a low of 72.5 sen on April 13, 2021, Dataprep’s share price began somehow to re-energise almost immediately with its ability to close at RM2 on April 19 for a 46 sen or 29.8% gain amid a hefty volume of 142.39 mil shares.
Stock value aside, Dataprep has battled past an unusual market activity (UMA) query by Bursa Malaysia on March 2, 2021 over its sharp share price rise and heavy trading volume to which the company claimed that it was unaware of circumstances leading to such an event.
As the UMA query failed to quell interest in the stock, the market regulator resorted to serve ‘a red card’ on the counter on March 10 via the issuance of an advice urging investors to exercise caution and make informed decisions in the trading of Dataprep shares.
Interestingly, there had been very few corporate developments brewing at Dataprep since 1Q FY2021 until Dec 23, 2021 when the company announced that its subsidiary Dataprep Asia Sdn Bhd has been officially appointed by Asia Coding Centre Sdn Bhd as the exclusive project delivery partner for COVID-19 rapid molecular testing using molecular diagnostics equipment under the MiCo BioMed brand.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, deployment of the MiCo BioMed COVID-19 rapid molecular testing using Dataprep’s molecular diagnostics equipment is expected to contribute positively to the company’s earnings per share (EPS) and net assets per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022 and beyond.
For its 9M FY2021 ended Sept 30, 2021, Dataprep saw its net loss widened to -RM10.6 mil from -RM6.76 mil in the corresponding period a year ago while the company’s revenue inched down 10.5% to RM21.14 mil (9M FY2020: RM23.63 mil). – Feb 4, 2022
