TWO former senior employees of UOB Kay Hian Private Limited (UOBKH) were charged on Wednesday for allegedly lying to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in relation to reports on a then Catalist aspirant. Lan Kang Ming, 38, and Wee Toon Lee, 34, each face three charges of providing MAS with false information in October 2018 in relation to due diligence reports on an unidentified company applying to list on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. MAS said in a media statement on Wednesday that it was performing an onsite inspection of UOBKH between June and August 2018, to assess the latter's controls, policies and procedures in relation to its role as an issue manager for Initial Public Offering (IPOs). During the examination, Lan and Wee were said to have provided different versions of a due diligence report relating to background checks on a company applying to be listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange. UOBKH had acted as the issue manager
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By FELDA CHAY
20 April 2011
The Think Environmental Company (TTEC) has been rather chameleon- like these past few years. In 2009, when green issues drew significant attention, it transformed itself from a maker of office equipment into a renewable energy firm. About a year later, when gold marked a strong 10-year run-up in pricing, it decided to go into gold mining.
And back in 2005, when it launched its IPO, it announced plans to branch away from the office equipment business into digital cameras - a loss-making business which it quickly divested months later.
This tendency to ride on what’s hot at the moment (and even abandoning previous projects) means that investors need to be circumspect about its latest gold venture. A close examination of its track record is also necessary.
At a media-cum-analyst briefing on its gold venture on Monday, director of corporate communications Roger Poh said that TTEC decided to go into gold mining because the environmental business ‘has matured, it has taken a life of its own, it can sustain its own’.
What exactly this means is not clear, since the company has failed to meet the targets it set for itself in the green energy sphere.
Going back to November 2009, TTEC (then known as the Asia Tiger Group) announced that it was taking a controlling interest in UK-based waste-to- energy specialist Think Greenergy Ltd (TGE). Then, TGE said that it aimed to build up to 20 waste-to-energy sites across the UK by 2012, with the first site targeted to be operational and revenue-generating by April 2010. So determined was the firm to shed its image as an office equipment maker that it made the name change around the start of 2010 to show, very clearly, that it ‘thinks environmental’.
But its grand plans on the green front have failed to come into play.
DMG Research noted last December that, based on TTEC’s results for the six months from April to September last year, it has not commenced its waste- to-energy operations. A look at the company’s financial statement for the period supports this view, as there was no mention of any revenue generated from the UK plant. It must therefore be puzzling to investors why the business was deemed to have matured and become self-sustainable.
And in yet another new thrust, the company has embarked on gold mining - a completely different and highly risky business.
This change raises a pertinent question: Did the company underestimate the challenges and execution risks of going into a new business, believing that it could turn into a successful green firm by snapping up stakes in renewable energy players? That, after all, was basically how it made its way into the green energy business.
This question also applies to its glittery new venture. The switch to gold came just a year or so after it went into the green energy business. This involved the company taking a 70 per cent stake in Mornington Offshore, which owns gold concessions in the Republic of Mali, in West Africa.
Whether gold will bring it the success that has eluded its green energy business remains to be seen. Just like its move into renewable energy, TTEC has set itself some targets for its gold business. These sound exciting and could be hugely rewarding for the company - if they are met. The question is whether it will achieve its targets this time.
On Monday, TTEC said that, among various things, it will produce 3,000 ounces of gold per month by March next year and secure 20 concessions over the same time period that will allow it to carry out exploration works on lands that contain one million ounces of gold underground. These would be compliant with a widely accepted standard for professional reporting purposes within the mining industry called the JORC code.
To support its venture, it will pump in between US$30 million and US$45 million over 12 months.
But anyone in the mining business will tell you that mining comes with great risk, requires a large capital outlay, takes time - and requires more than a little bit of luck.
Also, the company is entering the business at a time when gold prices are so high that some analysts have begun warning that gold prices have peaked.
Then there are the geographical regions where these companies have to work. Emerging markets are notoriously difficult to navigate and Africa - along with the markets that TTEC has identified, such as Indonesia, Mongolia and the Philippines - belongs to that market segment. Adding to the challenge is that these are all new markets for TTEC, which has no previous business in these regions.
Since the company first announced its plans to go for gold on Dec 6 last year, its shares have soared 48.2 per cent to 84.5 cents - the highest close since listing in 2005 at an offer price of 22 cents a share. The run-up puts the firm’s market capitalisation at $607.9 million.
Given the numerous risks involved in gold mining and the company’s track record (or lack thereof) in reinventing itself, only time will tell if TTEC will find its pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
And because the share price has risen significantly, it pays for investors to keep the euphoria in check and wait to see if the firm can deliver. It won’t be a long wait: TTEC said that its first round of production is due in five months.
In the meantime, here’s something else to ponder: if silver becomes the next big thing, will TTEC jump into that, too?