MAA is a cash-rich company, which also has no borrowings.According to its recent financial report, the group had RM251.1mil in cash as at Dec 31, 2018. Just based on this figure, without taking into account all other assets, MAA’s cash per share already amounts to 90.8 sen.Aside from this, MAA has receivables from Zurich Insurance that are due by end-June of RM93.8mil and RM48.4mil in quoted and unquoted financial assets.Based on MAA’s issued shares of 273.5mil, this translates to more than RM1.40 per share.This is from the group’s disposal of its 75% stake in MAA Takaful Bhd (now known as Zurich Takaful Malaysia Bhd) in June 2016.“The cash, receivables and financial assets represent the liquid assets. The company still has some property assets and an interest in a insurance business outside Malaysia,” says a shareholder. Based on these figures, one can understand why Laxey claims that the SCR price undervalues the company.However, MAA has been a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company since 2011, and is loss-making and does not have a core business.In the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018, MAA posted a net loss of RM11mil, and for the full year period, a net loss of RM27.5mil. Hence, investors reacted with optimism when the privatisation plan was first announced.The company’s share price surged, hitting limit-up before closing at a multi-year high of 90 sen on the very next day.This was also due to the SCR price of RM1.10 per share being at a notable 83.3% or 50 sen higher than its closing share price on the last trading day prior to the announcement.The EGM will be held on May 29.

Source: The Star May 21, 2019 10:52 UTC