KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): Two months after the departure of its former auditor, chemical manufacturer Sersol Bhd has appointed Morison LC PLT as the company's auditor.

In a bourse filing, Sersol said the new appointment was effective immediately.

In November last year, Sersol announced the resignation of its former auditor UHY, saying it was “due to lack of manpower”.

In the same month, Sersol removed its then chief executive officer Datuk Wira Justin Lim Hwa Tat, citing his absence from office without proper notice and not responding to a show cause letter since his suspension as CEO on Aug 30 last year.

This came after Lim, who is under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), was suspended by the group as he had failed to respond to requests for his return to office to report to the board and to provide a written response on the MACC's inquiry about him, and to explain his long absence from the office.

Sersol said the MACC's investigation was related to RM2.5 million worth of payments the Johor-based chemical manufacturer made to a third party, based on Lim's instruction and approval.

Earnings-wise, the group's net loss swelled to RM7.91 million for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023, over 14 times the net loss of RM542,000 it incurred in the previous year's corresponding quarter, largely due to deposits and prepayments written off amounting to RM7.4 million that are deemed to be non-recoverable. The group did not say why these sums had turned non-recoverable.

Quarterly revenue came in at RM3.45 million, down 38% from RM5.56 million previously, due to softer demand from customers in the electrical and electronics business.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, the group’s net loss ballooned to RM16.27 million from the RM1.86 million it posted in the same period last year, while revenue dropped 27.2% to RM10.02 million from RM13.77 million.

On Tuesday, Sersol shares closed half a sen or 4% lower at 12 sen, valuing the company at RM88 million.

Read also:
Sersol announces auditor's resignation while its net loss swells as it writes off non-recoverable deposits, payments
Sersol fires CEO Justin Lim after suspension since August
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Sersol says CEO Justin Lim approved RM2.5m in payments to third party for undisclosed reason