KUALA LUMPUR: Mega Fortris Bhd shares plunged more than 15 per cent in morning trade on Thursday, triggering a suspension of intraday short selling (IDSS) in the counter for the second consecutive day.
The security seals manufacturer’s shares opened one sen, or 0.39 per cent, higher at RM2.55 from Wednesday’s close of RM2.54.
The stock briefly climbed to RM2.62, up eight sen, or 3.15 per cent, before reversing course and falling as low as RM2.13, down 41 sen, or 16.14 per cent.
At 12.04pm, Mega Fortris was trading at RM2.16, down 38 sen, or 14.96 per cent, with about 7.86 million shares changing hands.
IDSS in Mega Fortris was suspended for the remainder of Thursday after its last traded price breached the prescribed threshold of more than 15 per cent or 15 sen below the reference price.
Short selling under IDSS will resume on Friday at 8.30am, Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd said in an announcement.
Heavy selling also extended to two other companies linked to Mega Fortris chairman Datuk Ng Meng Kee, namely GIIB Holdings Bhd and Ni Hsin Group Bhd.
GIIB opened half a sen, or 1.20 per cent, lower at 41 sen from Wednesday’s close of 41.5 sen.
The stock fell as low as 33.5 sen, down eight sen, or 19.28 per cent, before recovering slightly to 36 sen, still down 5.5 sen, or 13.25 per cent, with about 23 million shares traded at press time.
Meanwhile, Ni Hsin opened half a sen, or 1.92 per cent, higher at 26.5 sen from Wednesday’s close of 26 sen.
However, its shares subsequently fell as low as 21.5 sen, down 4.5 sen, or 17.31 per cent, from the previous close.
At 12.08pm, the counter was trading at 23.5 sen, down 2.5 sen, or 9.62 per cent, with about 12.84 million shares changing hands.
Shares in all three companies have fallen sharply since late October, with heavy selling continuing this week.
Mega Fortris fell RM1.23, or 35.65 per cent, from RM3.45 to RM2.22 over two trading days on Oct 29 and 30, before rebounding nearly 30 per cent on Monday.
However, the recovery was short-lived, with the stock falling 33 sen, or 11.5 per cent, to RM2.54 on Wednesday from Tuesday’s close of RM2.87.
Ng holds an almost 67 per cent stake in Mega Fortris, alongside interests of about 15.82 per cent in GIIB and 2.22 per cent in Ni Hsin.
All three companies previously received unusual market activity queries from Bursa Malaysia following the sharp declines in their share prices.
In its response, Mega Fortris disclosed that Ng and substantial shareholder Mega Fortris Global Pte Ltd had obtained a court order seeking documents relating to transactions involving 17.74 million Mega Fortris shares between March 25 and 31 this year.
The company said it could not determine whether the court proceedings were linked to the recent share price decline.