Axington receives letter of demand from Kuala Lumpur landlord

AXINGTON has received a letter of demand from its landlord Klang Valley Projects claiming about RM15,592 (S$5,905) in rent arrears and late interest charges for September and October this year.

These relate to its lease of a unit at office building Wisma Goldhill at 67 Jalan Raja Chulan in Kuala Lumpur, the Catalist-listed firm said in a filing last Friday night.

The letter of demand, dated Nov 11, gave notice that the company was to repay the outstanding sums by Nov 17.

If it fails to do so, the landlord will take necessary action including initiating legal proceedings against Axington without any further reference.

The Singapore-listed company said that although its bank accounts had a "more than sufficient" amount to satisfy the outstanding sums, no payment had been made because it was in the process of changing the authorised signatories of its bank account since early September.

Axington is thus unable to make any payments until such changes have taken effect, it added.

The company came under the control of scandal-hit cousins Nelson Loh and Terence Loh in July this year. But The Business Times reported in September that the two were seeking to offload their stake in the firm.

Following the takeover, the professional advisory services group in July proposed to change its core business to provide medical and consumer wellness services, and to acquire a Malaysian medical products distributor to kickstart this plan. However, the acquisition fell through last month.

The cousins' business partner, Evangeline Shen, resigned as Axington chairman on Aug 30, along with three other directors who also left the board.

In October, the Lohs also formalised their split, inking an agreement to separate their business interests from each other.

Axington announced last Tuesday that it was seeking a new auditor after a plan to switch auditors did not pan out.

Its shares have been suspended since July. The counter last traded at S$0.22 on July 13.