Broadway Industrial shares surge 64% on heavy volume, prompting SGX query

THE Singapore Exchange (SGX) queried Broadway Industrial Group on Monday morning, after the watch-listed precision manufacturer's share price surged 63.6 per cent amid active trading.

As at 11.34am, Broadway Industrial was up 2.8 Singapore cents to 7.2 cents, after some 6.1 million shares changed hands - almost triple its average three-month volume of 2.3 million shares - making it one of the most heavily traded securities on the Singapore bourse.

In a letter at 11.08am, SGX asked the firm whether it was aware of any possible explanation for the "unusual price and volume movements" in its shares on Monday.

The bourse operator also asked the company to confirm its compliance with listing rules.

"The board of directors (of Broadway Industrial) shall collectively and individually take responsibility for the accuracy of the reply to the query," SGX said in the letter.

Broadway Industrial was added to the SGX watch list on June 6 for failing to meet minimum trading price criterion.

The company sunk into the red for its first quarter ended March 31, with a net loss of S$5.1 million compared to a net profit of S$588,000 a year ago. This was due to an unexpected weakness in the hard disk drive market, which caused group revenue to decline by 26.1 per cent to S$67.6 million for Q1.

The mainboard-listed company manufactures precision-machined components for the electronics, automotive, and oil and gas industries. Its segments include hard disk drive and precision engineering solutions, and the company has manufacturing facilities in China, Thailand and the US.