Huationg puts proposed Hong Kong dual listing on hold

CIVIL engineering firm Huationg Global on Tuesday said plans for its proposed dual listing in Hong Kong have been placed on hold "in view of the current situation in Hong Kong and the global economic uncertainty".

No application has been made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the listing of the shares, and the expenses related to the proposed listing incurred in 2018 and 2019 amounts to about S$724,000, the company said.

The Catalist-listed firm was replying to questions raised by shareholders, ahead of its annual general meeting on June 19.

Asked by shareholders about when the company would be paying a dividend as it had paid dividends for three years before stopping, Huationg said it does not have a fixed dividend policy.

Huationg said the declaration of dividends is subject to many factors, including the "group's earnings, financial position, capital requirements to secure key infrastructure projects and general business condition that the directors may, in their absolute discretion, deem appropriate". Therefore, it is unable to provide assurance that dividends will be paid in the future, or of the amount or timing of any dividends that will be paid in the future, the company added.

Meanwhile, shareholders noted that the firm's share price is at "a very large discount" to its net asset value (NAV) per share of 49 Singapore cents.

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Huationg shares last traded at 6.5 Singapore cents on April 28.

In response, Huationg said the gap between its share price and the NAV is due to prevailing market conditions and the lack of trading liquidity which may not reflect the true value of its share price. The company added that it is exploring complementary business segments to further enhance shareholder value.

"We will also focus on our core competence and continuously tender for government contracts," Huationg said.