Pine Capital board says group can continue as going concern, in reply to SGX queries

PINE Capital Group is able to continue as a going concern, the board said on Wednesday, in response to four queries from the bourse operator over its plans for share settlement and share placement exercises.

The board told the Singapore Exchange (SGX) that net proceeds from the proposed placement of 611.1 million shares, announced in September, "will increase resources available to the company to improve its cash flow, provide working capital for the company and enable it to settle the outstanding consideration" of S$326,721 in the proposed share settlement.

The group will have about S$S$596,000 in available cash after the placement and settlement, the board added. It believes that the sum can cover its estimated recurring expenses in the short to medium term.

Asked for its view on whether the fund management business is viable, the board said that it is confident that 51 per cent-owned Advance Capital Partners Asset Management can stay competitive in the short to medium term.

It confirmed that the three placees who are set to receive shares in Catalist-listed Pine Capital do not have any ties to the company, its directors and/or substantial shareholders or anyone under Rule 812 of the SGX regulations, which states that an issue cannot be placed to: directors and substantial shareholders; their immediate family members; companies linked to the substantial shareholders; corporations where directors and substantial shareholders have an interest of at least 10 per cent; or anyone the SGX thinks falls into those categories.

Also, executive chairman and interim chief executive Tan Choon Wee is managing the group's businesses, as Pine Capital is still looking for a CEO, said the board. CEO Philip Wong Yee Teng resigned on May 31 - foregoing his notice period by mutual agreement with the company - in a move that Pine Capital said in an SGX filing was "to pursue his own personal interests".