Asti to hold AGM on Aug 31 after shareholder dialogue next week

SINGAPORE - Semiconductor company Asti Holdings will hold its long-awaited financial year (FY) 2021 annual general meeting (AGM) on Aug 31, amid an attempt by several shareholders to overhaul the board.

The company will also hold a shareholder dialogue 10 days earlier, on Aug 21, moderated by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore). This is to “maintain a spirit of open discussion”, Asti said in a bourse filing on Wednesday.

The announcement comes after four Asti shareholders tried to requisition an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), to be held next Tuesday, to remove all five of Asti’s directors.

Among the requisitioning shareholders is Mr Ng Yew Nam, managing director of iTrue Technologies, which checks for cosmetic defects in electronic components. Mr Ng is seeking to be appointed to Asti’s board, along with four other individuals.

Asti, however, said that the proposed EGM is invalid, and that the FY2021 AGM would be the “appropriate forum” to bring up any issues or resolutions.

In its Wednesday update, the company said that shareholders will vote on eight resolutions at the AGM, which include the re-election of four current directors and the appointment of RT as auditor for FY2022.

The AGM will also address a potential exit offer for Asti by Prospera Alliance, a consortium backed by Thailand-listed Capital Engineering Network and a substantial Asti shareholder, Mr Heah Theare Haw.

Asti will invite representatives of Prospera to participate in next Monday’s dialogue. The offeror had previously said it was “deeply concerned” about the implications of the proposed board overhaul.

“With the FY2021 financials audited, our priority is to uphold a spirit of openness even as we navigate the potential offer, which the board believes is the best available option to unlock value for shareholders amid a directed delisting of the company,” Asti’s directors said in the filing.

Asti added that since FY2021, it has carried out “major restructuring”, with retrenchments, the closure of loss-making units, downsizing of corporate and administrative functions and relocation to a smaller office.

Thanks to these “strenuous efforts”, Asti recorded an unaudited profit after tax of $3 million for FY2022, reversing the audited loss after tax of $11.8 million in FY2021, the company said.

But Asti still could not exit the Singapore Exchange watch list by its June 5, 2022, deadline, as its six-month average daily market capitalisation was short of the $40 million threshold.

Trading in the company’s shares has been suspended since July 5, 2022.

THE BUSINESS TIMES