The Umno-linked publisher of the newspaper Utusan Malaysia is at risk of being delisted from the Bursa Malaysia main market listing due to poor finances.

In an announcement to the stock exchange today, Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd’s board of directors said it had defaulted on the payment of principal on profits to Bank Muamalat Malaysia and Maybank Islamic Bhd, and is unable to provide a solvency declaration to Bursa Securities.

This triggers a Practice Note 17 (PN17) notice, meaning that the company must submit a regularisation plan to either the Securities Commission or Bursa Securities within 12 months.

If it fails to comply with its PN17 obligations to regularise its condition, the company would be delisted.

“The company is looking into formulating a regularisation plan to address its PN17 status and will make the necessary announcement on the regularisation plan in due course,” it said.

Previously on Aug 10, the company announced in a stock market filing that it had defaulted on a payment of RM530,121 to Bank Muamalat and RM654,750 to Maybank Islamic due to financial constraints.

It said at the time that it will submit a proposal to restructure all its loan facilities.

It also claimed at the time that it would be able to provide Bursa Securities with a solvency declaration on basis that it holds assets and properties that have a market value exceeding the sums owed to the banks.

Meanwhile, The Star reported that Utusan has been on a losing streak for the past few years, and had been depending on government assistance to stay afloat until BN was ousted from power following the 14th general election.

“For its first quarter ended March 31, 2018, Utusan continued its losing streak, chalking up a loss of RM5.8 million. In the same period last year, it lost RM22.8 million.

“The company has been bleeding over the past few years, and its shareholders’ fund has declined to RM89.9 million with accumulated losses of more than RM71 million as of end-June this year,” the report said.