KUALA LUMPUR: It's been more than two months since Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd found itself embroiled in serious issues pertaining to alleged irregularities of its financial year 2020 statutory account flagged by its former external auditor KPMG.
It's been immensely heart-wrenching for founder and group managing director Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah especially in witnessing a 75 per cent plunge in the integrated oil and gas (O&G) service provider's market capitalisation since the audit issues erupted towards end-May.
Still, Abdul Karim, who is the company's controlling shareholder with a 21 per cent stake alongside Datuk Abdul Kadier Sahib who is the second largest shareholder (16.25 per cent) and non-independent non-executive director, remains astute over the prospect of Serba Dinamik making a "360 degrees turnaround".
Preferring to be forward-looking instead of harping on the past, both Abdul Karim and Abdul Kadier have one ultimate goal: To resolve the audit issues in the best interest of all stakeholders.
"Having contributed a lot to the country in the O&G sector, the recent chain of events has somehow motivated Serba Dinamik to venture beyond our traditional business to expand our reach in the realms of IT (information technology) and space economy," Abdul Karim told the New Straits Times.
Serba Dinamik's success story is very much tied to its participation in the national oil corporation Petronas' vendor development programme.
After being selected to be a vendor in 1997 and having graduated in 2007, the company leveraged its track record to expand internationally with the acumen of Abdul Karim and co-founder Pengiran Datuk Awang Daud Awang Putera.
This eventually led to Serba Dinamik spreading its wing beyond the Malaysian shores to Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the UK, and subsequently its much awaited debut on Bursa Malaysia's Main Market on Feb 8, 2017.
The company's shares surged from an initial public offering (IPO) price of RM1.50 to as high as RM4.56 in August-September 2019.
It is at this current time of turbulence that past glory tends to have a soothing effect not only on the morale but more so as a spirit booster.
Space economy
"Not wanting to put our bet entirely on the O&G industry, Serba Dinamik has set its sight to be a leading service provider in the realm of space economy," Abdul Karim said. "Malaysia needs to explore this in order to be on par with other developed countries and we believe Serba Dinamik possesses the expertise in this business."
On March 18, Serba Dinamik said it was collaborating with seven institutions of higher learning as its strategic partners in Malaysia to establish a New Space Economy Nexus (NSEN) to explore the various areas of space technology.
The company was equipped with the necessary capabilities and capacity to pursue its interest in the space industry, according to Abdul Karim.
"Serba Dinamik aspires to expand its expertise in space sector which could benefit Malaysia in next five to10 years. Thus far, we are the only company that provides connectivity to rural area in Malaysia during the current home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) mode for our national school pupils," he added.
Towards this end, Serba Dinamik has made a few parliamentary constituencies namely Jeli, Alor Gajah and Larut, as test beds for such service as part of its unique corporate social responsibility programme.
The company has also made its presence felt in the consumer space with Beauty2go, Halal2go and Qwikpay which are growth strategies in its revenue stream.
Meanwhile, Abdul Kadier expects Serba Dinamik to be on the right track to resolve its audit issues with the appointment of new board members.
This will enable the company to chart the future without sacrificing its corporate governance responsibility.
"We can see that all our newly-appointed independent directors have been working 24/7 to serve the best interest of the stakeholders and the company," he observed.
"Not only that they have facilitated the appointment of Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd as the special independent reviewer to assess the veracity of the audit issues raised by our former auditor (KPMG), they have also fast-tracked the appointment of Nexia SSY PLT as the new external auditor."
At the close of trading yesterday, Serba Dinamik was up 0.5 sen or 1.25 per cent to 40.5 sen with 63.53 million shares traded, valuing it at RM1.51 billion.