Clothing retailer Padini Holdings Bhd saw its share price fall to its lowest level in more than five years on Monday, following the disclosure that some of its bank accounts had been frozen by authorities. The company's shares fell as much as 15 sen or almost 10% to RM1.40, its lowest level since January 2021, before trading at RM1.47 at around 9.30am with more than seven million shares changing hands. At that price, the company's market capitalisation is estimated at around RM1.45 billion.
According to a report by The Edge, the investigation conducted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) involved several external parties who were not employees, officers or management of the company. Following the investigation, several bank accounts belonging to Padini were frozen in accordance with the provisions of Section 44(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
In a statement on Saturday, Padini explained that as far as current information is concerned, the company is not aware of any allegations of wrongdoing against it and the freezing of the accounts is part of the normal procedure in the investigation process.
A day earlier, the company also informed that the frozen accounts were not actively used for daily operations, in addition to stressing that it still has access to other banking facilities to support the business.
Padini also stated that the freezing of the accounts is not expected to have a material impact on the financial position or operations of the group.
For the financial year ending December 2025, the company recorded a net profit of RM61.7 million with revenue of RM885.1 million. However, the performance showed a decrease of 18.63% for profit and 3.66% for revenue compared to the previous year.
