The stock fell by one sen to 12 sen (a drop of 7.7%) in early morning trading, its lowest since it was listed on the ACE Market in July 2023. It closed at the same price, valuing the company at RM46.3 million.
Its share price has slumped nearly 37% year-to-date, having faced losses as costs and expenses grew faster than revenue. Its share price is now 42.86% lower than its initial public offering price of 21 sen.
The Melaka-based company is the first bird’s nest processor to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.
It received a Christmas Day sucker punch after the veterinary services department issued a temporary suspension of bird’s nest product exports to China from Dec 25.
In a bourse filing yesterday, MyMBN said the suspension was prompted by the presence of the Newcastle disease virus in Malaysia, as reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health.
The disease is highly contagious and often severe, affecting birds worldwide including domestic poultry. It is caused by virulent strains of the avian paramyxovirus type 1.
“This suspension affects the entire industry, covering both raw cleaned and raw uncleaned edible bird’s nest products,” it said.
The China market is critical for MyMBN as it makes up more than half of its revenue. The industry-wide suspension comes as the company embarks on an ambitious expansion of its business in China.
In July, MyMBN announced that it planned to further expand into the Chinese market through the acquisition of an 80% stake in Guangxi Nan Yang Birdnest (M) Co Ltd.
The acquisition was expected to open opportunities for processing and sale of raw clean edible bird’s nest products in China.
The group saw its net loss narrow to RM896,000 for the third quarter ended Sept 30 from RM1.57 million a year ago, while revenue jumped 32.6% to RM11.47 million from RM8.65 million. For the first nine months of the financial year, it posted a net loss of RM343,000 from a net profit of RM1.48 million the previous year. Revenue for the period increased 9.7% to RM54.18 million from RM49.39 million.
The company previously said it faced a decrease in demand for bird’s nest products in China and locally, causing prices to fall.
CEO Lavernt Chen Vun Wo is MyMBN’s biggest shareholder with a 34% stake, followed by chairman Liw Chong Liong and non-executive director Lee Wei Kong with about 11% each.