Everytime something like this happens, I urge all my readers to read as much as they can. Not only will this give you a rare glimpse into how company balance sheets are manipulated, you might also uncover a bargain.
The balance sheets were falsified in 2 ways: 1) Fictitious revenues were generated and 2) Assets were grossly overvalued. This has had a huge impact on the balance sheet, resulting in a knock-on effect on other items such as revenues, cashflows, profits and valuation of its assets.
It has now been operating at a loss for the previous 2 years and is trading close to book value (which I estimate at around $4.60). If you plug these figures into my balance sheet scorecard it would not do very well.
Furthermore the stock, which used to be a darling for investment banks has been severely dumped to the extent that no analyst would even touch this now (especially those who used to rate it as a buy).
The two things it has going for it are: 1) cash reserves, and 2) a good management company. Yes, despite its irregularities, I believe that the board is serious about facing these difficulties. This is due, in part to the appointment of a special board (chaired by a very able Kuok Khoon Ho) to oversee corporate management issues and in part to the special independant audit which it has commissioned.
There are only 2 possibilities now: 1) the company will restructure and reduce its balance sheet, stop losing money and turn around, or 2) it will be bought out. I personally think that either possibility will produce an intriguing opportunity…
I would like to know how and why the Transmile Group Bhd losing money, and what was their internal control/risk management prior to the incident.
Your reply will be greatly appreciated.
Through fake invoices and balance sheet items. Plain and simple. These are very difficult to impossible to spot on the balance sheet, which is a function which has to be carried out by the auditors and the company’s internal compliance officers.
However, that is not to say that they are to blame. Crooks can and do fool people. The only way to guard against this is to diversify and stay well versed with a company’s balance sheet. Fraud usually occurs when company profit numbers and fortunes start going down.