SINGAPORE - Logistics, aviation and supply chain business specialist A-Sonic Aerospace has finally been removed from the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) watch list, five years after it was cited.
The company was put on the list in June 2017 after recording pre-tax losses for the three previous consecutive financial years and for failing to meet the requirement of having an average daily market capitalisation of at least $40 million over the previous six months.
Its market cap in June 2017 was about $11.5 million.
The company appealed to be released from the watch list last month.
A-Sonic chief executive Janet Tan said she was delighted. "Life can get a little bumpy sometimes. We have to brace ourselves for such times. Going forward, we shall continue to reinforce our core strengths, and improve on what we do well."
The company has 71 million shares outstanding, giving it a market cap of around $52 million.
This comes after it raised its share base by 14.7 million via a one-for-four shares warrant issue, which was completed in April.
Despite being on the watch list, the company's financials have improved over the past four years.
A-Sonic operates in 29 cities in 16 countries, across Asia, North America, India and Europe.
Pre-tax profit grew from $1.1 million in the 2018 financial year to $4.7 million in 2019, $10.9 million in 2020 and $14.3 million last year.
A-Sonic has also paid dividends for the past four years.
Last year, it distributed a record 5.8 cents a share to investors, including a special dividend of 4.8 cents.
The company's net tangible asset per share stood at 97.6 cents at the end of the 2021 financial year, while it had cash and cash equivalents of 91.1 cents per share.
The SGX watch list, which has about 100 companies on it, was set up in 2008 as part of efforts to "improve the overall quality of listed companies in Singapore, and promote investor confidence in the marketplace".
It applies to mainboard issuers but not investment funds, global depository receipts, debt securities, exchange-traded funds, structured warrants or companies with secondary listings.
Watchlist reviews are conducted in June and December each year.
A-Sonic is believed to be the first company to be released from the SGX Watchlist this year.
The stock closed half a cent down at 66.5 cents on Wednesday.
