Trading halt on Best World shares extended by up to two days

SINGAPORE - Best World International has asked for the trading halt on its shares to be be extended by up to two days for the company to finalise and release a clarification.

The trading halt may be lifted no later than 8.30am on Feb 25, the company said in a filing on Thursday (Feb 21). It had first requested a trading halt on Feb 18.

In response to an article in the The Business Times on Feb 18, titled "Sales of DR's Secret in China: Best World's best-kept secret?", which discussed the difficulties of tracking the company's strong sales in China, Best World said: "The company would like to assure its shareholders that it that it has conducted all areas of its business ethically and in compliance with applicable laws and accounting standards."

Best World shares slid 54 cents or 16.6 per cent to $2.71 on 8.69 million shares traded before trading was halted on Feb 18. Before Monday, shares in the skincare maker and distributor soared 171 per cent over the past 12 months, driven by strong growth in China, where it has moved away from an export business model to a franchise one.

It has been queried by the Singapore Exchange nine times since April 2016 for unusual trading activity, the most recent being on Feb 7, when the counter gained 8.57 per cent in one day on no obvious news flow.