Trek says no impact on firm from charges against founder

Technology provider Trek 2000 maintains that it is uninvolved in legal charges against the company's founder as well as former chairman emeritus and chief executive Henn Tan, as the matter is "in his personal capacity".

Responding to an Aug 15 article from The Business Times, the group said there was no financial impact on the company from these charges, and that the company's financial position "continues to be healthy".

Based on Trek's financial statements for the first half of the fiscal year ended June 2022, the group sank into a net loss of US$6.4 million (S$8.9 million) from its earnings of US$504,000 the previous year.

Revenue fell 64.2 per cent to US$7.4 million from US$20.7 million in the first half of FY2021, which the group attributed mainly to the Covid-19 lockdown in China - its main market - along with volatility in foreign exchange rates.

Gross profit margin for the half-year decreased to 4 per cent from 7.5 per cent, due to lower sales demand faced in the global market.

In a bourse filing on Tuesday, Trek said it remained unaware of any financial misappropriation from the charges faced by Tan, who earlier this month pleaded guilty to five charges of engaging in conspiracies to falsify accounts, forge documents to cover his tracks as well as cheat the external auditors.

The company highlighted that its board had "taken decisive steps to identify the lapses in internal controls and governance systems" since the charges first came to light in 2016.

"After thorough reviews by independent CPA (certified public accounting) firms were concluded up to 2019, the board of directors and the company's new executives worked diligently to implement all the recommendations made and strengthen the internal control and governance systems of the company," it said.

Adding that a new management team had been in place since early 2018, Trek emphasised that its former management staff who were charged were no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.

Tan stepped down from his CEO role following objections by the Singapore Exchange in 2018, but remained as chairman emeritus until 2020.

Trek's management team is now helmed by his son and the group's deputy chairman, Wayne, who is said by the company to have "worked diligently to ensure continuity to business operations".

Mainboard-listed Trek closed at 8.2 cents yesterday, up 1.24 per cent.

THE BUSINESS TIMES