Dataprep shareholders reject reappointment of chairman Mohd Rizal and two directors at AGM

KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Dataprep Holdings Bhd’s (KL:DATAPRP) shareholders rejected the reappointment of non-independent and non-executive chairman, Datuk Mohd Rizal Jaafar, and two independent directors — Abdul Aziz Ishak and Nur Zarina Ghazali — at its AGM.

Dataprep announced their cessation of office because resolutions on their re-appointment were not carried out at the group’s 35th annual general meeting held on Thursday.

Besides, Dataprep shareholders have also voted against the proposed aggregate directors fees and benefits payable to its board members of an amount not exceeding RM400,000 from 27 June 2024 till the next AGM.

Mohd Rizal was the former managing director of Widad Group Bhd (KL:WIDAD) while Abdul Aziz was the former editor-in-chief of Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd. They joined Dataprep’s board in November 2017.

Mohd Rizal and Abdul Aziz were among the five directors reprimanded and fined RM10,000 each by Bursa Malaysia in September 2023 due to Dataprep's reply to an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia in March 2021 regarding its Covid-19 screening contracts.

Dataprep denied any negotiations concerning the proposed acquisitions of certain companies to provide integrated solution technology for Covid-19 screening to the Ministry of Health. However, these proposed acquisitions had already been approved in principle by the board on Feb 17, 2021.

Meanwhile, Nur Zarina joined the board as a director in August 2023. She is currently the executive partner of New Paradigm Capital Markets Sdn Bhd, a company licensed by the Securities Commission of Malaysia, according to Dataprep’s latest annual report.

Dataprep’s net loss widened to RM5.9 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) against RM3.8 million a year earlier due to impairment of expected credit loss of receivables of RM990,000, allowance for obsolete inventories of RM880,000, as well as depreciation and amortisation charge of RM880,000. Revenue for 1QFY2024 decreased to RM6.2 million from RM6.3 million.

The share price of Dataprep, which has fallen over 8% year to date, closed unchanged at 15.5 sen on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM110.9 million.