Kasikornbank (KBank) and Asia Plus Securities (ASPS), representatives for Stark Corporation's bondholders, called for the immediate payment of bonds worth more than 6.9 billion baht after they decided to cancel tomorrow's bondholders' meeting.
Announced on the Thai Bond Market Association website yesterday, KBank and ASPS said they cancelled the June 23 bondholders' meeting and decided to promptly reclaim the funds from the company.
Bond firms that hold three tranches of Stark corporate bonds sent a letter to the company on Tuesday, asking for a call default of the bonds' principal and interest, indicating the reason is the company has already defaulted on the payment of bonds accounting for 3% of shareholders' equity based on the 2022 financial statement.
Stark, a wire and cable manufacturer, reported its 2022 financial statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on June 16, which showed its shareholders' equity was negative by nearly 2.9 billion baht and 4.4 billion baht in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The share price of STARK dropped to 0.01 baht as the stock market opened yesterday morning, edging up later to 0.02 baht, which is the floor price level, by midday. This represented a decrease of 33.3%, with a trading value of 7.8 billion baht.
The decline was in response to a news report that the Revenue Department is preparing to investigate Stark's tax payments after the financial statements showed many instances of fraud, especially generating fake income and expenses.
In addition, the Finance Ministry ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce measures to protect investors' interests and build confidence by using available tools.
The SEC said it examined Stark's auditors and their licences could be withdrawn or suspended if they are found guilty of hiding the company's violations, in accordance with the Securities Act.
Earlier this week, the SET said Stark was poised to be delisted from the stock exchange because of negative shareholders' equity for two consecutive years.
Stark was instructed by the bourse to disclose its process for eliminating the grounds for delisting based on negative equity, including a timeline for informing shareholders and investors, by July 19.
Shares of STARK closed unchanged yesterday on the SET at 0.03 baht, in trade worth 20 million baht.
