KUALA LUMPUR: Clothing retailer Teo Guan Lee Corp Bhd saw a total of 7.94 million shares or 19.49% equity stake traded off-market trades yesterday.

The shares were crossed shortly after 4pm at 89.5 sen per share or RM7.1 million in total, according to Bloomberg data. The transaction price represented a 15.5 sen or 14.76% discount to its last closing price of RM1.05.

The stock was not traded on the open market day. The group has a market capitalisation of RM42.78 million.

The shares were crossed in two blocks of 2.07 million shares and 5.87 million shares each as direction business transactions.

The identities of the parties involved in the transaction were not made public at the press time.

The group is controlled by the Toh family through several private vehicles, namely Teo Guan Lee Holdings Sdn Bhd (37.07%), Toh Peng Hoe Holdings Sdn Bhd (14.04%) and Ideal Structure Sdn Bhd (12.49%), among others.

Managing director Toh Kian Beng currently holds the largest stake of 69.03% in the retailer via these investment vehicles, according to Teo Guan Lee’s 2018 annual report.

Teo Guan Lee last reported a net profit of RM719,000 for its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 versus a net loss of RM504,000 in the previous year’s corresponding quarter on the back of lower operating expenses and higher income from the distribution of its investment management funds.

However, revenue for the quarter declined 3.47% to RM12.07 million due to a decline in sales caused by stiff competition.

The company’s share price hit a nine-year low of 88 sen in May last year, having fallen from the high of RM1.50 in mid-2017.

While the stock has since recovered, it is still trading below its record high of RM1.76 reached in August 2014.