For bourse to develop, Catalist investors should be prepared to face more risk

Cancer-treatment provider Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine (Siam) has been busy replying to a slew of questions from worried shareholders and the bourse regulator after its auditor raised doubts over the company's ability to continue operating.

- Kang Wan Chern

The Dec 9 audit report also sparked debate about whether Siam had gone public on Catalist before it was ready, and if more should have been done by the company, its sponsor PrimePartners Corporate Finance and Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) to warn investors about the uncertainties of the business and its poor financial health.

These issues are all the more pressing as they come at a time when a committee led by Second Finance Minister Chee Hong Tat has been tasked to attract more initial public offerings (IPOs) to the SGX and boost trading liquidity.

Siam is one of just four companies to have listed here in 2024. It is also the worst-performing one, with its shares having lost more than half their value shortly after listing. They closed on Dec 27 at 5.5 cents, down 71 per cent since their February listing.

The other IPOs were Japanese restaurant operator Food Innovators Holdings; Attika Holdings, a commercial interior decoration and engineering firm; and karaoke chain operator Goodwill Entertainment Holding.

How Siam, regulators and investors respond to the company's predicament will be closely watched.

AUDITOR RAISES DOUBTS

Siam uses some of the latest technologies to detect and treat cancer and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. It was one of the first three healthcare players in Singapore to receive a government licence to offer proton beam therapy, which uses protons to precisely target tumours in the body. But PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Dec 9 highlighted material uncertainties in Siam's business model and financial position that cast doubt on its ability to continue as a going concern.