KHAZANAH'S NASDAQ-LISTED COMPANY SHARES JUMPS 2,000 PCT

By Nurul Hanis Izmir

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Nasdaq-listed company Phunware, Inc., which is largely owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd with 2.2 million shares, saw its price jumped by more than 2,000 per cent from its last year’s low, according to Bloomberg.

It said the rally started after the cloud software provider from Texas completed its merger with Stellar Acquisition Inc. at the end of December last year.

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To recap, Phunware’s shares finished the year 2018 at US$14.26 and closed at a record of US$220 on Wednesday.

However, it welcomed the year 2019, soaring as high as US$550 on Thursday but turned sharply lower by 29 per cent on the same day at US$157 due to market volatility.

A local market observer told Bernama that only a “sophisticated” investor would invest in a company that is still considered new in the industry.

“Normally, the trend for trading in the share market today is that if you have a business in the technology industry, especially in cloud computing, it is in high demand as it is the in-thing right now.

“Hence, it’s an opportunity for a fund like Khazanah, which has strong financial capacity and the ability to cushion losses if there’s any. It’s a good move that Khazanah is investing in new growth areas,” he said.

The observer said Phunware should be able to show a double or triple-digit growth in the long run, spurring its share price.

Since it is a new listed company, a yo-yo market trend is normal, he added.

Incepted in 2009, Phunware is one of the leading enterprise cloud platforms for mobile, providing software, solutions, data and services for brands worldwide.

It creates category-defining mobile experiences for the world’s most respected brands, with more than 650 million monthly active users touching its platform each month.

In November 2, 2016, Phunware announced that it had raised an additional US$22 million of Series F growth financing, led by Khazanah, Wavemaker Partners and PLDT Capital, the investment arm of Philippine long-distance telephone company.

-- BERNAMA