No Signboard Holding has received approval from Singapore's market regulator to resume trading, according to an announcement dated Mar. 13, 2024.

The restaurant operator had its share trading suspended for two years.

A 6:1 share consolidation exercise, which was approved by shareholders in Nov. 2022, will take place on Mar. 22.

During the exercise, every six shares a No Signboard investor owns will be consolidated into one share, and fractional entitlements will be disregarded.

Shareholders who own less than six shares may eventually forfeit their role.

The consolidated shares are expected to resume trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) Catalist board by Mar. 20 with lots of 100 shares on board.

The number of consolidated shares No Signboard shareholders are entitled to, rounded down to the nearest whole share, will be based on their holdings as of Mar. 21.

Suspending of shares

Shares of No Signboard have been suspended since Jan. 22 after the company reported a net loss of S$400,000, or a loss of S$0.09 on a per-share basis, and a revenue of S$700,000 for the second quarter of the 2023 financial year.

The operator said that the net loss stemmed from the closure of its seafood restaurant outlets at Vivocity in Nov. 2021 and at the Esplanade in Apr. 2022.

Hence, the company was unable to demonstrate its ability to continue operating after the Covid-19 pandemic and requested a trading suspension.

The shares last traded at 3.1 cents before they were suspended.

Former CEO charged

No Signboard's former CEO, Lim Yong Sim, was charged on Jul. 27, 2023, with three counts of false trading and market rigging.

He was accused of placing orders for No Signboard Holdings shares to push up or support the prices.

Moving forward

Speaking to retail investors on Mar. 13, No Signboard’s interim chief executive Lim Teck Ean said the company had met the conditions laid out by SGX for a trading resumption, reported CNA.

The company's management had laid out plans to restructure its portfolio of existing brands to make them more profitable.

Existing brands include No Signboard Seafood in Geylang, Little Sheep Hot Pot in Orchard, and nosignboard Sheng Jian in Yishun.

The company is also looking to ramp up external growth in the next few years to increase its presence in different segments and geographical locations.

It aims to do this via mergers and acquisitions.

The company announced in January that it was looking to acquire a majority stake worth S$1.2 million in catering firm Dining Haus.

Non-executive director Alvin Tan told CNA that if things go smoothly, they believe they can "see some profit very soon".

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Top photo via No Signboard Seafood/Facebook