According to company documents, FashionValet Sdn Bhd (FV), which was besieged, had lost money for five years in a row before Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) invested in it.
Before Khazanah and PNB invested in 2018, FV’s losses climbed from RM166,793 in 2012 to RM10.7 million in 2017, according to financial data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), according to Business Times.
In 2018, the year it got RM20 million from PNB and RM27 million from Khazanah, the company declared a net loss of RM20.19 million.
FV’s total assets soared by about 300% to RM14.7 million between 2015 and 2017, but its total liabilities increased by over 100% to RM11.7 million.
In 2012, the company’s current liabilities were RM401,248 greater than its current assets; by 2017, its net asset position had improved to RM1.24 million.
According to Khazanah, they decided to invest in FV because it was “a promising homegrown e-commerce platform” in 2018 with over 400 brands and 15,000 products, and they anticipated a yearly revenue growth of over 60%.
“Our investment rationale was anchored on the theme of Offline-to-Online e-commerce, as well as a commitment to support Malaysian entrepreneurs and promising early-stage companies,“ it said in a statement.
According to the Finance Ministry (MoF), PNB’s investment was made to help the Bumiputera digital retailer expand into a regional shopping hub for Malaysian companies.
“A responsible exit to a strategic investor who could continue to assist FashionValet in addressing its financing needs holistically and reviving its business in a challenging industry environment” is how the MoF described the sale of Khazanah and PNB’s shareholding to NXBT Partners Sdn Bhd.
Presently, NXBT Partners Sdn Bhd owns 51% of FV’s shares, with Datin Vivy Sofinas Yusof holding 17% and Datuk Fadzaruddin Shah Anuar holding 17.7%. Afzal Abdul Rahim, the CEO of TIME dotcom Bhd and a senior independent director of CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, is the sole owner of NXBT Partners.
According to its most recent SSM filing, FV’s financial year ending December 31, 2022, saw a net loss of RM34.5 million versus RM112.8 million in revenue.
Vivy and Fadzaruddin, the founders of FV, were called in for interrogation at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya earlier today.
Tan Sri Azam Baki, the head of MACC, said that both founders will be questioned over the losses incurred by Khazanah Nasional and PNB.
“We will record statements from the husband and wife today,“ Azam said.
