10-06-2011, 06:41 AM
Business Times - 10 Jun 2011
Artivision tops active list with 104m shares changing hands
Stock up 10% after company says it will raise $2.5m via private placement
By VICTORIA HO
AFTER a day of halted trading, Artivision topped the most active list on the Singapore Exchange yesterday with some 104 million shares changing hands.
The price of the highly speculative counter jumped 10 per cent after the company announced that it will be raising $2.5 million through a private placement.
The company, which has seen its share price go through a rollercoaster ride over the last month, closed yesterday at 21.5 cents, up from Tuesday's 19.5 cents.
It had called for a trading halt on Wednesday, pending an announcement.
Artivision has placed 14.71 million new shares with private investor Quek Yiang Hang at 17 cents a share, making up 2.98 per cent of its enlarged issue share capital after the placement.
The placement price is a discount to the volume- weighted average price of 18 cents, based on the trades done on Tuesday.
The $2.5 million is expected to help calm the market, which saw punters dropping the stock over the past two weeks after the company revealed a $5.7 million loss and negative equity of $965,000 in its annual report.
This was after the stock grabbed the headlines when its price surged five-fold to hit a high of 29 cents after the company unveiled an online advertising application for Facebook last month.
However, the stock started plummeting after the company clarified that it did not have a commercial agreement with Facebook for the application.
That, in combination with its annual financial report, saw the price crash 50 per cent over five days to a low of 11 cents last week.
Philip Soh, Artivision's chief executive and chairman, told BT that the placement agreement is a signal to investors and shareholders that the company is committed to seeing its journey through with the application.
'We have found investors to take up a small chunk and believe in where we're headed. I believe once we have a commercial agreement with Facebook, our share price will behave accordingly.'
Mr Soh said the company, which provides Israeli- invented facial recognition software, is in the midst of running in its systems to test the new Facebook application.
He claims that the product is the first of its kind in the market, and that its video and photo analysis technologies are unique to the company.
He added that the company's technology is used in some ad networks like US-based ValueClick, which in turn cater to large publishers like CNN and ESPN.
Its Facebook product, called Advision, promises users a way to monetise their content like videos and photos on the popular social networking site.
Artivision is currently in discussion with Chinese social networking site Renren and VKontakte of Russia.
'It's a matter of time before we iron out the commercial arrangements with Facebook,' said Mr Soh.
Artivision tops active list with 104m shares changing hands
Stock up 10% after company says it will raise $2.5m via private placement
By VICTORIA HO
AFTER a day of halted trading, Artivision topped the most active list on the Singapore Exchange yesterday with some 104 million shares changing hands.
The price of the highly speculative counter jumped 10 per cent after the company announced that it will be raising $2.5 million through a private placement.
The company, which has seen its share price go through a rollercoaster ride over the last month, closed yesterday at 21.5 cents, up from Tuesday's 19.5 cents.
It had called for a trading halt on Wednesday, pending an announcement.
Artivision has placed 14.71 million new shares with private investor Quek Yiang Hang at 17 cents a share, making up 2.98 per cent of its enlarged issue share capital after the placement.
The placement price is a discount to the volume- weighted average price of 18 cents, based on the trades done on Tuesday.
The $2.5 million is expected to help calm the market, which saw punters dropping the stock over the past two weeks after the company revealed a $5.7 million loss and negative equity of $965,000 in its annual report.
This was after the stock grabbed the headlines when its price surged five-fold to hit a high of 29 cents after the company unveiled an online advertising application for Facebook last month.
However, the stock started plummeting after the company clarified that it did not have a commercial agreement with Facebook for the application.
That, in combination with its annual financial report, saw the price crash 50 per cent over five days to a low of 11 cents last week.
Philip Soh, Artivision's chief executive and chairman, told BT that the placement agreement is a signal to investors and shareholders that the company is committed to seeing its journey through with the application.
'We have found investors to take up a small chunk and believe in where we're headed. I believe once we have a commercial agreement with Facebook, our share price will behave accordingly.'
Mr Soh said the company, which provides Israeli- invented facial recognition software, is in the midst of running in its systems to test the new Facebook application.
He claims that the product is the first of its kind in the market, and that its video and photo analysis technologies are unique to the company.
He added that the company's technology is used in some ad networks like US-based ValueClick, which in turn cater to large publishers like CNN and ESPN.
Its Facebook product, called Advision, promises users a way to monetise their content like videos and photos on the popular social networking site.
Artivision is currently in discussion with Chinese social networking site Renren and VKontakte of Russia.
'It's a matter of time before we iron out the commercial arrangements with Facebook,' said Mr Soh.
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