Yinda Infocomm, under new controlling shareholders, is expanding from servicing communications networks to taking substantial stakes in companies providing biometric and digital identity technology. It seems that the prospects of moving into this new area have sent Yinda’s share price to an all-time high.
Over the past year, Yinda is the best performing stock on the SGX, chalking up a gain of 3,130% to close at 35 cents on May 27. The runner up is The Place Holdings, up 957% over the same period. In January, Yinda announced it was investing $35 million for a 51% stake in an entity called International Biometrics, which in turn holds 99% of PT International Biometrics, described as a leading provider of identity management biometric software in Indonesia.
On May 14, Yinda said it will invest US$8 million ($10.6 million) to subscribe to new shares of Tech5, a Geneva-based digital ID technology provider. This will be on top of US$2.5 million in an earlier convertible loan already extended to Tech5. With a total investment of US$10.5 million, Yinda will eventually hold 18.07% of Tech5.
For its most recent half-year ended Nov 30, 2020, Yinda reported losses of $1.99 million versus earnings of $95,000 in the year earlier. Revenue in the same period plunged 65.1% to $2.9 million. Up till June last year, Yinda’s share price was languishing at around one cent.
That changed when the new shareholders emerged. Between October last year and this April, Yinda launched four placement exercises at prices rising progressively from five cents to 15 cents with each new round. Yet another round is in the works. On May 11, Yinda said it has appointed SAC Capital to help raise $26.3 million by placing out new shares at 13.5 cents.
The fundraising plans throughout these past few months were intersperse with announcements of various kinds. On May 24, Yinda announced that Tech5 has joined ID2020 as a general partner. ID2020, an NGO, describes itself as a global partnership maximising the potential of digital ID to improve lives.
Besides Tech5, there are 18 other entities with the same status comprising the likes of the University of California Berkeley, the US city of Austin and various other non-profit organisations such as one National Cybersecurity Center. Payments leader Mastercard is on board as well.
The day the announcement was made public, Yinda shares surged 55% to close at 31 cents on May 24 and 36 cents on May 25. Year to date, Yinda has gained about 270%, valuing the company at $292.6 million.
SGX RegCo has been following Yinda’s developments with interest. Back on March 30, the regulator issued a “trade with caution” alert on Yinda shares, noting that from Sept 24, 2020, till March 30, the shares have climbed 181% versus the Straits Times Index gaining 30.2% the same period. As part of the alert, SGX RegCo said a group of accounts appeared to be influencing Yinda’s share prices.
The recent spike in Yinda’s share price plus its announcements over the last few days has drawn SGX RegCo’s attention again. In its May 24 query, SGX RegCo asked Yinda why was the announcement on Tech5 joining ID2020, which was already made public on ID2020 and Tech5’s websites on May 20, only announced by Yinda on May 24.
In its response on May 25, Yinda said its management knew about the partnership announcement only on May 23 and that Yinda’s announcement was cleared for release by its board and other related parties the following day.
Yinda was also asked by SGX RegCo to describe the impact and, or implications of Tech5 joining ID2020 and on Yinda itself. In its May 25 response, Yinda notes that Tech5 is unable to quantify the extent of the impact of the partnership, financially or otherwise.
However, the partnership, says Yinda, is a “testament” to Tech5’s technology advancement and recognition in the identity management space. “The partnership is a global public-private alliance between corporates and government bodies to promote digital identification as a fundamental human right and ethical usage of such digital identifications,” states Yinda, adding that its shareholders have yet to give the goahead to invest in Tech5.
In response to SGX RegCo’s question if the ID2020 partnership was “material information”, Yinda’s responded it was not. Nevertheless, the ID2020 and Tech5 announcement, “from a commercial standpoint”, will help “strengthen Yinda’s profile in the biometrics space,” the company says.
