KUALA LUMPUR: Shares in Padini Holdings Bhd
surged as much as 16.19% in intra-morning trade after the fashion retail group said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had released all its bank accounts previously frozen as part of a money-laundering probe.
In its announcement yesterday, the group said no director, officer, employee, or representative of the group had been arrested or charged with any offence arising from the matter.
In addition, neither the company nor any member of the group is subject to forfeiture proceedings in connection with the investigation or involved in any wrongdoing or improper conduct.
Active buying on the news took the company's share price higher by 23 sen to RM1.65, before it moderated to RM1.59 as at 10.49am.
More than 12 million shares had crossed hands at the time of writing, on pace to the counter's highest traded volume since traders offloaded the shares on April 27 following the announcement of the MACC probe.
CIMB Securities reiterated its "buy" call on Padini with an unchanged target price of RM1.80, which implies 26.8% upside from the previous day's closing price of RM1.42.
"We view this development positively and believe it represents the best possible outcome for Padini at this stage.
"The full unfreezing of the affected accounts removes the operational and financial overhang, while the absence of arrests, charges, or forfeiture proceedings should materially ease the legal tail risk that has weighed on investor sentiment since Apr 2026," it said in its note.
"We believe Padini could re-rate as the market largely prices out the risk premium associated with the MACC investigation following the group’s confirmation that there have been no arrests, charges, or forfeiture proceedings," it added.
