PETALING JAYA (Nov 2, 2012): Gold trader Public Gold Marketing Sdn Bhd, which saw its sales last month dive by as much as 60% when it was put on Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) consumer alert list, is hopeful of maintaining last year's sales figure in 2012, said its founder and executive chairman Datuk Louis Ng Chun Hau.
The Penang-based company has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 200% in the last four years, before it was placed on the central bank's alert list on Sept 27 2012.
Just over a month later on Oct 29, it was officially removed from the list.
Relieved the matter is settled for now, Ng, who is the largest shareholder in Public Gold, said his immediate task is to win back consumer confidence and continue with our branch expansion plans.
"Confidence among our dealers and customers was affected when BNM put us on its alert list on Sept 27. We saw our sales drop 50-60% during the period," he told SunBiz in a telephone interview.
Public Gold has about 30,000 registered customers. Of this, 30% or 10,000 are also its dealers.
Ng recalled how the company had assisted BNM in its assessment of Public Gold's business to ensure that it had a genuine business model and that "we solely trade physical gold and silver bars like that of any jewellers".
"The only difference is that we trade 24 hours and are Internet-based.
"During the period, we continued our operations as per normal because we were just placed on the consumer alert list (as opposed to the Financial Fraud Alert (FFA) list)," said Ng, adding that the FFA list is "very serious" as it indicates that the companies on the list are conducting illegal financial schemes.
"After this incident, we have proven ourselves to be sincere in serving our customers' interest through a practical business model that has now been verified by BNM.
"We are hopeful that sales will pick up for the rest of the year," added Ng.
In a statement dated Oct 30 2012, Public Gold said it will continue to maintain a proactive relationship with BNM and local authorities in order to comply with their guidelines.
Ng said Public Gold has 18 branches across Malaysia to date. In the Klang Valley alone, it has four branches in Sunway, Ampang, Klang and Kajang.
Plans are in the pipeline to list Public Gold on the local bourse in end-2014.
How does Public Gold ensure it won't fall into BNM's consumer alert list again? "Nobody can assure that," said Ng.
"We just have to ensure there is no complaint against our company and we don't infringe on the basic guidelines of gold trading, that is, just buy and sell physical gold, don't take deposit from customers, and don't promise any returns or give any monthly interest."
Source: The Sun Daily
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| Official Statement from Public Gold |
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