KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 — Datasonic Group Bhd has today clarified that it won the contract to supply 12.5 million chips for Malaysian passports through an open tender in April 2012.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, Datasonic said it was awarded the five-year contract based on value proposition of enhanced chips security and 15 per cent lower pricing as compared to the previous vendor, giving total savings of RM56.25 million to the government over a period of five years.

"We wish to clarify that neither the company nor any of its directors has issued any payment to Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in relation to the supply of 12.5 million chips for the Malaysian passport,” it added.

As at lunch break, Datasonic’s share price, which was the top three most active counters, lost 25.5 sen to 44 sen with 58.59 million shares traded.

Trading in Datasonic shares has been suspended for rest of the day as its last done price dropped more than 15 sen or 15 per cent from the reference price. — Bernama