Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11): Manforce Group Bhd made its debut on the Bursa Malaysia Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market today at 18.5 sen, a half a sen premium over the initial public offer price of 18 sen.

At the opening bell, 100,000 shares changed hands. 

The workforce solution and services company that focuses on foreign labour raised RM8.6 million through private placement at 18 sen per share, which then contributed to a market capitalisation of RM57.6 million upon listing. 

About RM7.5 million of the proceeds raised from the IPO will be utilised for working capital and the balance used to defray estimated listing expenses. 

Chief Financial Officer Andrew Chin said the listing on Bursa Malaysia was an important chapter for the company and one of the strategies the group is looking at is, moving up the market from LEAP to ACE. 

“Definitely that is a strategy we are looking at with continuous advice from our principal adviser. 

“Today is a very good, important day, as well as a milestone for our corporate chapter,” he told a press conference after the company’s listing.

According to Chin, to grow the company, the first step is to hire and manage up to 1,800 additional foreign workers within a two-year timeframe. 

He also acknowledged that there would be challenges ahead in 2019 for the industry with the changes in policies such as the minimum wage and SOCSO, as well as rules and regulations.

“As the industry is currently having a mismatch between supply and demand, we believe the company will be able to address these issues through existing and upcoming business strategies,” Chin said. 

The number of registered foreign workers in Malaysia is also estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 1.6 per cent from 1.8 million in 2017 to 1.9 million in 2022. 

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