KUALA LUMPUR: Seremban Engineering Bhd (SEB), which made its debut on Bursa Malaysia Securities yesterday, has almost doubled its order book to RM27 million in less than a month, from RM14 million when the company released its prospectus on April 14.

The new order came from the local oil and gas (O&G) sector, one of the latest income streams for the company, said its executive director Penny Wong.

“While the palm oil refinery sector still forms the bulk of the book order with 56% contribution, orders from the oil and gas sector constituted 11% of the total orders secured, a commendable beginning for the group in penetrating this lucrative sector,” she told reporters after the company’s debut yesterday.

“We saw a RM3 million order coming from a local O&G company. We also have a new customer in the food sector,” she said.

Wong said SEB was expecting more contributions from the palm oil, food and waste management sectors in the third quarter of the year, while pharmaceutical will take time to contribute to the company’s earnings.

“The pharmaceutical sector needs a special facility. We are waiting for our Rawang factory, which caters for that industry, to be ready by the last quarter of this year,” she said, adding that the RM3.3 million factory was about 80% completed.

SEB has also secured new markets in Papua New Guinea for water treatment and in Indonesia for the palm oil industry, said Wong.

“We need to build up a track record. Right now we are aiming (for growth) from these three markets,” she said.

SEB  fabricates a wide range of mission-critical process equipment and metal structures for various industries, mainly palm oil, O&G, food and waste management.

SEB, which opened at 87 sen, two cents higher than its offer price, closed at 81 sen with 10.39 million shares done.

A total of 28 million shares of 50 sen each were offered under the listing exercise, comprising a public issue of 19.9 million new shares and an offer-for-sale of 8.1 million shares. The 6.5 million shares offered to the public was oversubscribed by 5.86 times.

Of the RM16.9 million raised from the public issue, RM9 million has been allocated for the purchase of plant and machinery and extension or upgrading of properties, RM3 million to repay borrowings, RM2.9 million for working capital, and RM2 million for listing expenses.

Wong said SEB was pleased with the opening price and that prospects were looking good for the company, with double- digit growth seen for the current financial year.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009, SEB recorded a net profit of RM9.2 million on RM69 million revenue, with Indonesia being the main contributor.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, May 11, 2010.