Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 16, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Home-grown building facade specialist Uni Wall APS Holdings Bhd, debuted on Bursa Malaysia yesterday, has an order book of more than RM40 million and is tendering for projects worth RM1.4 billion.

“Most of the projects are based in Malaysia though we are also tendering for projects in Melbourne, Australia,” the group’s managing director and chief executive officer Siow Hon Yuen said.

Speaking to reporters after the listing ceremony, Siow said Uni Wall is raising funds in view of growing demand for building facade services, as more buildings, especially those in the city centre, require improvements to their exteriors. The group largely uses glass, aluminium and stainless steel for exteriors of buildings.

“Concerns about building facade quality in Melbourne have also contributed to an increase in the use of aluminium found in our products,” he said, adding that the group is confident of winning more projects there.

Uni Wall shares, listed on the Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform Market, closed its first day of trading at 22 sen for a six sen or 37.5% premium to its initial public offering (IPO) price of 16 sen. The counter opened at 20 sen.

The group’s IPO entails issuing 45.7 million new shares, 12.5% of the enlarged issued share capital of the group.

Via the IPO, the group raised RM7.31 million, of which 47.9% or RM3.5 million will be used to set up a new factory in Semenyih, Selangor with an estimated total cost of RM13.2 million. The remaining capital expenditure of approximately RM9.7 million will come from internally generated funds and bank borrowings.

Another 41.2% or RM3.01 million will be allocated for working capital, and the remaining 10.9% or RM800,000 to defray the listing expenses.

Siow is positive about Uni Wall’s future financials with rising demand for its products. The group intends to have a dividend policy of paying 20% of future net profits to shareholders for each financial year.

“We are optimistic about our prospects. We have been making profits for the past 20 years, so we are confident of sustaining our growth,” said Siow.

The group’s notable building facade projects include the Le Nouvel Codominium in Jalan Ampang here, designed by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel.

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