PETALING JAYA: Pekat Group Bhd debuted on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd today, closing higher at 81.5 sen, a 49.5 sen premium over its offer price of 32 sen, with 243.30 million shares changing hands.
Under the listing exercise, the solar photovoltaic (PV) and earthing and lightning protection (ELP) specialist has raised RM44.4 million from its public issue of 138.7 million new shares.
Its managing director Chin Soo Mau said with the proceeds from its listing exercise, Pekat is pushing ahead to expand its solar PV and ELP business.
“Of the total IPO proceeds, RM18 million will be used for the construction of new head office and operational facilities as it expands its operations to take advantage of the upcoming growth in the solar PV industry.
“The new head office with a total built-up area of 114,252 sq ft will be an integrated facility with all the company’s facilities (head office, showcase area, central monitoring station, training centre, workshop and warehouse) under one roof. The proposed new head office and operational facility will be a ‘zero net energy building’ to showcase the use of solar PV as RE to power commerce and industrial buildings once completed and operational by Dec 2023,“ said Chin in a statement in conjunction with the company’s listing.
Pekat will further utilise RM12.7 million for working capital requirements in particular for purchase of materials for its projects such as solar PV modules, solar PV inverters and ELP products and accessories, RM10 million to repay bank borrowings while the remaining RM3.7 million to be used to defray listing expenses for the IPO.
The increase in working capital will facilitate the company’s capability to secure more contracts, carry out more projects concurrently and provide more maintenance services.
As at May 3, Pekat has an existing order book worth RM154.9 million, comprising RM92.8 million for solar PV projects and RM62.1 million for ELP projects, of which RM117.2 million is expected to be billed in 2021, RM24.8 million in 2022, RM11.5 million in 2023 and RM1.4 million in 2024.
Based on the enlarged share capital of 645 million shares, Pekat is expected to have a market capitalisation of RM206.4 million after listing.
Chin said the company is expected to benefit from the favourable government initiatives, financial incentives and tax breaks for the solar PV industry, and rebound in the construction sector, driven by the resumption of activities across all subsectors.
“Current incentives and tax breaks such as the Green Technology Financing Scheme and the Green Investment Tax Allowance by Mida will continued to spur development in the solar PV industry,” he added.
