KUALA LUMPUR: Poultry firm Leong Hup International Bhd rose as high as eight per cent to RM1.19 on the first day of its re-listing on Bursa Malaysia.
Leong Hup's initial public offering (IPO) was priced at RM1.10.
The stock was Bursa’s most active with 215.4 million shares traded, although ending the day unchanged at RM1.10.
Executive director and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Lau Tuang Nguang expressed cheer at yesterday’s morning's eight per cent jump in Leong Hup's share price.
"It is very good, considering the current market's sentiment," Lau told reporters after the relisting ceremony here today.
Since March 2019, the FBM KLCI, which was hovering at around 1,700 points, has been on a downtrend.
It touched a low of 1,599 points, two days ago, before rebounding to 1,609 points today.
"When Leong Hup was first listed here, we were only operating in Malaysia. Since we took the company private in 2012, we've expanded our poultry and egg farming operations to five nations throughout Asean," Lau said.
Leong Hup is one of the major suppliers of broiler chicken in Malaysia with an estimated 10 per cent market share.
The company raised RM275 million from the public issue of 250 million new shares, mainly to support its business expansion in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
"We will build 32 broiler farms across Malaysia by the fourth quarter of 2020. There are also plans to expand our feedmill and livestock farms in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines," he said.
Leong Hup controls two listed companies, namely; egg producer Teo Seng Capital Bhd and Indonesian integrated poultry player PT Malindo Feedmil Tbk.
Lau said Leong Hup’s dividend policy entailed dishing out 30 per cent of net profits to shareholders. He then thanked the 10 cornerstone investors who had placed their faith in Leong Hup's growth prospects throughout Asean.
They are the Employees Provident Fund Board (EPF), Maybank Asset Management Sdn Bhd, AIA Bhd, Louis Dreyfus Company Asia Pte Ltd, Tan Sri Chua Ma Yu, Ovata Capital Management Ltd, RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd, Factorial Master Fund, Hong Leong Capital Bhd and Guoline (Singapore) Pte Ltd.