KUALA LUMPUR: Techfast Holdings Bhd could be a new big champion in electrical and electronics manufacturing following the entry of Alvin Ang, founder of packaging firm Thong Guan Industries Bhd.
The ACE Market-listed group announced a boardroom change involving Ang in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
Ang sits on the board of a few private limited companies involved in property development, commodity trading, investment holding and solar power generation.
Speculation is rife that Ang is coming in to inject new portfolios into Techfast, to build its businesses.
Shares of Techfast spiked up since October 15, rising from 35 sen to close at 50 sen today.
A person with knowledge on the matter said that plans were afoot to build Techfast into a manufacturing giant to rival companies like V.S. Industry Bhd, SKP Resources Bhd and ATA IMS Bhd (AIB).
Shares of VS Industry and SKP have risen significantly this year as they have been gaining new business because of the US-China trade war.
The trade war caused economic pain on both sides and led to diversion of trade flows away from both China and the United States.
Techfast, which posted a pre-tax profit of RM2.34 million for the six months to June 30, 2020, has three business segments namely self-clinching fasteners, rubber sheets and epoxy, and product application which are already benefiting rom the US-China trade war.
Its revenue for the six months was RM14.08 million, 4.1 per cent higher than the RM13.52 million recorded during the same period last year.
Techfast said in its Bursa filing that it had received higher sales for its products from China and Taiwan.
Ang told the New Straits Times, when contacted, that he had a set of plans for Techfast, but declined to elaborate on the matter.
"I am coming in as an independent director as I see strong potential in Techfast to expand overseas. Techfast's potential is under-appreciated, in my view," Ang said.
Thong Guan reportedly said that it had earmarked RM150 million as capital expenditure (capex) for the next two years to expand its business in Malaysia and overseas.
It plans to invest up to RM40 million to build a new plant in Myanmar, and the remainder amount to extend its local factory lines to produce stretch films and specialty mailer bags, as well as to install machinery for the manufacturing of food and beverage packaging products.
Ang had said that with Thong Guan's expansion plan, the company was confident of increasing its yearly output to 175,000 tonnes in 2021, up from over 150,000 tonnes this year.