KUALA LUMPUR: Pawnshop operator Evergreen Max Cash Capital Bhd's (EMCC) share price jumped almost 46 per cent, or 35 sen, today, on its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.
At 3.53pm, its share price stood at 31.5 sen, up 31 per cent from its reference price of 24 sen.
The company raised a total of RM64.2 million from its initial public offering IPO, of which RM20.0 million (31.1 per cent) is earmarked for the expansion of pawnshops and 30.0 million (46.7 per cent) as cash capital for its pawnbroking business.
The balance of RM4 million (6.2 per cent) and RM5.6 million (8.8 per cent) are for the repayment of bank borrowings and working capital respectively.
Executive director and group managing director Datuk Low Kok Chuan said the company has confidence in the pawnbroking industry which is expected to grow as pawnbroking services remain a preferred choice for short-term financing needs, especially amongst the unbanked and underbanked population.
"With the IPO proceeds in place, we are well-positioned to execute our expansion plan.
This includes increasing the cash capital of our existing "Pajaking" pawnshops by RM30.0 million as well as to increase the number of "Pajaking" pawnshops that we have," it said.
For the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, the company posted a net profit of RM3.45 million versus RM2.62 million for the same period last year.
Revenue rose to RM24.93 million from RM15.16 million a year ago.
The increased financial performance was mainly due to higher pawn loans disbursed by RM29.0 million or 17.3 per cent, and higher sales volume of unredeemed pledged gold items from the pawnbroking business, as well as pre-owned gold products sourced from other third party pawnshops.