KUALA LUMPUR: Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) has decided to postpone the initial public offering (IPO) of its retail unit Al-Ikhsan Sports Sdn Bhd until next year.
Ekuinas chief executive officer Datuk Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abdul Kadir said the decision comes in response to a less favourable market outlook, particularly in the consumer sector.
"What we are going to do is probably defer the listing into next year. This is because the overall outlook is not so good, especially on the consumer side.
"The outlook remains relatively soft," Syed Yasir said at a press conference following the Iltizam Catalyst 2023 Programme here today.
Ekuinas bought a 35 per cent stake in Al-Ikhsan in 2016 for RM68.6 million.
Al-Ikhsan now operates 181 outlets.
In May last year, Ekuinas said the company was in early discussions to monetise its investments in Al-Ikhsan via an IPO or trade sale, depending on its valuation.
Meanwhile, Ekuinas has allocated RM1.2 million to empower, strengthen and accelerate Bumiputera business through its Iltizam Catalyst Programme.
Syed Yasir said the annual programme has empowered a total of 38 Bumiputera small and medium enterprises (SMEs) since its inception to overcome core pain points and strengthen business fundamentals.
"To track the effectiveness of the programme, we introduced five key performance indicators (KPIs). This is the second batch completing the programme and we see its growing impact.
"Based on the KPIs set, I am pleased to share that for Catalyst 2023, 100 per cent of the companies gained improved clarity in their business direction. Nine out of the 17 companies achieved at least four of the five KPIs set," he addrd.
Syed Yasir said in 2023, Ekuinas through Ilyizam, disbursed a total of RM13.8 million, benefitting a total of 74,000 individuals, families, entrepreneurs and businesses across Malaysia.
Of this, he said RM3.3 million was channelled towards entrepreneurship efforts.
This brings Ekuinas' total expenditure under Iltizam to RM100 million since its inception.
"Application to participate in the next programme, Iltizam Catalyst 2024 is now open until August 15, 2024.
"We target to have 15 companies for this next round of programme. The selection will be based on the quality and the uniqueness of the company's business," he added.