KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Cocoa ingredients-maker Guan Chong Bhd has aborted its plan to dual-list its shares on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) “for the time being”, the company said in a statement issued after closing bell today, confirming an earlier report by edgemalaysia.com
The company’s statement did not specifically say if the exercise had been pulled due to weak market conditions or if Guan Chong still needed to comply with additional regulatory requirements for its Singapore dual-listing.
When contacted, a company spokesperson declined further comment at current juncture. However, in a statement last month, Guan Chong had said approval from its shareholders for the dual-listing concluded all necessary approvals from Singapore and Malaysia for the exercise.
The aborting of the exercise came as a surprise given that Guan Chong’s managing director and CEO Brandon Tay Hoe Lian had on July 21 told reporters details on the launch of the IPO prospectus for the Singapore dual listing was being finalised.
Instead, in a statement yesterday evening, Tay said: “After much consideration, we wish to reassess our strategic direction with regards to capital requirements for expansion.”
“The group remains committed to expanding our global reach and broadening our profile as one of the leading cocoa processors in the world, going forward. Ultimately, we remain focused on implementing growth strategies to bring sustainable benefit to Guan Chong,” he added.
Nonetheless, one analyst who tracks Petra Foods Ltd in Singapore pointed out that Petra Foods, which is larger and more established, had in their recent earnings announcement for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012, flagged that margins for it cocoa processing business had been hit by over-capacity in the industry.
Another Johor-based cocoa-ingredients processor, JB Foods Ltd, which debut on the SGX last month closed below its IPO price of 30 Singapore cents per share yesterday (Thursday, Aug 16). It added 1 cent or 2.39% to close at 30.5 cent today.
Guan Chong shares shed 7 sen to close at RM3.01 with 291,300 shares traded.
