Sarawak Cable seeks listing

By Sulok TawiePublished: 2009/12/12

Power cable and wire manufacturer Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCB) has filed a listing application with the Securities Commission (SC) and expects trading to begin in the first quarter of next year.


It plans to list all of its ordinary shares on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

SCB managing director Aaron Toh said it plans to raise some RM5 million through the initial public offering (IPO), which will be used to expand its operations in Sarawak and Sabah and for future expansion into Brunei and Kalimantan.

"We expect SCB to float on Bursa within the first quarter of next year. We are confident of SC's approval by then," Toh told reporters after the opening of its RM40 million factory by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in Kuching yesterday.

Toh said that SCB was financially healthy as most of its operations and expansion were internally financed.



"At this moment, we have sufficient funds to grow without resorting to borrowings."

Revenue in the financial year ending December 31 2009 is expected to be lower, due mainly to high cost of metals and fewer projects. It posted a revenue of RM135 million last year.

However, Toh said he expected revenue to improve from next year onwards with the acquisition of new machinery towards end-2010, which will boost its aluminium and copper cable and wire production capacity to 13,000 tonnes a year from 9,000 tonnes currently.

"We hope to maintain our position as the largest manufacturer of power cables and wires in Sarawak and Sabah by providing new and enhanced products, further expanding our current manufacturing facilities, undertaking business expansion as well as venturing into new business opportunities," he added.

Earlier, in his speech, SCB chairman Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib said the company had embarked on renewable energy projects, particularly solar hybrid system, through its subsidiary, Sarawak Power Solutions Sdn Bhd (SPS).

He said that SPS' assembly facility for the solar hybrid system will be ready by early next year.