KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- Cropmate Bhd is optimistic about growing fertiliser demand in Malaysia, particularly in the palm oil sector.
Its sales and technical director Leong Fo Seong highlighted that Malaysia's limited land for oil palm expansion necessitates a focus on maximising yields.
“This means farmers will need to use fertiliser on their trees to achieve optimum yield.
“Another segment is durian, which has been performing well in Malaysia. As you can see, China has been importing around 1.2 million to 1.5 million tonnes of durian from us annually,” he told a press conference after the company's listing ceremony here today.
He further noted that the rising demand for durian and palm oil is expected to drive greater fertiliser use in the coming years.
Cropmate is primarily involved in the formulation and blending of conventional and speciality fertilisers.
The company plans to allocate RM3.2 million to establish a research and development (R&D) and testing laboratory to improve product quality and support future expansion plans.
“We have not yet achieved our full capacity. While our current capacity is about 220,000 tonnes, we are producing slightly over 100,000 tonnes. So, we still have extra capacity to cater to future demand.
“We will allocate part of the IPO proceeds to R&D to enhance quality and explore future environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliant fertilisers,” Leong added.
The IPO entails the issuance of 210 million new shares and the sale of 50 million existing shares.
This involves an institutional offering of 208.34 million shares to institutional and selected investors, including Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, at an institutional price to be determined through book-building.
Meanwhile, a retail offering of 51.66 million shares was made available to the Malaysian public, as well as to eligible directors, employees, and individuals who contributed to the success of Cropmate and its subsidiary.
Cropmate debuted on Bursa Malaysia's ACE Market today at 24.5 sen, a 4.5 sen premium from its IPO price of 20 sen, with 26.09 million shares traded.
-- BERNAMA
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