MKHOP makes Main Market debut at 63c/share

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares in MKH Oil Palm (East Kalimantan) Bhd (MKHOP) rose slightly on its trading debut on Tuesday after the plantations firm’s initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Market raised RM136.4mil.

The trading stock of MKHOP opened at 63 sen a share, just one sen higher than its IPO price of 62 sen a share, and rose to an intra-morning high of 65.5 sen a share.

At 10.04am, the share was back to trading at its starting price of 63 sen a share, with chart-topping volume of 95.92 million shares.

MKHOP, an oil palm plantation firm operating in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, is a wholly-owned unit of Main Market-listed MKH Bhd, which spun off the plantations business to unlock value for the group.

The public portion of MKHOP’s IPO was oversubscribed 8.4 times. The Bumiputera category was oversubscribed 7.6 times and the other Malaysia public category registered an oversubscription rate of 9.3 times.

In addition, the private placement of 168.8 million shares for selected investors were also fully placed out.

MKHOP posted a net profit of RM16mil in the second quarter ended March 31 (2Q24), up 53.3% from RM10.4mil in the preceding quarter.

Revenue in 2Q24 stood at RM86.05mil, up 4.5% compared to RM82.3mil in 1Q24.

No comparative figures were available for the preceding corresponding period as this marked the group’s first interim financial report.

Of the proceeds of RM136.4mil, MKHOP said it would be utilising RM42mil to acquire oil palm plantations within East Kalimantan while RM9mil will be used to set up a palm kernel crushing facility to open up an additional income stream.

A further RM42mil will be used as capital expenditure, RM30mil will go towards repayment of loans while the remaining RM13.4mil will be deployed as working capital and to cover listing expenses.