PETALING JAYA: VS Industry Bhd
's (VSI) wholly-owned subsidiary, VS Capital Management Sdn Bhd (VCSM), has raised RM500mil via a Sukuk Wakalah Programme with the proceeds meant for working capital, capital expenditure, and general corporate purposes.
The RM500mil issued was split into two tranches with a three-year and 5-year tenure respectively. The first tranche has a periodic distribution rate of 4.28% while the second tranche’s distribution rate was 4.74%.
MARC Ratings Bhd assigned a credit rating of AAIS(CG) to the issues by VCSM.
Analysts meanwhile expect VS Industry to chart stable growth in earnings as it undertakes initiatives to strengthen supply chain, reduce carbon emissions and improve labour practices.
HLIB Research, in a recent report, stated VS Industry in an effort to build a responsible supply chain, has developed a Supplier Ethical & Environment Code of Conduct as a framework that its suppliers are required to acknowledge the agree to comply with.
The company is also seeking to reduce its carbon footprint and plan to set aside RM50mil to ramp up on its solar panel installation across its factories in 3-5 years’ time.
Apart from complying with necessary regulations, VS Industry has also came up with suitable energy saving measures based on evaluation of its operations from time to time.
“Most of the group’s critical processes are certified with ISO 14001:2015 environment management system and it is in the midst of getting all the processes accredited by the end of 2022. The group regularly examines the management and analysis of resources consumption and formulates and implements annual energy saving measures,” said HLIB Research.
In ensuring ethical and sustainable labour practices, VS Industry underwent an independent labour review earlier this year which ended in June 2022.
PwC Consulting Associates (M) Sdn Bhd, appointed as an independent third-party reviewer of the group’s labour practices, stated there were no systemic forced labour practices identified at the integrated electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider and it value chain.
“PwC has identified gaps and areas of improvement, where remedial actions have been taken by the group with some having been resolved and others are in the midst of being remedied,” HLIB Research said.
On the issue of labour shortage, VS Industry welcomed 2,000 foreign workers and is expecting another 1,700 foreign labour late this month.
“If the recruitment process goes as planned with the 3,700 foreign labour quota allocated, the group would be able to ramp up its operations by 40%,” said HLIB Research.
