Autocount opens at more than triple IPO price

KUALA LUMPUR: Autocount Dotcom Bhd made its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia at RM1.09 a share, representing a 76 sen premium or 230.3% increase over its initial public offering (IPO) price of 33 sen a share.

The stock was the most actively traded on the market in the early morning session, with 165 million shares crossing hands as at 9.45 am.

The company, which is involved in the development and distribution of financial management software, raised RM30.88mil from its IPO, which will fuel its expansion plans in the region.

A lion's share of 56% (RM17.3mil) of the IPO proceeds will go towards its expansion to the Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines markets, where regional sales offices will be set up.

A smaller share or 17% (RM5.2mil) of the IPO proceeds will be utilised for research and development to expand its product features.

According to the company, it has to-date sold 70,000 AutoCount software licenses for use by 210,000 businesses and companies in Malaysia and Singapore.

Upon its listing, the company had a market capitalisaiton of RM181.7mil.

On outlook, investment research firm Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research said Autocount is set to capitalise on the increasing digitalisation trend among SMEs in Malaysia and Singapore.

It said the group will also benefit from its expansion into other Asean countries, where the demand for financial management software is on the rise.

HLIB projects Autocount's FY22-25 core net profit to grow at a decent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5%.

"It is worth noting that ADB's cloud-based software sales has been burgeoning since it was launched in 2019 as the affordable subscription fee has made it more accessible to a wider user base.

"In anticipation of its growing user base, we expect further growth in this segment," it said in a report.

The research firm has a fair value of 56 sen on the stock with a target price-earnings of 17.5x FY24 earnings per share of 3.2 sen.

"This P/E multiplier represent a 30% discount against the one we ascribed to Itmax (25x), to reflect Autocount’s smaller size and ACE market listing, which makes it less investible to institutional investors," it said.