SBH Marine makes strong ACE Market debut

SBH Marine Holdings Berhad company’s listing ceremony and press conference for its listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. —YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: SBH Marine Holdings Bhd has made a strong debut on the ACE Market, opening at 25.5 sen per share, or 16% above its initial public offering price of 22 sen.

The share price of the frozen seafood producer closed at 25.5 sen, off an intra-day high of 27.5 sen.

Executive director Saw Leng Hean expressed optimism on the seafood and aquaculture industry, due to global population growth and depleting wild-catches.

“Aquaculture is the way to move forward, so we are very optimistic and confident in this particular industry,” Saw pointed out.

He shared that “sustainability is the key word to move forward with growth and consistency.”

On the group’s expansion plans, he said SBH Marine’s in-house shrimp hatchery centre is expected to be operational this year.The frozen food producer is also building an additional 4,000 tonnes seafood processing plant which is expected to be completed by 2026.

The group’s other expansion initiatives include the doubling its aquaculture farms harvest capacity of shrimp up to 1,800 tonnes from 900 tonnes annually.

On the group’s export business, Saw said the Red Sea crisis is not a major issue as the group’s sales are diversified to Asian countries.

Although trading routes to Europe and the Middle East have been affected and shipping rates have increased, he said the group was able to pass the costs to its clients.

SBH Marine had also set its sights on entering the China market by late 2024 or early 2025.

“We will be participating in the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo this November where we plan to set a bigger market footing there,” Saw said.

The company is also strategising to target premium markets to avoid competition with other neighbouring South-East Asian countries.

“Our neighouring countries are Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

“Everyone is targeting the commodity market, where it is a low-price item. We are targeting premium-price products,” he added.

The group is optimistic despite inflation issues as the food industry is resilient.

“Despite difficult times, the demand for seafood is constant even though consumers may eat less of it,” he noted.

The changing consumer sentiment is an opportunity for SBH Marine to grow as the consumers are opting for a healthier choice of protein, especially marine protein, according to Saw.