Feytech Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Connie Go (5th from left) at the ceremony commemorating the company's listing on Bursa Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR: Feytech Holdings Bhd made a strong debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday, opening at RM1.10 per share or 37.5% higher over its initial public offering (IPO) price of 80 sen.
The share price of the automotive seat and cover manufacturer closed at RM1.10 with an intra-day high of RM1.17.
It was also the most active stock with 135 million shares changing hands.
The group successfully raised a total of RM114.6mil from its IPO, with 44.9% or RM51.4mil to be earmarked for expansion plans.
This includes the acquisition of land, construction of a new corporate office with a manufacturing plant and warehouse as well as the construction of its Kulim Plant 2.
Chief executive officer Connie Go said the impending fuel subsidy rationalisation will be a challenge for the group.
“I think the removal of the fuel subsidies will probably have some impact on the automotive market, especially to car buyers.
“But we also expect the civil servant wage hike by year-end to offset the impact from the removal of fuel subsidies, as there will be more disposable income for civil servants to buy cars,” she said at a briefing.
On its outlook, Go said the group remains optimistic despite the challenges facing the automotive industry.
Meanwhile, the group will be focusing on employing more local staff as the government will implement a freeze on foreign worker intake by year-end.
According to executive director Go Yoong Chang, the group has no plans on taking in additional foreign workers as its current workforce is sufficient to support operations.
Yoong Chang said foreign workers currently make up 65% of the group’s workforce, with the remaining comprising local employees.
“Most of our foreign workers are based in the Tampoi (Johor) plant due to the nature of the production, as the plant requires more manpower to operate sewing machines for the car cover seat division,” Yoong Chang added.
He said the production process for manufacturing car cover seats is divided into two parts, namely cutting and sewing.
The cutting process is mainly operated by auto leather cutting machines but the sewing process requires hands-on mending by workers.
On its upcoming manufacturing plants in Kulim, Kedah, Yoong Chang said the group will focus on employing more local workers there.
He also said the group is actively seeking to expand its customer base by gaining new customers overseas.
“For now, we do not have anything concrete but if any of our customers are planning to do business abroad, we will follow suit and supply our products to them,” Yoong Chang said.
Feytech is actively engaging with new and existing customers to ensure the group acquires more projects, which include completely-knocked-down car programmes, to increase its market share in the automotive industry.
The group currently has five clients, namely Mazda, Kia, a local original equipment manufacturer, along with the recently awarded projects from Peugeot and Client 2, which is slated to commence in June 2024.
