Strategic planning: (From left) SAG central region CEO Melvin Ng, Chang and executive director and northern region CEO Mario Foo. With a current market share of just 8.1%, Chang believes SAG is far from reaching its full potential.
KAJANG: With expansion plans in place and a solid order book, Signature Alliance Group Bhd
(SAG) is confident of its growth, moving forward.
Principally involved in interior fitting-out services and building construction works, SAG executive director and group chief executive officer (CEO) Darren Chang said the group’s nature of business is unlike that of typical construction players.
He pointed out that the group’s contract periods usually span less than one or two years, unlike others in the industry, where projects may take around three to five years to complete.
“Our turnaround time is very fast. At SAG, we can generate the numbers within a year,” he told StarBiz.
Highlighting how the interior design industry “works differently”, Chang shared that the group remains unaffected by weather disruptions, as most of the work takes place indoors.
He added that SAG serves a wide range of clients across various sectors.
However, commercial projects dominate the portfolio, comprising 93% of completed developments – particularly within the corporate office, retail and hospitality segments. Residential projects make up the remaining 7%.
“Again, these are what make us unique compared to our competitors. Others tend to specialise in one sector, but at SAG, we operate across different sectors,” he quipped, adding that the corporate office and retail segments will continue to drive the group’s earnings in the coming years.
He noted that this diversification provides resilience during market fluctuations.
“A good example would be the Covid-19 pandemic. Retail and hospitality segments had it hard, but we managed to get the corporate office projects going and addition and alteration works as well,” he said.
As of April 16, 2025, SAG had 69 ongoing projects with a total contract value of RM902.4mil and an unbilled contract value of RM388.6mil.
Its tender book stands at RM1.1bil, with 53 tenders submitted as of the same date.
With a healthy project pipeline and rising demand, Chang believes this is the right time for SAG to pursue a public listing.
SAG aims to raise RM161.2mil through an initial public offering (IPO) on the ACE Market on Bursa Malaysia on June 5.
The group will issue 260 million new ordinary shares at 62 sen apiece.
The IPO pricing is based on a 15 times price-to-earnings ratio, benchmarked against SAG’s financial year ended Dec 31, 2024 (FY24), and values the company at an estimated market capitalisation of RM620mil upon listing.
In FY24, SAG recorded a net profit of RM40.56mil.
This was a sharp increase from RM10.42mil in FY23, as revenue more than doubled to RM386.02mil from RM173.38mil.
Chang said the results reflected the group’s ability to scale quickly and deliver consistent earnings, further justifying its valuation.
The bulk of the IPO proceeds will fund business expansion, with RM88mil allocated for a new corporate office and production facility in Selangor, and RM12mil set aside for expanding and establishing branch offices in Penang and Johor.
An additional RM30.1mil will go toward working capital, while RM4mil is for machinery and equipment purchases.
Currently, SAG operates two facilities in Bandar Baru Bangi and Kuchai, both of which are running at full capacity.
The group plans to consolidate operations at a larger, centralised facility to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs.
The new Klang-based corporate office and production facility will be built on a 117,000 sq ft parcel of land.
Construction is expected to be completed by February 2028, with operations commencing four months later.
In Penang and Johor, demand for interior fit-out services has picked up post-pandemic, said Chang.
“Previously, business was slow in Penang due to Covid-19, but with the market recovering and fresh capital from the IPO, we’re confident we can secure more projects in these regions.”
The remaining IPO proceeds will go toward repaying bank borrowings (RM20mil) and covering estimated listing expenses (RM7.1mil).
Looking ahead, Chang expressed confidence in SAG’s growth trajectory post-listing. With a current market share of just 8.1%, he said the company is far from reaching its full potential.
“We’re strategically positioning ourselves to capture a larger share of the market. There’s still plenty of room to grow, and we’re just getting started,” he said.
