KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of RT Pastry Holdings Bhd traded below their initial public offering (IPO) price on their Bursa Malaysia debut on Monday, amid a weaker broader market.
The bakery and food manufacturer slipped one sen to 17 sen, with 21.62 million shares traded, making it one of the most actively traded counters as of 10.48 am.
RT Pastry opened at 17.5 sen, below its IPO price of 18 sen per share.
The IPO comprised 91.54 million new shares priced at 18 sen each. The public tranche was oversubscribed by 59.96 times, reflecting strong investor demand for the listing.
RT Pastry has more than 20 years of experience in Malaysia's bakery market, operating a network of retail outlets across the Klang Valley under the RT Pastry brand.
The group operates two centralised manufacturing plants. Its Seri Kembangan facility produces pastries, mooncakes and confectionery products, while its Shah Alam plant manufactures bread.
Executive director and group chief executive officer Lu Chun-Neng said the listing marked a major milestone for the group, adding that it came at a time when demand for quality baked goods continued to grow.
“Over the last 23 years, keeping our production centralised has helped us protect the quality and taste that our customers love. The funds we raised from this IPO will give us the resources we need to expand our outlet network beyond our usual areas and build new income streams.
“By expanding our production space and bringing in better machinery, we can run our operations more efficiently, rely less on heavy manual work, and actively grow our wholesale business by offering our services as an OEM to chain-based retailers and food & beverage service providers, as well as consumer goods brand owners,” Lu said in a statement.
RT Pastry plans to use its RM16.48mil IPO proceeds to fund expansion and strengthen its balance sheet. Of the total, RM7.63mil (46.3%) will fund the opening of new retail outlets over the next 36 months, while RM900,000 (5.4%) will be used to purchase machinery and equipment to improve automation and production capacity.
The group will also allocate RM3.82mil (23.2%) to repay bank borrowings within six months of listing, with the remaining RM4.13mil (25.1%) set aside for listing expenses.
KAF Investment Bank is the principal adviser, sponsor, underwriter, and placement agent for the IPO.
