(Jul 24): Malaysian property developer Aspen (Group) Holdings is seeking a listing on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange, selling 173.3 million shares at 23 cents each to raise net proceeds of $36.7 million. It is the second loss-making developer to list on the Catalist in as many months.
Aspen reported an unaudited pro forma loss of RM482,000 ($153,882) for FY2016 ended Dec 31, on revenue of RM99.7 million. In June, World Class Global listed on the Catalist board at an IPO price of 26 cents. A unit of jeweller cum property developer Aspial Corp, WCG reported a loss of $6.3 million in FY2016 ended Dec 31. The company also has not posted any revenue in its last three financial years. Shares in WCG closed on July 19 at 24.5 cents, 5.8% below the IPO price.
Will Aspen suffer the same fate? Its CEO and president Murly Manokharan is confident of attracting investors. “We have a very strong order book... and that will sustain the revenues and bottom line,” he says at a press conference. In its prospectus, Aspen says as at June 14, it had aggregate confirmed sales of RM1.3 billion. Of this, RM1.1 billion has not been recognised as revenue.
