Translate

Translate This Page

Monday, December 31, 2012

OCK eyes transfer to Main Market

By NG BEI SHAN

beishan@thestar.com.my

PUCHONG: Newly-listed OCK Group Bhd aims to transfer to the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia in mid-2013, possibly in May or June.

The company's move up from the Ace Market was part of its strategy to clinch more businesses, both locally and abroad, group managing director Sam Ooi told StarBiz in an interview.
The telecommunications network services provider has seen steady financial performance in the past few years.

“We are confident the business will continue to grow, especially as a listed entity now,” he said, adding that OCK was optimistic of the domestic and global market prospects.
Next year, it expects a double-digit growth in revenue.

The company expects to benefit from the allocation of the 4G long-term evolution spectrum band as there would be more job opportunities to upgrade and optimise telecommunications stations.
Moreover, the company is also eyeing jobs in other South-East Asian countries. It is bidding for a contract in Vietnam and expects the outcome to be announced in the first quarter of 2013.

Ooi said opportunities were abound in telecoms infrastructure in Thailand and that there was demand for contractors like OCK to help upgrade the system there.


In a recent note, Kenanga Research opined that OCK's transfer to the Main Market would improve the company's profile and increase its chances of clinching more deals.

Kenanga Research also pointed out that the company's share price has been trading mostly sideways since its initial public offering on July 18 this year.

And although Kenanga Research said one of the company's weaknesses was its small market capitalisation, its advantage was that it was the biggest tier-one market player. The other tier-1 telecoms network providers are R&A Telecommunication Group Bhd and Instacom Group Bhd.

Kenanga Research also said OCK's net profit for the nine months ended Sept 30 of RM10mil accounted for 93.5% of the research unit's full-year estimate, which was better than expected.
Bloomberg data showed that the estimated revenue growth for financial year ending Dec 31, 2012 was 51.71% year-on-year, while the growth is projected at 24.63% year-on-year in the next financial year.

The company had declared a 0.5 sen dividend for its third quarter and plans to announce a final dividend for FY12 in February next year, Ooi said.

“For the full financial year, we understand that the management intends to distribute one sen dividend, which will translate to a dividend yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 14.4%,” Kenanga Research noted.

No comments: