Sedania shares close 9.2% higher on debut

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile services enabler Sedania Innovator Bhd made its debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd yesterday with its share price closing 9.2% or 3.5 sen higher at 41.5 sen, above its 38 sen issue price. Some 31.3 million shares were traded.
The group is engaged in proprietary airtime sharing (ATS) platform, which made available to mobile subscribers of mobile network operators (MNOs), including Celcom Axiata Bhd, Maxis Bhd and Bangladesh's Robi Axiata.
The ATS platform allows mobile subscribers to request and transfer airtime credits to other prepaid subscribers within the same network.
Speaking at a press conference after its listing ceremony, the group's managing director Datuk Azrin Mohd Noor said he is buoyant on the group's long-term prospects, as its proprietary ATS platform is capable of processing 223 transactions per second currently.
He said the group has grown its average transaction volume to 324,000 per day last year, from 268,000 per day in 2011.
"Our marketing efforts with our MNOs are poised to propel us onto a higher level of transaction volume, which will drive our financial performance going forward," he said, noting the group is currently approaching other MNOs to expand its customer base.
"We are in talks with more MNOs right now. We will make announcement on it in the near future once it has been finalised," Azrin said.
Commenting on its financial performance, the group is optimistic on its prospects for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2015, given its expansion plans this year.
It plans to focus on enhancing its ATS solutions, continuously developing new products, as well as expanding its customer base and research and development (R&D) talent. The company has launched three new ATS-related services during the first quarter, and targets to expand its R&D team to a 40-strong team from 18 as at end-2014.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, Sedania recorded a net profit of RM1.5 million, which includes a tax refund of RM450,000 for its subsidiary, due to over provisioning in the previous years.
Its revenue stood at RM2.6 million in the same quarter, mainly derived from the provision of its ATS services that contributes 99% of the group's revenue.
Sedania's initial public offering (IPO) entails a public issue of 51.5 million new ordinary shares, of which 41.5 million shares are allocated for private placement to selected investors; one million shares for eligible directors and employees of the group and nine million shares for Malaysian public.
The IPO raised RM19.6 million in proceeds, with RM6.8 million earmarked for working capital, RM4.1 million as marketing expenses, RM4 million for capital expenditure, RM2.5 million for R&D expenses and RM2.2 million for listing expenses.
"With the proceeds from the IPO, our marketing efforts will propel us onto a higher level of transaction volume, and drive our financial performance going forward," Azrin added.