KUALA LUMPUR: Autocount Dotcom Bhd has made a sizzling debut Bursa Malaysia's ACE Market today, more than tripling its price to RM1.09 in opening trade from the initial public offering (IPO) price of 33 sen.
Autocount opened at a premium of 76 sen or 230.3 per cent over its 33 sen IPO price, with 13.71 million shares changing hands, the third among among the best IPO performers this year.
Oppstar Bhd remains the top performer as it opened at a premium of 285.71 per cent, followed by TT Vision Holdings Bhd with a 276.47 per cent premium.
As at 12.30pm, Autocount settled at 79.5 sen with 208.87 million shares traded.
Autocount - a developer and distributor of financial management software that includes accounting, point-of-sale (POS) and payroll - raised RM30.88 million from the IPO with an enlarged share base of 550.5 million shares.
A majority of the proceeds - RM17.3 million or 56 per cent - was earmarked for the expansion while RM5.2 million (17 per cent) was allocated for research and development in expanding its existing product features such as enhancing its cloud POS, cloud accounting, cloud payroll, e-commerce solutions and human resources.
Of the balance of the proceeds, RM4.42 million (14 per cent) will be used for the company's working capital and RM3.9 million (13 per cent) for listing expenses.
The company said it had sold about 70,000 software licences for use of some 210,000 businesses and companies in Malaysia and Singapore.
Following the listing, Autocount executive chairman Choo Chin Peng, shared his excitement for its upcoming growth phase.
This would be driven by expansion plans into key Asean markets, said Choo, citing the company's success in Singapore as a blueprint for its entry into new markets.
Managing director Choo Yan Tiee said today's listing signified the beginning of its next growth phase.
"As we embark on this exciting journey of regional expansion, we remain committed to delivering sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders.
"The localisation efforts and market penetration strategies that Autocount implemented in Singapore have yielded remarkable results, learning to significant revenue growth. In merely five years, the Singapore market has swelled to represent 18.7 per cent of the group's total revenue in financial year 2022," he added.
For its first quarter ended March 31, 2023, Autocount posted a net profit of RM3.66 million or earnings per share of 0.8 sen, on the back of a revenue of RM10.42 million.
