Felda Global Ventures to focus on upstream business (5222)

KUALA LUMPUR: Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV),
which made a strong debut on Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, will focus on
the upstream business to be among the leading players in oil palm,
rubber and sugar.
Its group president Sabri Ahmad said the group had already drawn up specific plans and strategies to grow its business.
“With
the completion of the exercise, we now have to work hard to actualise
our promises and emerge as a Malaysian agri-business powerhouse,
commensurate with the expectations of our shareholders,” he said after
the listing of FGV.
FGV opened at RM5.39, or 84 sen above its
institutional price of RM4.55 sen. The retail price was RM4.45. There
were 21.14 million shares transacted at the opening bell.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Chairman
of Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) Mohd Isa Abdul
Samad speaks during a news conference after the listing of the company's
initial public offering (IPO) in Kuala Lumpur June 28, 2012. Shares in
Malaysian palm oil firm Felda Global surged 20 percent in their trading
debut on Thursday, as investors cheered on the world's second largest
IPO.REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad Sabri said the group was “quite confident” of achieving its full year profit target.
FGV chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad said he expected the second quarter earnings to be better.
He added that crude palm oil (CPO) futures at RM3,000 was “good enough” for the group.
The
listing of FGV had attracted worldwide interest in view of its plan to
go ahead after several regional offerings in Hong Kong and Singapore
were withdrawn following Facebook's IPO.
Felda embarked on the IPO as part of its long-term plan to transform into a world-class conglomerate.
It
also aimed to unlock the value of the Federal Land Development
Authority's commercial assets, to enhance FGV's income stream and
enhance the socio-economic well-being of 112,635 Felda settlers who are
Felda's primary stakeholders.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Chairman
of Malaysia's Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) Mohd Isa Abdul
Samad (2nd L) sttikes a traditional Malay gong as members of FGV's
management look on, marking the listing of the company's initial public
offering (IPO) in Kuala Lumpur June 28, 2012. Shares in Malaysian palm
oil firm Felda Global surged 20 percent in their trading debut on
Thursday, as investors cheered on the world's second largest IPO.
REUTERS Sabri added that Felda was also looking to replicate its success in socio-economic engineering elsewhere, for example in Africa.
Under
the listing exercise, Felda's 112,635 settlers all over Malaysia are
the biggest immediate beneficiaries of the listing, with a windfall cash
payment of RM15,000 being paid to them as well as the opportunity to
own shares.
The settlers would also benefit long-term from FGV's future growth via the creation of a special trust fund.
UOB
Kay Hian Malaysia Research said based on the IPO price of RM4.55
(institutional price), FGV was valued at 17.6 times 2011
price-to-earnings.
Public Investment Bank Research has an Outperform on FGV and a fair value of RM5.44.
FGV
is the second-largest oil palm plantation company in terms of planted
area and the largest sugar refiner in Malaysia. Its 49%-owned Felda Holdings Bhd is the world's largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer and the second-largest palm oil refiner in Malaysia.
It
raised a total RM9.93bil from its initial public offering (IPO) based
on an institutional price of RM4.55 per share and a final retail price
of RM4.45 per share.
Of the total RM9.93bil raised from the IPO,
RM5.5bil would accrue entirely to selling shareholders. The balance of
RM4.43bil arising from the public issue would be fully utilised for the
core business of FGV.