Smooth maiden sailing for Westports

by **Cals** Fri 18 Oct 2013, 09:45

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com

Friday, 18 October 2013 09:22

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 18): Newly-listed Westports Holdings Bhd made an impressive start on its debut on teh Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on Friday, and was the most actively traded counter in early trade.
At 9.10am, the stock rose 15 sen to RM2.65 with 45 million shares done.
Westports had successfully raised RM2.03 billion from its IPO.

Reuters had reported earlier this month that foreign and domestic funds had jostled to bid for Westports, taking advantage of the US Federal Reserve’s surprise decision not to withdraw stimulus.
Reuters said that Westports, which manages the world’s 12th most active port overlooking the Malacca Straits, had its book oversubscribed 30 times and closed two days earlier than scheduled.

The remaining 102.3 million shares of the total IPO shares issued have been given to the Malaysian public, eligible employees and directors of Westports group.

Although Westports has fixed its institutional price at RM2.50 per share and final retail price at RM2.50 for its initial public offering (IPO), Kenanga Research has set its target price for the new stock at RM2.90 and JF Apex Securities has set it at RM2.97.
The port operator, with a 75% dividend policy of net profit on an annual basis, posted a net profit of RM360.9 million in calendar 2012, up from RM316.5 million in 2011. This was achieved on the back of revenue of RM1.5 billion, up from RM1.4 billion in 2011.