New Listing UMW O&G to focus on ASEAN market

by **hlk** Fri 01 Nov 2013, 13:30

New Listi
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Jeffrey Tan of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 01 November 2013 12:17
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): UMW Oil & Gas Corporation Bhd, whose shares
rose in its maiden trades today, said it will focus on the 10 markets in Southeast
Asia and for a longer term, the Asia Pacific region.
Speaking to the media after UMW O&G’s debut on the Main Market of Bursa
Malaysia, UMW O&G president Rohaizad Darus said there are sufficient
opportunities for the next few years in the drilling and oilfield market within the
ASEAN region.
“Looking ahead, there is still a lot of market availability for the shallow water
segment. Shallow water is our core business and we are good at it,” said
Rohaizad.
“We are quite successful within the ASEAN region, with a project in Indonesia.
Due to a buoyant market, we penetrated the Vietnamese market and we have
three projects over there,” he added.
He said the Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Myanmar economies
are ‘very aggressive’, which he opined would provide near-term opportunities.
The bright outlook of the company saw UMW O&G shares being snapped in
early trades.
At 11.58 am today, the stock was traded at RM3.10 after rising 30 sen or 11%
from its IPO price of RM2.80 on trades of some 155 million shares.
The most active counter and fourth top gainer opened at RM3.00 per share on
trades of 22.5 million shares at 9.00 am. JF Apex Securities has given a fair
value of RM3.15 for the stock and HwangDBS Vickers Research has set a
target price of RM3.20 for the stock.
At the opening ceremony today, Rohaizad added that after the ASEAN region, UMW O&G would look into the Asia Pacific region for its
long-term strategy as it spreads its wings to the global market.
Rohaizad also said China has been UMW O&G’s ‘playground’ for a long time, delving into the cross selling business. He said: “We do not
discount the possibility of going to China if there are opportunities.”
He said the firm would continue to develop and further expand its asset base with a RM1 billion injection of new assets and drilling rigs,
with prudence.
Meanwhile, the UMW O&G president said the firm would establish the UMW Drilling Academy, scheduled to be operational in January next
year.
“The academy will be opened to the Malaysian public to assist in developing the Malaysian drilling industry, in line with the government’s
objective of creating a high income nation,” Rohaizad said.
“It is a 4-5 year programme available to graduates to provide practical training to be a driller. Our curriculum is based on industry
standards to which we are in the process of getting accreditation from the authorities.”
ng UMW O&G to focus on ASEAN market