THE inception of HE Group Bhd into the ACE Market yesterday (Jan 30) marks a huge step towards expansion in the local arena besides growing other strategic initiatives.
According to HE Group managing director Amos Haw Chee Seng, listing on the ACE Market should provide the organisation with the required capital to expand their operations.
In addition, the listing enhances HE Group’s reputation, serving as an impetus to attract potential clients and skilled professionals in the field of mechanical, electrical, and process utility systems (MEP).
Haw identified several opportunities in the electrical and mechanical engineering industry which is currently witnessing promising growth trends.
Over the period from 2020 to 2022, there has been a significant increase in the value of construction work completed for electrical installations with a notable two-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.6%.
Additionally, applications for both new and existing electrical installations have experienced growth with two-year CAGRs of 20.7% and 4.3%, respectively.
“Our confidence in the industry’s potential is further reinforced by the substantial growth in approved investments in the electrical and electronic (E&E) and medical devices sectors,” Haw pointed out.
“These sectors exhibited impressive two-year CAGRs of 37.3% and 46.2% respectively between 2020 and 2022.”
Moreover, the HE Group has an edge in handling projects of any size or value given it is a registered Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) G7 and Class A electrical contractor in Malaysia.
“This sets us apart from the competition, as only a fraction of contractors hold these prestigious designations. Among the 7,392 electrical contractors, only 1,227 or 16.6% hold Class A status,” revealed Haw.
“Opportunities arising from the growth in approved investments and foreign direct investments (FDIs) will benefit their end-user industries such as semiconductors and medical devices.”
As these industries thrive, they will directly translate into an increased tender book and a higher volume of projects for the organisation, according to Haw.
“Moving forward, the integration of IoT (internet of thing) technology will be a key factor in the evolution of the electrical and mechanical engineering industry as it brings various benefits for our customers and opportunities for us players in the industry,” he enthuses.
One feature of the IoT integration is the ability to monitor and manage the power distribution system with real-time data to identify potential issues before they lead to power outages.
“To meet with customers’ ever-changing needs, engineers with expertise in crucial areas such as IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning will be in high demand,” he envisages.
“We are strategically establishing a new office in Johor, designed to cater to the growing data centre market in the state. We are also opening another office in Kedah in response to the increasing influx of foreign investments there.”
Haw also highlighted that both Kedah and Johor are experiencing substantial growth and stand to benefit from future investments.
All in all, HE Group’s initial public offering (IPO) entails a public issue of 86.88 million new shares and an offer for sale of 44 million existing shares at an IPO price of 28 sen/share payable in full upon application.
At 4.30pm. HE Group was up 1 sen or 3.08% at 33.5 sen with 43.7 million shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM147 mil. – Jan 31, 2024
