Boustead Plantations Berhad Bullish on Prospects

PETALING JAYA, June 3, 2014 – Boustead Holdings Berhad (BHB) today officially launched the prospectus of its plantation arm, Boustead Plantations Berhad (BPB), en-route to listing its shares on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad.

The listing involves an initial public offering (IPO) of 656,000,000 shares, comprising 76,000,000 existing BPB shares and a public issue of 580,000,000 new BPB shares to be issued to retail and institutional investors before the over-allotment option. Upon listing, the total enlarged and paid-up share capital of BPB will be RM800 million comprising 1.6 billion shares.

The IPO is expected to raise up to RM1.049 billion in proceeds, of which RM928 million will accrue to BPB and the balance of RM121 million to BHB based on the IPO price of RM1.60 per share.

YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Vice Chairman, Boustead Plantations Berhad, said “With the opportunities that exist in the plantation sector, our listing is indeed timely as we focus on unlocking the value of our plantation assets. Building on our vast experience and strong track record, we are confident that this exercise will propel us forward on our growth path. Investors are also set to benefit from this, as in line with the Boustead Group’s commitment to rewarding our shareholders, BPB intends to adopt a handsome dividend payout ratio.”

“As we move forward, we plan to expand our land bank through the acquisition of existing plantation estates and plantation reserve land primarily in Malaysia. As part of our long-term growth strategy, over the next five years, we are targeting to increase our total planted area by approximately 20,000 hectares (ha) from the current 71,000 ha.”

“In tandem with our expansion plans, we remain committed to improving our operating efficiency through various initiatives including utilising new planting materials and best-practice management systems. With these dedicated efforts, we will be able to increase our yields and subsequently strengthen our profitability for the long term,” concluded Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Lodin.

The dividend payout ratio is expected to be at least 60% of BPB’s profit after tax attributable to shareholders for each financial year, after excluding the profit retained by BPB’s associate companies and joint venture companies and any unrealised income from fair value adjustments that are non-cash in nature.

The institutional offering will see up to 163,570,500 IPO shares offered to Bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry as well as other Malaysian institutions and selected investors.

Meanwhile, the retail offering consisting of 381,429,500 IPO shares will be reserved for applications by entitled shareholders of BHB and entitled former unitholders of Boustead REIT. In addition, up to 47,000,000 IPO shares will be set aside for eligible directors and employees of BPB and BHB, as well as persons who have contributed to the success of BPB. 64,000,000 IPO shares will also be made available for application by the Malaysian public via balloting.

Forward looking statements
This release may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial conditions, results of operations and business of the Group and certain plans and objectives of Boustead Holdings Berhad with respect to these items. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

-ends-