Homegrown building materials wholesalers and distributors Unitrade Industries Bhd managed to cross its IPO price of 32 sen recently. It touched a high of 33 sen, much to the relief of investors who held the IPO shares and were disappointed with their performance.

Unitrade is probably riding on the positive sentiments for the construction industry. Many investors are anticipating the rollout of mega construction projects in the country. This will have a positive impact on Unitrade, which offers a range of building materials for various building and construction activities.

The company stands in good stead as it has entered into a MoU with Invest Kedah Bhd to develop modular housing systems for the centralised labour quarters (CLQs) in Kedah. This is exciting for Unitrade as CLQs enables companies with sizable employment headcount to comply with Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446). Good news for Unitrade is that such ruling is not limited to Kedah.

In January 2024, Negeri Sembilan officially prohibited foreign workers from residing in residential areas. They are mandated to relocate to commercial zones or CLQs by the end of the year.

Johor, had also ordered developers, contractors and manufacturers to relocate the works to CLQs within a span of 2 months. As such, many employers have to rely on companies such as Unitrade for their CLQs technical knowhow. At the same time, it is also beneficial to the core business of Unitrade to cross-sell their 6,000 SKUs.

Unitrade indeed looks like an attractive counter with solid fundamentals, giving investors reasons to put their money in this counter.