Pic: Vivocom's CEO Datuk Seri Chia Kok Teong 

Group says it will do its best to maximise earnings in the coming years to reward shareholders with a handsome dividend payout.

VIVOCOM International Holdings Bhd’s management is focused on transforming the company into a behemoth conglomerate via organic or inorganic growth opportunities.

Its CEO Datuk Seri Chia Kok Teong (picture) said the group has multiple opportunities on the table, and if in line with its growth strategy, will be pursued to the fullest.

“Vivocom is in the final stages of finalising a project in the tune of RM6 billion. We are very confident of securing it, but I cannot disclose any more information at this stage. We will be making appropriate announcements once it is finalised,” he told The Malaysian Reserve in an email recently.

According to Chia, another main goal will include elevating Vivocom to the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia as soon as possible.

He said the group will do its best to maximise earnings in the coming years to reward shareholders with a handsome dividend payout.

“This will include merger and acquisition activities which could result in the group acquiring strategic stakes in other public listed companies for investment holding purposes. In the next few years, the group has plans to grow the business with megaprojects, while venturing into new lines of businesses which are profitable and can generate capabilities,” he said.

“We are determined and committed to turning the company into a conglomerate. Our shareholders, in turn, can look forward to very exciting and thrilling times ahead,” he said.

Chia added that he wanted to instil public confidence in the group as a go-to group with a clear vision for exciting growth and wealth creation capabilities, and in its stock price as the group issues shares.

In terms of the groups’ move to venture into becoming a fully-fledged property player in November 2020, Chia said the group was confident in doing so despite the property market struggling due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Vivocom’s move to buy V Development Sdn Bhd, a deal that would ensure good outcomes past 2023, attracted investor interest, with the company’s share price rallying from about 50 sen in early November 2020 to a high of RM2.05 on Nov 19 before profit-taking has seen a retracement with the share closing at 93.5 sen last Friday.

“Property is well-known as the mother of all investments and the richest people in the world are into properties where serious wealth can be made and earned.

In addition, we are a long-term player and are very selective in operating in industries where great wealth is created and amassed, such as real estate and new technologies. We are in business for perpetuity and will ride out the current trough. Plus, we are focused on affordable housing in the next several years as part of our commitment to serving the rakyat,” Chia said.

Chia said he voluntarily committed to a self-imposed moratorium to not dispose of any of his personal stakes in the group for the next three to five years.

“This self-sacrifice I am making is to demonstrate to shareholders and the market that I am strongly focused on ‘building the Vivocom legacy’ while creating wealth for all shareholders for the long term. I am supremely confident of maximising the wealth of Vivocom, so that everyone connected with Vivocom can grow wealthier and thrive together,” Chia noted.

Even the private placement shares taken up by Golden Key Portfolio Sdn Bhd has a moratorium period of 12 months, a condition imposed on the insistence of Chia.

Source from The Malaysian Reserve