I got rumours yesterday. Today all of political leaders would meet Agong. If the outcome of the meeting is good then this counter would go up at least 0.005 to 0.01 cents.
DATASONIC Group Bhd’s new managing director Wan Zalizan Wan Jusoh is transforming it into an “institutionalised” entity as well as diversifying its revenue stream.
Appointed in late February, the ex-banker is trying to get institutional investors to put money into the security and surveillance technology services provider, which has long been labelled as “personality-driven” and “family-run”, and increasing the representation of these funds on the board of directors.
“I came in with one strong objective, which is to institutionalise Datasonic,” says Wan Zalizan in an exclusive interview with The Edge.
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For a start, in April, the group completed a private placement exercise involving the issuance of 262 million new shares, representing 10% of its total outstanding shares excluding treasury shares, he says. This increases the percentage of bumiputera shareholders in Datasonic to nearly 38%.
Besides that, Wan Zalizan says, Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd has also been given representation on Datasonic’s board, giving it reassurance of its investment in the company. On May 31, Urusharta head of operations Azrul Yahaya was made a non-independent non-executive director.
Datasonic has been under the spotlight for the wrong reason since the 14th general election. A corruption crackdown launched by the then federal government had implicated Datasonic’s then deputy managing director and major shareholder Chew Ben Ben, who was alleged to have given RM6 million to then deputy prime minister and home affairs minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The RM6 million was construed by the public prosecutor as a bribe for Zahid to facilitate the appointment of Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd (DTSB) to provide 12.5 million chips for Malaysian passports to the Immigration Department under a five-year contract through direct negotiations at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
However, Chew told the court that the RM6 million was a political donation to Barisan Nasional and that it came from DTSB’s director, Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin.
Chew, who has a 17.4% stake in Datasonic, resigned as deputy managing director in March this year. His resignation comes on the heels of a corruption proceeding on March 18 involving himself and Pristina Ombak Sdn Bhd, an offshore vessel support company in which he once served as director. Chew has pleaded not guilty.
When asked about getting on board when the group was suffering from perception issues, Wan Zalizan says while the market had reacted in line with the news, he has devised various plans and strategies to encourage the market and institutional investors to consider Datasonic as a long-term investment.
“We are also in discussions and making rounds of presentation to prospective fund managers and institutional investors to provide them with a clearer picture of who we are,” says Wan Zalizan, who has worked at Exim Bank and the Maybank Group.
Among Datasonic’s strengths is its strong orders prospects, he says, adding that he is confident the group will add around RM900 million worth of orders this year, which will be implemented over the next two to five years.
At the moment, Datasonic’s order book stands at around RM420 million.
One tender that Wan Zalizan is very confident of securing is the Foreigner Identity Card, or i-Kad. He believes that Datasonic is ranked first in the i-Kad tender evaluation process, particularly in technical evaluation and assessment. “This is because the technology that we have proposed is the best, leveraging on unique security features that are present in the current MyKads and passports, such as a multipurpose card which is chip-enabled, durable, contactless and of quality material.”
The government is expected to award the RM150 million contract this year.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of borders, many people have not renewed their passports. According to Wan Zalizan, as at end-May, more than three million passports had expired.
This translates into a potential revenue of more than RM200 million for Datasonic once international travel resumes to pre-pandemic levels. “The recent National Vaccination Programme, albeit slower than expected, would definitely lead to the eventual lifting of international travel restrictions.
“We have seen that many countries, especially in the EU and Middle East, as well as our neighbours, have opened their borders to international travellers who have completed their vaccination,” he says. “We anticipate a huge spike in the demand and supply of passports in the third quarter of this year and the group is ever ready to meet the demand, given our proactive production processes.”
Besides the i-Kad and the renewal of passports, Datasonic is also widening its net by participating in the recent Jalinan Digital Negara (Jendela) Initiative Phase 1, which involves the rollout of 4G spectrum at 106 clusters or 1,661 underserved locations nationwide. Datasonic is bidding for the construction of telco towers in 35 clusters involving 573 sites, which have an estimated revenue potential of RM560 million.
In January, Datasonic lost the much-coveted National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) to Iris Corp Bhd. According to Wan Zalizan, Datasonic lost the tender because its bid cost around RM100 million more than Iris’.
He says Datasonic had proposed a full-fledged automated biometric identification system (ABIS) at all immigration entry and exit points, adding that the concept would lift the nation’s border security and surveillance system to a new quantum level. However, the enhanced security feature comes at an additional cost due to the hardware and software requirements, making Datasonic’s bid less competitive from the pricing point of view, he explains.
Wan Zalizan plans to diversify Datasonic’s revenue stream. Presently, the top-line revenue is close to 100% contributed by the government segment through the various contracts relating to MyKad, passports and autogates.
According to him, the plan is to diversify the group’s revenue stream to bring in contribution from the non-government segment to at least 20% in the next one to two years. One of the opportunities available is the Digital Economy Blueprint, he says. “Our immediate strategic focus shall be on getting ourselves into the sphere of B2B and B2C platforms. We believe that these platforms are more lucrative and sustainable, in addition to having lower operating costs.
“For this, we are currently undertaking in-depth studies in the digital financial services segment, which includes e-wallet, payment services and remittances. This could be achieved through either organic growth or via strategic collaboration with the players in the market,” he says.
Additionally, Datasonic is also looking to secure the contract for the development of the National Digital Identity (NDI), says Wan Zalizan. The contract is valued at around RM350 million.
Due to its expertise in cutting-edge identification document as well as security and surveillance, Datasonic is confident of securing the project, he says. Leveraging on these strong credentials (being an expert in security documents), we believe that Datasonic will be the preferred solution provider in support of the government’s digital transformation programme, especially the development of the NDI,” he says.
Datasonic is covered only by RHB Research Institute, which has a “buy” call on the stock. In a report issued last Thursday, RHB Research analyst Lee Meng Horng maintained the call and gave the stock a target price of 57 sen per share, which represents around 11% upside and 3% yield.
Lee expects a remarkable V-shaped earnings recovery for Datasonic on the pent-up demand for passports upon the rollout of vaccines and eventual relaxation of international borders. This is supported by its RM450 million outstanding order book.
For its financial year ended March 31, 2021 (FY2021), Datasonic saw net profit slump to RM7.3 million from RM60.322 million in FY2020 as revenue from the supply of passports, maintenance and personalisation services took a hit.
Datasonic closed at 51.5 sen last Friday, giving it a valuation of RM1.53 billion.
OTHERS MY E.G. Services Berhad (''MYEG'' or the ''Company'') - Press Release: MYEG partners SinoPhil Biotech and Health Direct Now for COVID-19 vaccination programme in the Philippines
MY E.G. SERVICES BERHAD
Type Announcement Subject OTHERS Description MY E.G. Services Berhad (''MYEG'' or the ''Company'') - Press Release: MYEG partners SinoPhil Biotech and Health Direct Now for COVID-19 vaccination programme in the Philippines The Board of Directors of the Company wishes to announce that the Company has through its joint venture company, I-Pay MYEG Philippines, Inc., entered into a strategic partnership with SinoPhil Biotech, Inc. and Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics, Inc.’s Health Direct Now initiative for the provision of a COVID-19 vaccination programme in the Philippines (“the Partnership”).
The Board of Directors is of the view that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Partnership is expected to contribute positively to the earnings per share and net assets per share of the Group for the financial year ending 31 December 2021 and onwards. The prospects of the Partnership is also expected to be positive.
Please refer to the attachment in relation to the press release for further details.
TRANSACTIONS (CHAPTER 10 OF LISTING REQUIREMENTS) : NON RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS MY E.G. Services Berhad ("MYEG" or "the Company") - Joint Venture Agreements entered between:- (1) Shigatse Service Co., Ltd. and MYEG Medical Services Sdn. Bhd., a wholly-owned sub-subsidiary of the Company; and (2) SinoPhil Biotech Inc., Shigatse Service Co., Ltd. and I-PAY MYEG Philippines Inc., a joint venture company of the Company.
MY E.G. SERVICES BERHAD
Type Announcement Subject TRANSACTIONS (CHAPTER 10 OF LISTING REQUIREMENTS) NON RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS Description MY E.G. Services Berhad ("MYEG" or "the Company") - Joint Venture Agreements entered between:-
(1) Shigatse Service Co., Ltd. and MYEG Medical Services Sdn. Bhd., a wholly-owned sub-subsidiary of the Company; and (2) SinoPhil Biotech Inc., Shigatse Service Co., Ltd. and I-PAY MYEG Philippines Inc., a joint venture company of the Company. The Board of Directors of the Company wishes to announce that MYEG Medical Services Sdn. Bhd., a wholly-owned sub-subsidiary of the Company and I-Pay MYEG Philippines Inc., a joint venture company of the Company, had on 17 June 2021 entered into joint venture agreements respectively in their respective territories.
Please refer to the attachment for further details.
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- My E.G. Services Bhd has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase 10 million doses of Anhui Zhifei Biopharmaceutical Co Ltd’s COVID-19 vaccine, ensuring that the corresponding quantity of its recombinant protein subunit vaccine is reserved for delivery as early as August.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MYEG said it holds three-year rights to exclusively distribute the vaccine in Malaysia while through a separate partnership, the group has two-year exclusive distribution rights to the vaccine in the Philippines and is presently in discussions to distribute in other countries.
"Last week, MYEG announced plans for the roll-out of a vaccination programme in the Philippines that will cover the provision of the vaccines to the public health segment as well as private sales,” it said.
The LOI is to ensure that the corresponding quantity of Zhifei’s recombinant protein subunit vaccine is reserved for delivery as early as August when vaccination through the private market is enabled.
"This paves the way for the vaccine to be imported and made available to Malaysians as soon as the private market commences and subject to the conditional authorisation of the vaccine by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA),” it said.
The cost of the vaccine will be determined later subject to the conditional authorisation by NPRA.
MYEG said it is confident that when the Zhifei vaccine becomes available locally, it can play an important role in accelerating the country’s drive towards achieving herd immunity against the COVID-19 virus.
Jointly developed by Zhifei and the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the vaccine has fast emerged as among the preferred vaccines in China since gaining emergency use authorisation there in early March in view of its distinct inherent advantages as a recombinant protein subunit vaccine. More than 60 million doses have already been administered in more than a dozen provincial-level regions, including Beijing. The vaccine is also being used in Uzbekistan.
Recombinant protein technology is proven, having been used for the development of vaccines such as hepatitis B and shingles.
In addition, recombinant protein vaccines can be more easily produced at a large-scale since production does not need to be carried out in high-grade biosafety laboratories, and they are also more cost-effective and easier to store and transport.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, MYEG has leveraged its strengths and expertise as a leading digital services provider in the region to introduce a number of significant initiatives as part of a holistic solution aimed at helping in the fight against the pandemic.
Besides vaccines, these offerings include screening services, quarantine management and digital health travel pass systems.
Khairy: Students under 18 going overseas can still be vaccinated, but guardians must sign consent forms
PUTRAJAYA: Students going abroad who have not reached the age of 18 when they receive their vaccination appointments can still be innoculated, says Khairy Jamaluddin.
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This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
JuliusCeasar
1,216 posts
Posted by JuliusCeasar > 2021-06-09 11:27 | Report Abuse
I got rumours yesterday. Today all of political leaders would meet Agong. If the outcome of the meeting is good then this counter would go up at least 0.005 to 0.01 cents.
Just to share....