Enest Group Bhd made its debut on the LEAP Market this morning at 9 sen, a 12.5% premium to the issue price of 8 sen.

The stock rose to a high of 9.5 sen at midday, with 190,000 shares traded.

The group’s initial public offering involved an excluded issue of 50 million new shares to sophisticated investors at an issue price of 8 sen per share, representing 10.75% of the group’s enlarged share capital.

The group’s market capitalisation upon listing stood at RM37.2 million, based on the group’s new enlarged share capital of 465 million.

Enest raised RM4 million from the listing exercise, of which 39.82% will be used for working capital, 12.53% for capital expenditure (capex), 12.50% for research and development (R&D) expenditure and 10.15% for brand development expenditure while the remaining 25% is to defray listing expenses.

Under R&D expenditure, the bird’s nest producer intends to develop cosmetic products containing bird’s nest essence while capex will be used to expand and renovate its existing production facilities.

In terms of brand development, it plans to strengthen its Bai Leng Yen brand, which includes rental and renovation of its new office and product showroom in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, its working capital requirements are expected to increase in line with the acquisition of Dynamic Transforms and expansion of its existing production facilities.

In its information memorandum, the group said it intends to recommend and distribute dividend of at least 20% of its annual audited net profit.

Enest is principally involved in the processing of raw bird’s nests into edible bird’s nests, which are sold to distributors (including importers) and retailers in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and China, mainly under the Bai Leng Yen brand.