Something is brewing at NWP Holdings with a new substantial shareholder.

Quah Seik Lee is now a substantial shareholder of NWP Holdings with 8.7% stake following her acquisition of 20 million shares on 8 June from the open market.

The market is excited because Quah Seik Lee is the wife of Bryan Loo, the man behind the success of TeaLive in Malaysia. Last year, Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, the holding company of TeaLive, sold a strategic stake of 30% to private equity firm, Creador. The Edge Malaysia reported that the price range from RM200 million to RM260 million.

It is still uncertain if the acquisition by Quah is related to Bryan Loo’s entrepreneurial endeavour but given the huge sale to Creador, the power couple will have the resources to expand the company.

To add to the speculation, NWP Holdings has incorporated a new wholly-owned subsidiary known as NWP Marines Sdn Bhd. The setup was to facilitate the expansion of the business activities of NWP Holdings and its subsidiaries.

Whether these new developments will bear fruit for investors of NWP Holdings remain to be seen, but investors have responded with a rallying call.

NWP Holdings’ share price rebounded to 28.5 sen as of Monday (20 June 2022), from 22 sen in early June. This represents an increase of 29.5% in its share price over the last three weeks.

Given the positive momentum in NWP Holdings’ share price recently, it is likely that investors are more confident to invest in the company following the boardroom tussles at the beginning of this year.

Japan’s developer and manufacturer of pure electric vehicle (EV) and electric motorcycles, Toyoda Trike Inc (“Toyoda”) will work together with Graphjet Technology Sdn Bhd (“Graphjet Technology”) to ensure the supply of raw materials for its electric bicycle rollout in Malaysia would be sufficient.

Toyoda is a private company in Japan specialising in carbon neutral mobility solutions such as electric vehicles and motorcycles. Its largest shareholder is the Toyoda family, the fourth generation of the founder of TOYOTA Corporation, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. Together with Asia Development Capital Co. Ltd (“ADC”), which is a public listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that has a market capitalisation of JPY9.4 billion (or about RM320 million), they own more than 80% of the company.

Graphjet Technology Sdn Bhd, on the other hand, is a company that focuses on its state-of-the-art graphjet technology that converts palm kernel shells to graphite and graphene. It is also touted as the only technology globally that possesses such capability. Graphjet Technology is managed by its Chairman: Mr Lim Hooi Beng, Managing Director Mr Jay Aw, Executive Director Mr Lee Ping Wei and Chief Technology Officer Mr Liu Yu.

According to Toyoda CEO, Toyoda Misako, Graphjet will be the key supplier of raw materials for the production of Toyoda’s electric bicycle that will be deployed in Malaysia and SEA.

“We will be working with Graphjet to ensure the continuity of the key supplies of raw materials for the production of our electric bicycle amd other carbon neutral mobility products. This is important as key raw materials such as graphene and graphite are vital in the production of long-lasting batteries. With the growing demand for electric vehicles and electric bicycles, we need to collaborate with partners to ensure that the supply of these raw materials is not disrupted,” ADC’s CEO, Anselm Wong said.

Graphjet’s Managing Director, Mr Jay Aw, is excited with the collaboration with Toyoda as it helps to accelerate the adoption of carbon-neutral mobility solutions in Malaysia and SEA.

Graphjet’s Executive Director, Mr Lee Ping Wei said, “We are looking forward to be the key partner to Toyoda in the supply of graphene and graphite to Toyoda for the production of its electric bicycle and other carbon neutral mobility products. This gives us an opportunity to expand our presence in the electric vehicle space, and potentially the emerging new era of long-lasting batteries. Given the importance of key raw materials such as graphene and graphite, we will ensure that the logistics bottlenecks and supply chain disruptions would be minimal.”

Indeed, the sourcing of raw materials, logistics arrangements and planning for a comprehensive supply chain would be part of Graphjet’s focus in this collaboration.

Japan’s developer and manufacturer of pure electric vehicle (EV) and electric bicycle, Toyoda Trike Inc (“Toyoda”) has finalised its plans to roll out its carbon-neutral mobility solutions (“Solution”) in Malaysia following a productive meeting with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Y.A.B.Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Bin Yaakob and Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry, Y.B. Dato’ Seri Mohamad Azmin Ali, in Japan.

Asia Development Capital Co. Ltd (“ADC”), one of the major shareholders (36%) of Toyoda, was also present in the meeting. ADC is a public listed company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of JPY9.4 billion (or RM320 million). Together with Toyoda family, the fourth generation of the founder of TOYOTA Corporation, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, they own more than 80% of the company.

Toyoda’s CEO Toyoda Misako, the great-grand daughter of the founder of TOYOTA Corporation, together with Mr Anselm Wong, CEO of ADC led the briefing with Azmin Ali on Toyoda’s innovation, competitive advantage and its unique value proposition.

“We are excited to roll out our Solution in Malaysia following a compelling discussion with Malaysia’s government’s representative, Y.B. Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali. It was a productive meeting where it helps both ADC and Toyoda to understand how to expand our footprint in Malaysia and the Southeast Asia region,” Anselm Wong said.

According to Anselm, the Group’s Solution will focus on an efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to mobility and connectivity, emphasising the last-mile delivery in urban areas.

“There are many potentials to deploy our electric bicycle and motorcycles, which uses the Synchro System. This will help enhance the safety feature of users and minimise the risks of accidents. The safety feature will encourage more users to use this Solution.

This will also solve the last-mile connectivity problem to Malaysia’s existing public transportations. We are confident that we can help to expand the availability and easy access to mobility for all Malaysians,” Anselm said.

In order to accelerate the adoption of this Solution, Toyoda plans to appoint Sand Nisko Capital Berhad (“SNC”), a Bursa Malaysia Main Market listed company, as its marketing arm to drive the adoption of this Solution.

“The convenience of having a car could deter adopting carbon-neutral mobility solutions that leverage on existing public transport infrastructure. However, with more education, understanding, knowledge and awareness of our carbon-neutral mobility solutions, I am confident that Malaysians will adopt this environmentally friendly alternative to mobility.

This is why it is vital that we collaborate with a local partner that has a strong logistics, warehouse and marketing team in Malaysia. From our preliminary reviews, we are planning to appoint SNC to be our marketing arm once the details of our collaborations are finalised,” Anselm added.

Going forward, Toyoda is also looking to help Malaysia to adopt similar battery swapping solutions at convenience stores to push for the usage of electric bikes in the country. Through the collaboration with a local partner and Malaysia’s government, Toyoda will pave the way for more mobility solutions in the future.

*This article is contributed by https://www.prosperus.asia/other-markets/5-reasons-to-buy-inari-amertron-shares/

Long-term investors are finding it hard to navigate their portfolios with the first federal funds rate hike in March and a more aggressive rate hike expectations for this year amid high inflation.

In Malaysia, the stock market is not spared from the uncertainties in global markets.

While it is probably safer to rotate into some of the “value” stocks such as banks, I think that long-term investors should take the opportunity to gradually build positions in select growth stocks in Malaysia.

With this in mind, I think Inari Amertron Berhad (KLSE: 0166) offers a good buying opportunity. The prospects for the semiconductor player remain bright with its radio frequency (RF) business set to benefit from rising demand for 5G smartphones.

It is also an open secret that Inari, which is Malaysia’s largest outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) player, is a key component supplier to the most valuable company in the world: Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL).

With all that, here are five reasons why I think investors should buy into this semiconductor player following the sell-off in its share price.

1. Strong earnings growth
Despite the lacklustre share price performance, Inari has maintained its growth momentum.
In the first half of fiscal year 2022 (1H FY2022), Inari recorded 17.5% growth in its revenue to RM 851.4 million (US$201.8 million) as compared to RM 724.5 million in the corresponding period a year ago.
In line with the better top-line performance, the company’s net profit grew by 33.8% to RM 214.2 million during the same period.
The robust growth in its earnings is also reflective of its longer-term growth.
Based on its trailing 12-months revenue and net profit of RM1.56 billion and RM385.5 million, respectively, Inari has recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% an 35% for both its revenue and net profit over the last decade.

2. Earnings outlook remains strong
The management has guided that the RF division will sustain its earnings growth in the 2H FY2022, driven orders for its legacy products.
The recent launch of Apple’s iPhone SE with 5G is also another positive catalyst for the company.
As Apple introduce new powerful chips and 5G features into its most affordable iPhone line-ups, this will keep up the momentum for its RF division.

3. Potential growth prospects
Aside from its existing business, the finalisation of Inari’s joint venture (JV) agreement – with China Fortune-Tech Capital Co (CFTC) to establish its OSAT presence in China – is also another growth lever for Inari.
As China’s chip foundries push ahead with capacity expansion plans and increase self-reliance amid the bitter high-tech war with US, this will benefit Inari’s expansion into China over the long term.

4. Robust fundamentals and dividend
Aside from the strong earnings growth, I believe Inari has a strong economic moat as its balance sheet remains solid.
Given its net cash position, the company will also be shielded from the rising interest rate environment.
The successful private placement undertaken by Inari to raise RM 1.03 billion in 2021 also put the company’s expansion plans into motion.
In terms of its cash flow, Inari has continued to generate positive operating cashflow. In the 1H FY2022, the company generated RM 278.0 million in operating cashflow, an increase from the RM 228.4 million in the 1H FY2021.
Management also rewards its shareholders as seen by the average dividend yield of around 3.2% over the last five years.
This is impressive considering its strong earnings growth over the last 10 years.

5. Five key projects with five new customers
Inari’s recent private placement allows the company to diversify away from the reliance on a single customer as part of its next phase of growth.
Among the five key projects are:
1) System on Module assembly and test for automotive industry
2) Transceiver Module for data centres
3) High Power LED package
4) RF double-sided moulding (DSM) system in package
5) Advanced embedded material
The group targets for these new projects’ contribution to start in FY2022 with at least 5% and to grow to 15% in FY2023.

Inari’s strong track record worth the premium
One of the downsides to Inari is perhaps its valuation but I think given its strong track record, it is worth the premium.

On top of that, the company has seen a decline of 22% in its share price year-to-date, which offers a better entry price.

It is also worth noting that the sell-off seems to have dissipated following the rebound from its lows since the middle of last month.

For long-term investors, the prolonged upcycle in the semiconductor sector, Inari’s expansion and its track record warrant the stock as a buy despite the uncertainty in the stock market.