ICT Zone Asia To Expand Its Leasing, Rental, e-Commerce Business Next Year

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (Bernama) -- ICT Zone Asia Bhd, a provider of information and communications technology (ICT) solutions, will be expanding its leasing and rental business by adding a range of products, with device management and computer security software as a service in the first half of 2021. Managing director and chief executive officer Lim Kok Kwang said the expansion will also include its retail consumers and third-party resellers, through its own e-commerce platform, www.komputermurah.my, which was launched in February 2020 to complement its business ecosystem. "ICT Zone Asia's leasing and rental business is a capital intensity business and with more funding, we can grow bigger, and now have migrated from a debt market to equity market. "With the position we are now in, we will be able to work with more banks and institutions to size up our funding," he told a virtual press conference in conjunction with the listing of the company's two securities which debuted on the LEAP Market on Bursa Malaysia Tuesday.  The listing exercise, which was implemented by way of introduction, entailed the listing of and quotation for 533.75 shares at the listing reference price of 16 per share, and 75.32 million irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS) at the listing reference price of 20 sen per ICPS. The company’s ICPS offers a 10 per cent dividend rate on the ICPS issue price for a period of five years. Based on the listing price of 16 sen per share, the company’s market capitalisation upon listing will be RM85.4 million. Lim said the company also aims to offer a new option for financing ICT solutions to its customers. With factoring financing, the group intends to provide capital to its channel and strategic partners to ease the outright purchase of ICT solutions as they commonly face cash flow constraints. The company’s order book currently stood over RM40 million and among its biggest customer are start-ups. Prior to the listing on the LEAP Market today, Lim said the company launched the first shariah-compliant ICT Zone Ventures Scheme under the Interest Scheme Act 2016 of Registrar of Companies Malaysia in 2011 to finance the group’ rental and leasing business. As at Jan 31,2019, the company’s year-to-date cumulative investments increased from RM2.2 million in the first year to RM34.1 million with 1,047 ICT interest holders. “This is just a new beginning for us. And as we look forward to grow further, we have rebranded the company’s name to include ‘Asia’ and take the brand abroad,” he said. The company, which already has network partners in Indonesia, is targeting to expand into the Asia-Pacific region in the future. -- BERNAMA