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One of Malaysia’s most successful
domestic liner shipping companies is ready to
issue its shares to the public in its bid to
support its expansion plans aimed at further
consolidating as well as widening its range and
scope of services.
Sim Joo Bhd, offering the most extensive
connectivity covering the most number of ports
in Sabah and Sarawak and with direct links to
major ports in Peninsular Malaysia, is confident
of leveraging on its track record with the
public issues of shares that will see it listed
on Bursa Malaysia.
Sim Joo Bhd (SJB) built block by block by
entrepreneurs from Sarawak merged with Johan
Shipping Sdn Bhd in 1996 to strengthen its
connectivity for better synergy and shipping
connectivity will join the growing list of
shipping and logistics companies in Malaysia
seeking listing on the local bourse.
SJB which is a market leader in the domestic
liner industry with the largest number of
vessels and market share will official announce
on Tuesday 19 September details of its plans to
issue shares to the public and seek listing of
the shares on Bursa Malaysia.
SJB the only domestic shipping company that
covers nears all major and minor ports in Sabah
and Sarawak with connections to Port Klang and
Pasir Gudang has maintained impressive
performance and growth despite operating in a
competitive environment.
The company also leads the way as the most
integrated shipping companies offering a wide
range of logistics services covering
warehousing, cargo consolidation, inland depot
operations and haulage.
The Sarawak-founded company is embarking on an
expansion phase that is expected to take
advantage of opportunities arising from growth
of cargo volumes from Sabah and Sarawak.
With the continued industrialization and
development of manufacturing industries in the
two states especially under the Ninth Malaysia
Plan (2006-2010), cargo growth is expected to
generate demand for shipping services.
Swee Joo Bhd which has designated Bintulu Port
as its base port provides global connectivity to
exporters and importers in Sabah/Sarawak via its
dedicated link with a mainline operator, namely
Evergreen Line, a global shipping company.
More and more commodities are becoming
“containerized” in inland Sabah and Sarawak,
including such cargoes like sawn timber,
plywood, veneer, would mouldings and others that
were previously “palletized” but are now better
suited for containerization.
There is generally a greater rate, or propensity
for containerization of the cargo base in Sabah
and Sarawak than in Peninsular Malaysia boosting
the prospects for container shipping in the
trade, especially SSJ that has the largest fleet
of ships and extensive feeder connectivity.
SSJ that has higher than industry average ship
utilization has also been successful in
generating strong “backhaul” cargo that has
strengthened its financial performance
substantially. |
