MetaOptics shares surge 25% on Catalist trading debut
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(From left) MetaOptics’ executive chairman and chief executive Mark Thng with deputy CEO Aloysius Chua and chief financial officer Chu Wee Liat.
PHOTO: METAOPTICS
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SINGAPORE – Semiconductor optics company MetaOptics’ share price rose as much as 25 per cent on the morning of Sept 9 on its trading debut on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
After opening at 21 cents, the counter rose to 25 cents at 9.06am, up 25 per cent from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 20 cents.
It gradually pared some of the gains to stand at 23 cents at 10.30am, with about 1.1 million shares changing hands. The counter closed at 24 cents on Sept 9.
MetaOptics’ placement of 30 million shares at 20 cents apiece brought in $6 million, with the shares fully subscribed as at noon on Sept 5. There were 209 placees, with five of them holding 15.5 million shares combined.
Chief executive and executive chairman Mark Thng had said his company has “certain capabilities that the stock exchange and (others) are looking for” and believes MetaOptics is the only company in Singapore currently developing single-layered glass lenses termed “metalenses”.
It intends to use the proceeds primarily for product development, research and development, as well as strategic partnerships. Between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the funds will be used for overseas expansion – focused on Asia-Pacific – on top of working capital and general corporate purposes.
The four-year-old firm hopes the Catalist debut will turn its fortunes around, as it is yet to make a profit. It suffered a net loss of $2.3 million in 2024, with revenue of $79,440. For the first quarter of 2025, its net loss was $706,391. The company now has more than 235 million outstanding shares, translating to a market capitalisation of about $47.2 million.
MetaOptics’ IPO is the sixth listing that the local bourse has had in 2025, after those of Dezign Format, Vin’s Holdings, Info-Tech Systems, NTT DC Real Estate Investment Trust and Lum Chang Holdings. There was also a secondary listing by China Medical System.
MetaOptics joins SGX’s growing technology cluster, which has a total market capitalisation of $113 billion. THE BUSINESS TIMES
