SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - iWOW Technology, a local technology provider that specialises in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, made its trading debut on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Thursday (April 14) at 27.5 cents, up 10 per cent from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 25 cents.
As at 9.05am, the counter was trading at 28 cents, up 12 per cent from the IPO price. iWOW was also one of the most actively traded stocks on SGX in early trade, with some 2.3 million shares changing hands as at 9.08am.
iWOW had on April 6 launched its IPO, looking to sell a total of 26 million shares to raise gross proceeds of about $6.5 million.
This placement constitutes about 10.4 per cent of iWOW's enlarged share capital of 250.4 million shares. The company will have a theoretical market capitalisation of $62.6 million after the placement and a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.9 times.
As at the close of placement at noon on April 12, all 26 million placement shares were validly subscribed for, with indications of interest received for some 78 million shares, meaning that the IPO was about three times subscribed.
The group is notably one of the manufacturers of TraceTogether tokens. The company and electronics distributor Siix Singapore formed a consortium back in 2020, and went on to win one of the tenders to design and manufacture subsequent batches of the tokens. Another tender went to electronics manufacturer PCI.
Apart from these tokens, iWOW's other products include smart metering solutions to remotely monitor water and gas consumption, electronic monitoring devices for former offenders and accused individuals, and alarm alert systems for the elderly.
As at March 8, TraceTogether tokens account for 16.8 per cent or $11.3 million of the group's $67.4 million order book. Some $54.2 million or 80.4 per cent of the order book comes from electronic monitoring systems. Smart metering solutions constitute $800,000, and alarm alert systems account for $1.1 million.
For the financial year 2021 ended March, the group posted a net profit of $3.7 million - up from $220,000 in FY2020. This was due largely to a spike in revenue to $26.4 million from $4.4 million in the year ago. TraceTogether tokens accounted for 81 per cent of FY2021's revenue.
Some 19.2 per cent of the total IPO proceeds, or $1.25 million, will be used to strengthen the group's research and development capabilities to provide customisable IoT solutions. A further 15.4 per cent or $1 million has been set aside to enlarge the company's customer base by engaging its existing business-to-business customers and expanding offerings to the business-to-customers segment.
Another 7.7 per cent or $500,000 of the IPO proceeds will be channelled into expanding the company's market reach into countries such as Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. Other uses of the IPO proceeds include investments and merger and acquisition activities, as well as working capital and listing expenses.
