Cafe chain Oriental Kopi’s shares double on IPO debut in Malaysia
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The cafe chain operator, which listed on Bursa Malaysia’s Ace Market for growth companies, opened at 81 Malaysian sen compared with its IPO price of 44 sen.
PHOTO: ORIENTAL KOPI/FACEBOOK
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SINGAPORE – Shares of Oriental Kopi Holdings took off on their debut on Bursa Malaysia on Jan 23, opening at almost double their initial public offering (IPO) price on heavy buying interest.
The cafe chain operator, which listed on Bursa Malaysia’s Ace Market for growth companies, opened at 81 Malaysian sen compared with its IPO price of 44 sen.
The shares hit an intra-day high of 99 sen before closing at 87.5 sen, valuing the company at around RM1.75 billion (S$534 million).
It was the most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia for the day, with more than 828.7 million shares traded.
Oriental Kopi raised gross proceeds of around RM184 million. Half is earmarked for setting up a new head office, central kitchen and warehouse in Selangor, and to double the number of cafes it owns and operates in Malaysia to 28 by 2026.
The 14 new cafes will be in various states in Malaysia, including Sarawak, Klang Valley, Penang, Melaka and Johor.
The other half of the proceeds will be used as working capital, as well as to expand Oriental Kopi’s retail product range and its presence overseas.
Oriental Kopi partners with Singapore’s Paradise Group, which owns eateries such as Canton Paradise, Paradise Dynasty and Beauty in The Pot, for its operations in the Republic.
The chain, which is popular for its egg tarts and Malaysian cuisine such as nasi lemak, char kway teow and white coffee, opened its first cafe in Singapore on Nov 27 at Bugis Junction. It also claims to hold a Malaysia Book of Records accolade for selling the most number of egg tarts in the country.
The company intends to open two more Oriental Kopi cafes in Singapore in 2025, according to its prospectus.
It also noted that the estimated cost of setting up the two cafes here is RM10 million, with 30 per cent to be funded by the Malaysian entity and 70 per cent by Paradise Group.
Managing director Calvin Chan Jian Chern told a briefing in Malaysia on Jan 23 that Oriental Kopi will also scale up its retail product offerings, and is targeting the launch of over 20 new products by the end of 2025.
It now has 31 products on sale in-store, including white coffee, sambal, pies and tarts, and is now engaging with major supermarkets to expand distribution channels.
Oriental Kopi, which was founded four years ago by Mr Chan, derives 20 per cent of its revenue from its retail products, while the remaining 80 per cent is from its cafe operations.
The company made RM277.3 million in revenue in 2024, compared with just RM5 million when it started in 2021, according to its prospectus. It has been profitable since 2022.
