KUALA LUMPUR: The trading stock of Reach Ten Holdings Bhd made a flat start on its trading debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The Sarawak-based telecommunications service provider was unchanged from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 52 sen a share with 6.1 million shares traded as it commenced trading at 9am.

At the time of writing, the stock had ticked 2.5 sen or 4.81% higher to 54.5 sen after 79.39 million shares done, making it the most actively traded counter on the domestic market.

As per its expansion plans, Reach Ten will invest RM89.3mil or 85.9% of the RM104mil in IPO proceeds into expanding its telecommunications infrastructure - including the construction of 100 new 4G and 5G telecommunications towers in Miri, Sibu and Bintulu, over the next three years.

“These towers will be strategically located in urbanised cities like Miri, Sibu, and Bintulu, which are key commercial and manufacturing hubs, to meet the growing demand for high-speed connectivity.

“These efforts will not only cater to the immediate connectivity needs but also lay the foundation for Sarawak’s smart city initiatives, including intelligent traffic systems and digital services,” said managing director Leo Chin in a statement.

Rakuten Trade said in its investment note that Reach Ten's expansion not only meets the rising demand for high-speed connectivity but also enables the group to benefit from higher tenancy ratios in rural areas, as towers are leased to mobile network operators (MNOs) under multi-year agreements

"We project Reach Ten to register core net earnings of RM50.2mil and RM53.2mil for FY25F and FY26F.

"'Buy' with a fair value of 65 sen, premised on a weighted average 13x PER

on FY25F earnings per share," it said.