06/06/2025

FRIDAY | JUNE 6, 2025

14

BIZ & FINANCE

Paramount aims to keep up record-breaking momentum o Company to build on highest annual sales of RM1.4 billion achieved in 2024 and maintain growth trajectory Ű BY JOHN GILBERT sunbiz@thesundaily.com

SC warns investors about cloned public register scam KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) yesterday alerted the public on a new investment scam, involving a cloned version of the SC’s Public Register of License Holders and Registered Persons. In a statement, the SC said this method of deceiving investors sees scammers falsely claiming to represent entities purportedly licensed by the commission. “To support these false claims, potential victims are directed to a fraudulent website that mimics the SC’s official Public Register portal. Upon entering the name of the fake entity into this cloned site, the search result will show that the fake entity is legi timately licensed by the SC. “The fake listing includes fabricated company registration numbers, license details, and other fictitious credentials,” it added. The SC said victims are persuaded to transfer funds into mule bank accounts allegedly for the purpose of investing. Since the discovery of this new investment scam, the SC has taken immediate steps to bring down the identified cloned websites. Notwithstanding that, the SC has urged the public to be alert and never click on random links received from unknown sources. Investors should only use SC’s official Public Register directly at www.sc.com.my to verify the legitimacy of an entity. Investors are also reminded to avoid transferring funds into bank accounts of suspicious entities, which may possibly be mule accounts used by scammers. Investors who have any doubts or come across suspicious websites or investment schemes can contact the SC’s consumer and investor office at phone number 03-6204 8999 or email aduan@seccom.com.my .

KUALA LUMPUR: Paramount Corporation Bhd is poised to build on the momentum of record high property sales amounting to RM1.4 billion in 2024, a 24% increase compared to 2023, for the current financial year. Group CEO and director Jeffrey Chew Sun Teong said the milestone of achieving the highest annual sales in its history underlines strong market demand and the company’s effective project pipeline. In addition to the record-breaking achieve ment, Paramount’s unbilled sales rose by 12% to RM1.6 billion, providing healthy earnings visibility moving forward. “While the overall take-up rate was not exceptionally high, the company views this as a natural result of its large number of project launches in 2024. The company remains unfazed, noting that developments with longer sales periods are expected to register lower take up rates initially, especially when launched at scale,” Chew told reporters after Paramount’s annual general meeting yesterday. Moving forward, Paramount is expected to sustain its growth trajectory into 2025, supported by a robust pipeline of ongoing projects stemming from a record RM2.2 billion worth of property launches in 2024. “This marked the highest launch value in the company’s history, with many of the developments continuing to drive sales into the current year. The launches were well diversified, with 72% comprising high-rise units, 27% landed properties and the remaining 1% commercial. “Spread across multiple locations, the breadth of projects reflects Paramount’s strategic focus on maintaining a balanced portfolio, both in terms of product mix and geographical distribution, helping to ensure resilience amid varying market conditions,” Chew said. Paramount achieved revenue of RM1 billion KUALA LUMPUR: Interior fitting-out specialist Signature Alliance Group Bhd expects double digit net profit growth in financial year 2025 (FY25), driven by projects in the pipeline and market visibility following its debut on the ACE Market. Executive director/group CEO Darren Chang said the company is confident of securing 15% to 20% of its RM1.1 billion tender book by the end of 2025, supported by an unbilled order book of RM388 million. “Because with the book order that we already have and with the first Q1 (results), I can say that compared to last year, this year should be a double-digit growth,” he told the media after the company’s listing yesterday. The tenders primarily comprise commercial and industrial property projects as at April 16. Chang said Signature Alliance currently holds only about 8% market share in Malaysia’s interior fit-out sector which means room for expansion. “We are not only focused in one sector like corporate offices or hotels. We are in all sectors. All sectors have the opportunity for us to work.” As at April 16, Signature Alliance had 69 ongoing projects with a total contract value of RM902.4 million, of which RM388.6 million unbilled. Ű BY HAYATUN RAZAK AND MAHADHIR MONIHULDIN sunbiz@thesundaily.com

strong improvements, largely driven by the group’s stake in Eco World International Bhd (EWI). The coworking segment reported an 80% jump in revenue to RM23.5 million (including RM5.2 million in intersegment revenue). However, PBT declined to RM700,000 from RM2 million achieved in FY23, primarily due to the absence of a one-off impairment reversal that was recognised in FY23. As of Dec 31, 2024, total assets stood at RM3.1 billion, up from RM3 billion a year earlier. Total liabilities rose to RM1.6 billion from RM1.3 billion. Chew said, “Paramount’s gearing level rose slightly in 2024, mainly due to higher borrowings and financing related to its investment in EWI. The company also refinanced its perpetual debt during the year, contributing to the increase. “Gearing level is currently higher due to the structure of its financial instruments and recent refinancing activities. Despite this, the company has maintained a consistent dividend payout track record, distributing at least 38% of its profits annually over the past decade. “In total, shareholders have received approximately RM1.15 in dividends over 10 years, exceeding the company’s current share price of under RM1.10.” With RM2.2 billion worth of launches in 2024, Paramount’s portfolio remains well diversified, comprising 72% high-rise developments, 27% landed properties and 1% commercial projects. This broad spread across product types and locations provides resilience against unforeseen challenges. The company believes this balanced approach will help sustain overall performance throughout the year, even if individual projects face temporary setbacks.

in FY24, a 3% increase from FY23. The group’s profit before tax (PBT) rose by 20% to RM156.9 million compared to RM130.2 million in FY23 on the back of sustained revenue from the property segment and dividend income from its investment in another property developer. Profit attributable to ordinary equity holders grew 24% to RM102.4 million from RM82.8 million in FY23. In FY24, the property segment achieved a record high PBT of RM145 million, contributing 92.4% of the group’s total PBT, supported by revenue of RM965.3 million. The investment and other segments saw Paramount deputy group CEO Benjamin Teo Jong Hian (left) and Chew after the company’s AGM.

Signature Alliance expects double-digit net profit growth in FY25

“Following this IPO, we’ll continue applying the same strategy, and with our improved brand visibility, we expect more vendors to approach us. This gives us more options and more competitive pricing for our projects.” Signature Alliance made a firm debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia, opening at 68 sen, 6 sen or 9.7% above its initial public offering (IPO) price of 62 sen. The stock closed at 70 sen, an 8 sen or 12.9% premium over the IPO price, with 90.9 million shares traded. Signature Alliance’s listing comes on the back of a fully subscribed IPO, with its public portion oversubscribed by 1.12 times. The offering raised RM161.2 million through the issuance of 260 million new shares at 62 sen apiece, giving the company a market capi talisation of RM620 million at listing. Of the proceeds, RM88 million (54.6%) will be used to establish a new corporate headquarters and centralised production facility in Selangor, RM30.1 million (18.7%) towards working capital, RM20 million (12.4%) to repay bank borrowings, RM12 million (7.4%) to set up branch offices in Penang and Johor, RM4 million (2.5%) for new machinery, and RM7.1 million (4.4%) to cover listing expenses. M&A Securities Sdn Bhd is the adviser, sponsor, managing underwriter, joint underwriter and joint placement agent while Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd is the joint underwriter and joint placement agent for Signature Alliance’s IPO.

Signature Alliance shares opened at 68 sen for 9.7% premium over its initial public offering price of 62 sen.

and net gain on impairment of financial assets and contract assets. Revenue for FY24 rose 122.6% to RM386.0 million, from RM173.4 million in FY23. Chang attributed the profit leap in recent years to support from parent company Signature International Bhd, which gave Signature Alliance better financial standing and bargaining power. “Right after we joined Signature International Bhd, they gave us strong financial backing. With that support, we had better negotiating power with our vendors – allowing us to secure discounts by offering better payment terms, prompt payments and so on.”

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2025 (Q1’25), Signature Alliance reported a net profit of RM15.8 million on the back of revenue of RM147.2 million. The performance was driven by interior fitting out works for two major projects – a commercial office property in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling and a commercial hotel property in Tun Razak Exchange, accounting for 38.9% and 11.9% of the revenue respectively. For FY24, Signature Alliance’s net profit surged 290.4% to RM40.6 million, from RM10.4 million in FY23. This was attributed to higher gross profit