May 31st 2007.
- Ecofuture 'excited' after completing expansion
By Zaidi Isham Ismail
bt@nstp.com.my
May 31 2007
ECOFUTURE Bhd is anticipating an exciting outlook with the commissioning of its fourth RM50 million factory last month, signalling the completion of its expansion plan.
"Our new factory will be in full swing next year and we have received fresh sales orders from overseas," Ecofuture executive chairman and managing director Yeo Kim Luang Yeo told reporters yesterday.
Ecofuture's four factories are all located within the same compund in Segamat, Johor, and its latest factory produces non-wood virgin pulp which can be turned into paper.
The plant is expected to produce between 1,000 and 1,500 tonnes of non-wood virgin pulp monthly which are derived from empty fruit bunches of oil palm fruits and sold at between US$600 and US$700 (RM2,040 and RM2,380) a tonne.
Yeo said the company has received orders from Canada and it is also looking at possible tie-ups with local companies to produce more of the non-wood virgin pulp.
"This is a huge scientific breakthrough for the company and a good opportunity for our country to convert biomass into products such as manufacturing papers, prints, corrugated cartons and paper-based products."
Ecofuture makes environment- friendly products such as food/general packaging products that are biodegradable, toxic-free, compostable, microwaveable and made or recycled from natural palm fibre and biomass.
These products include fibrous sand mats and food packaging materials under the brandname Ecomat, Ecopak and Ecofibre.
Ecofuture was listed on the Mesdaq market of Bursa Malaysia in January 2005 and exports half of its products overseas to China, the Philippines, Canada, US, Australia, European and West Asian countries and Taiwan.
For the year ended December 31 2006, Ecofuture posted a lower pre-tax profit of RM674,843 from RM2.1 million a year ago due to the floods in Johor which affected the quality of its oil palm fruit brunches in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Its revenue, however, rose to RM80.1 million from RM69.1 million following the higher turnover achieved by the milling operations and higher crude palm oil prices.
June 19th 2007.
- Ecofuture Sees Biomass Products Revenue Growing 10 Pct This Year
June 19 (Bernama) -- Ecofuture Bhd expects revenue contribution of its sustainable products derived from oil palm biomass materials to grow by 10 percent in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2007 due to growing overseas demand, said executive chairman Jang Lim Kuang.
She told Bernama recently that 95 percent of the group's export earnings come from these products which include natural oil palm fibre strands under the Ecofibre brand, and the bio-degradeable mulching and soil erosion geotextile mat under the Ecomat brand.
Another segment under Ecofuture's belt are the environment-friendly food and general packaging products, which are also bio-degradeable, toxic-free, compostable, microwaveable and made from natural palm fibre, said Jang.
"The potential for non-wood virgin pulp is great overseas as many countries are strict on preserving their forests, especially in the West. That's why the oil palm pulp price is high at the moment," Jang said.
"Of course, we are constantly upgrading our products as well."
Jang pointed out that although Malaysians are not averse to using environment-friendly products, the premium price deters them.
"But that is not the case for Europeans and Americans who are into these things especially when it comes to food containers. As long as they can save the environment and themselves from harmful chemicals used in styrofoams and polysterene plastics, they will buy these types of products," she added.
According to her, almost 80 percent of the organic shops in Kuala Lumpur are using Ecopak containers and utensils.
On the Ecomat, the geotextile mat which helps retain moisture and grows grass and vegetation, Jang said it is gaining interest from West Asian customers who use it in the desert.
"The Arabs became interested in Ecomat for vegetation on the sand dunes after we successfully planted the mats in the desert, on the outskirts of Beijing, China," she said.
She added that the group will be further promoting the Ecomat at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing following a government-to-government effort to promote local products there.
Meanwhile, Jang said, the group aims to develop and diversify its downstream business from the existing products.
"Oil palm milling may be our core business, but Ecofuture wants its overall forward looking plan to be based on an environment-friendly dream. This is something I can see us doing in the future," she said.
Aug 2007: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/6/2007 - Lost 1.115 million.
Nov 2007: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/9/2007 - Lost 0.397 million.
Yeah.. I had it in my notes.. yet another company whose earnings did not reflect the optimistic news on the company.
June 2008.
- 17-06-2008: Ecofuture proposes 10% placement, debt settlement via shares
KUALA LUMPUR: Ecofuture Bhd has proposed settlement of debts via the issue of a total of 34.51 million shares and a 10% private placement towards raising funds for working capital and improving its cash flow.
In a statement yesterday, Ecofuture said it would issue 21.82 million shares of 10 sen each, representing 12.5% of its paid-up capital, at 16 sen each towards settling debts of RM3.49 million owing to Larizz Bumi Over-Seas Services Sdn Bhd. It will also issue 12.69 million shares or a 7.27% stake at 16 sen per share for debts of RM2.03 million owing to its executive chairman and managing director Jang Kim Luang @ Yeo Kim Luang.
Ecofuture said the issue price represented a premium of about five sen or 45.5% to its five-day weighted average market price up to May 15, 2008 of 11 sen.
It said the proposed placement would also address the public shareholding spread requirement. As at May 23, 2008, its public shareholding spread was at 24.88% with 1,140 public shareholders holding not less than 100 shares each.
So I decided to keep watch.
Aug 2008: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/6/2008 - it lost 2.254 million.
Nov 2008: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/9/2008 - it lost 3.058 million!
Feb 2009: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 31/12/2008 - it lost some 1.919 million!
May 2009.
- Ecofuture sees turnaround in FY10
Written by Yantoultra Ngui Yichen & Lam Jian Wyn
Tuesday, 26 May 2009 10:38
KUALA LUMPUR: Ecofuture Bhd, a palm oil miller and biomass products maker, expects to turn around in the next fiscal year ending Dec 31, 2010 (FY10) on the back of potential new orders for its biomass business and the leasing out of its palm oil mill.
“We are in talks to lease out our palm oil mill so that we can focus on our downstream business,” the Mesdaq-listed firm’s executive chairman and managing director Jang Kim Luang @ Yeo Kim Luang said. “To date (as of FY08), we have a total of RM6 million orders at hand.”
She said the high price of crude palm oil (CPO) in the first half of FY08 had sapped Ecofuture’s working capital due to its fresh fruit bunches (FFB) purchases.
“We lease it out and remove the headache, then we will have all the biomass we want and the steam to process it, which is free of charge,” said independent non-executive director Hiew Seng.
Meanwhile, Jang said Ecofuture expected its new product “Pulp-Eco”, which is a non-wood virgin pulp, to become one of its future growth drivers as it saw a huge market potential for this product in its overseas markets.
“Right now, we have a presence in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, Taiwan, Japan and the Middle East,” she said.
Ecofuture’s net loss in FY08 widened almost three-fold to RM8.49 million from RM2.18 million a year earlier on the back of a 13.5% drop in revenue to RM94.53 million from RM109.28 million.
According to notes accompanying its financial statements, the company attributed its overall performance mainly to the inability to procure sufficient FFB for its milling business, which in turn affected its downstream biomass business segment.
The company had a debt to equity ratio of 2.51 times, a slight drop from 2.77 times a year earlier.
On the RM20 million total short-term borrowings that were repayable within one year, Jang said the company would negotiate with the banks to convert part of the borrowings to term loans. As at Dec 31, 2008, the company had a long-term debt of RM19.88 million, a slight increase from RM19.71 million in the previous year.
The company’s net asset per share as of Dec 31, 2008 was 10 sen, a decrease from 14 sen a year ago.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, May 26, 2009.
May 2009: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 31/3/2009 - it lost 3.511 million!
Aug 2009: Quarterly rpt on consolidated results for the financial period ended 30/6/2009 - it lost 2.377 million!
How?
On today's papers..
- Ecofuture prices private placement shares
Published: 2009/11/10
ECOFUTURE Bhd (0067) has fixed the price of its proposed private placement of 22.411 million shares at 12 sen each, a 100 per cent premium to the five-day volume weighted average market price of its shares up to and including November 6 2009.
In an announcement, the company said that based on the price, it expects to raise a gross proceed of RM2.689 million.
Ecofuture said it has no intention to place the shares to directors or substantial shareholders of the company and/or persons connected with them. - Bernama
Placement priced at 100 per cent premium!!!!!!!!????
Crikey! Is Christmas so early???
Here is Ecofuture's historical chart since listing.
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