No Signboard closes slightly higher on debut

Singapore

CATALIST-LISTED No Signboard Holdings closed at 29 Singapore cents on its trading debut on Thursday, up from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 28 cents per share.

Some 76.8 million shares worth S$23.98 million changed hands on the company's first day of trading.

Shares in the family-owned seafood restaurant chain had opened at 31 cents and clawed their way up to a high of 33 cents during the day's trading.

Sam Lim, chief executive officer of No Signboard Holdings, said: "We are proud to have grown from our modest beginnings as a seafood hawker stall to one of the leading F&B (food and beverage) players in Singapore. We will continue to leverage on our strong brand and industry network to grow new and complementary F&B businesses."

The IPO, which closed on Tuesday, was 23.6 times subscribed. Excluding shares that were offered to cornerstone investors, the IPO size totalled 65.7 million shares. The public was offered 2.5 million shares and the rest were placement shares.

No Signboard owns three restaurants at the Esplanade, VivoCity and The Central @ Clarke Quay, as well as one franchisee at Mattar Road.

It raised net proceeds of S$18.7 million through the IPO, of which S$10 million will be used to build a new brewery in Indonesia and grow the in-house beer brand Draft Denmark. No Signboard will also use S$5 million to launch a new Chinese casual-dining chain with two restaurants planned in the second half of next year.

Mohamed Nasser Ismail, head of equity capital market (SME) and head of capital market development at the Singapore Exchange (SGX), said: "Its listing will not only strengthen SGX's consumer cluster, but also offer investors an opportunity to participate in the continued growth of Singapore's F&B industry, as the company ventures further into complementary beer and ready-meal businesses as well as establish a new chain of casual-dining restaurants."

No Signboard's listing brings the total number of consumer companies listed on the SGX to 150, with a combined market capitalisation of more than S$150 billion. The total number of companies listed on the Catalist stands at 198, with a combined market capitalisation of over S$12 billion.