Annum secures land in Terengganu for smart farming business venture

• The group said its indirect wholly owned unit, Annum Industries Sdn Bhd, has entered into 10-year agreements to make use of land leased by two parties from the Terengganu government.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Plywood products manufacturer Annum Bhd (formerly known as Cymao Holdings Bhd) has secured land in Setiu, Terengganu to facilitate the group’s diversification into smart farming business.

The group said its indirect wholly owned unit, Annum Industries Sdn Bhd, has entered into 10-year agreements to make use of land leased by two parties from the Terengganu government.

The first party, an individual named Shahruddin Abdullah, had leased 9.39ha of land in Food Production Permanent Park from the state government for three years, renewable for three terms with three years each.

The park is situated on land measuring a total of 87.36ha, reserved for crop farming in Terengganu.

The second party, Perladangan Warisan Timur Sdn Bhd (PWTSB), had leased 4.9ha of land in the same park under the same tenure. PWTSB is mainly involved in mining, quarrying, logging, farming, and plantation.

The two plots of land leased by Shahruddin and PWTSB are vacant with stumps, bushes and shrubs which needed to be cleared to cater for farming activities.

Under the agreements, Annum is granted rights to use the land for building and construction of greenhouses for smart farming business at an annual fee of RM1,408 to Shahruddin and RM735 to PWTSB.

Annum is obligated to share up to RM1 million of annual profit generated from the smart farming business.

However, in the event of losses, Annum is discharged from its obligation to pay profit sharing, and accumulated losses can be used to offset with profit sharing in subsequent years.

Annum said its smart farming business adopts a modern method of farming which utilises various technologies to collect, process and analyse data on soil acidity, moisture and nutrient levels as well as the farming environment.

The group said it will fund the venture via its ongoing rights issue exercise to raise between RM8-39 million.

Shares of Annum closed half sen or 1.7% lower at 28 sen on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM27.3 million.