Only World Group on acquisition trail

SHAH ALAM (Dec 30): Only World Group Holdings Bhd (OWG), which aims for a 50% growth in revenue this financial year ending June 30, 2016 (FY16), expects to seal an investment deal “in the next couple of months”.

This comes on the heels of the leisure and hospitality service provider’s recent purchase of a 60% stake in Escaperoom Holdings Sdn Bhd for RM5.4 million cash, paving its way into the real-life physical adventure game segment.

Its group managing director Datuk Seri Richard Koh (pictured) said OWG had received several offers and is planning to complete one soon.

“People have approached us to offer us space in their shopping malls or land in their property to invest or through a joint venture. They want our attractions, and food and beverage outlets in their projects,” he told reporters after the group’s annual and extraordinary general meetings yesterday.

“There have been some proposals at good locations,” he said.

“We have a few [offers] in the pipeline. We want to choose the best one,” he added, but declined to reveal details.

As at Sept 30, 2015, OWG’s cash and cash equivalents stood at RM23.31 million.

Koh said Escaperoom brings a new concept to its recreation operation outlets by making its products more interactive, educational and challenging to attract families.

Meanwhile, the group is targeting a 50% increase in revenue for FY16, bolstered by the opening of several new food service and recreation operation outlets at Komtar tower in George Town, Penang, during the financial year.

Koh said OWG is targeting The Top@Komtar project to be operational by April or May next year, with 80% of the project’s various components to be attracting visitors by then.

“With the opening of The Top@Komtar, many facilities will be opened and that should be good for the group.

“The one component that probably will be delayed is the aquarium because there are a lot of things to handle engineering-wise,” he said, adding that the project includes a durian and tongkat ali museum.

Koh also said the group is working on package deals for tourists visiting The Top@Komtar.

He said rising inflation and cost of living will not dampen the group’s prospects next year, as more people are likely to visit local attractions rather than travel overseas.

“The US [dollar] exchange rate has gone up. As such, more people are likely to stay at home rather than go overseas, and that can benefit OWG on higher domestic spending,” he added.

The group saw revenue for the three months ended Sept 30, 2015 (1QFY16) grow 18% to RM22.68 million from RM19.22 million in 1QFY15, while it posted a 4.6% rise in revenue to RM86.89 million for the full FY15 from RM83.08 million in FY14.

As at Sept 30, 2015, the group had 29 food service outlets.

OWG shares closed up two sen or 0.66% at RM3.05 yesterday, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM566.1 million.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Dec 30, 2015. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.