Kanger International Bhd, listed on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd, has been trading actively in the last couple of weeks, a clear sign that something major is happening in this company.
It was the most active stock today in the local stock exchange. The stock price shot up 20 per cent today to close the day at 30.5 sen with more than 383 million shares exchanging hands.
Analysts familiar with the company’s expansion said that Kanger “looks promising” as it looks for a vaccine, basically a cure to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The analysts believe the market value for this counter will hit RM1.00 after the company announces the plan, which will be soon.
“Seeing the gap to this price is not big with the vaccine venture,” said an analyst who declined to be named.
It is learned that Kanger is in discussions with its partner in China to develop the vaccine for Covid-19 as early as next year.
“Discussions are on-going with one of the top China-based medical firms, which could end up with them becoming the market leader for manufacturing and distributing Covid-19 vaccine,” said a source.
Kanger, one of the world’s largest producers of bamboo products has been stepping up its game to look for various businesses that thrive amid market uncertainties.
When the Covid-19 broke out worldwide, companies geared up their resources and entered into the pharmaceutical and medical glove supply industries and Kanger had also jumped into the bandwagon.
It was reported that Kanger will invest RM77 million to set up a glove manufacturing plant in Ijok, Selangor next year. It will acquire five acres in Ijok for RM6.8 million through its wholly owned unit Kanger Glove Manufacturing Sdn Bhd. Kanger Glove will spend about RM70 million to build the plant and install 8 production lines to produce medical, surgical and/or nitrile gloves for the Middle East region.
The 8 production lines are expected to produce at least one billion pieces of gloves per annum.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia in August, Kanger had said that a substantial proportion of the total output of the production will be sold to Dubai-based Constellation Holdings Ltd (CHL).
CHL is the appointed procurement agency for personal protective equipment, medical equipment and supplies for the Ministry of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates, and countries in the Middle Eastern region.
The remaining output will be reserved to develop other market channels in Asia and Europe, Kanger said.
Kanger had also diversified into property investment, and management to reduce its sole reliance on making bamboo wood products.
The company has completed building AutoCity and Kyriad Hotel at the Ganzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone in Ganzhou city, China.
Kanger had in March secured 10-year lease agreements for AutoCity, a purpose-built six-storey building with a net lettable area of 493,062 sq ft, and the 19-storey hotel with a build-up of 190,715 sq ft.
The initial rental income per year for the two buildings collectively is RM11.1 million and is subject to scheduled rent increases.
