Industrial chemicals rarely grab headlines, but they sit quietly behind Malaysia’s most aggressive economic sectors, including the massive infrastructure and data center construction boom. Now, specialty chemical distributor Eckem Holdings is stepping out from behind the curtain, looking to raise RM15 million via an IPO on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia. However, the listing arrives alongside a complicated financial reality: profit after tax has tumbled roughly 35% over consecutive years due to cyclical, oil-linked chemical prices and a steep rise in finance debt used to fund a RM60 million industrial land bank.

Executive Director Jack Tan joins The Breakfast Grille to defend the company’s 16.7x earnings valuation multiple against contracting profit after tax. Jack breaks down how their local in-house laboratory acts as a technical moat to secure customer loyalty over direct foreign suppliers, addresses the governance optics of declaring a RM1.9 million pre-IPO dividend, and details the strategic roadmap to double its capacity in high-margin rubber export manufacturing to transform the business from a pure middleman into a resilient industrial player.