KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 29): NWE Resources Group Bhd is looking to tap into changing health and wellness trends among younger consumers with six new health food formulations as part of its business expansion for its initial public offering (IPO).
Speaking to reporters after the launch of its prospectus on Tuesday, executive director Tan Chor Han said the group had identified areas including sleep deprivation, stress, eye-care, joint health, colon care and gut health, for which younger people are increasingly turning to health food products in order to address these concerns.
“Sleep and stress, these are the two areas that I would say, 10 or 20 to 30 years ago, no one will come to you and say that, ‘hey, I got a sleep problem, I got a stress problem, and that I want to eat supplement, health food’, they will not come to you and say, ‘I want a health food that helps in this area’,” said Tan.
“So nowadays, the trend is moving towards this area, and that is what we are targeting,” he added.
The group plans to raise up to RM28.6 million from its IPO. The planned formulations are part of the group’s expansion into research and development (R&D) capabilities, of which RM9.1 million or 31.9% of the RM28.6 million proceeds being raised from the IPO will go towards product development expenditure. Meanwhile, RM1.2 million or 4.1% of the proceeds will go into growing R&D initiatives.
The group also plans to expand its in-house laboratory and increase its R&D talent pool.
The group said in its prospectus that NWE Biotech, its wholly owned subsidiary, was granted pioneer status by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) in 2024 for its R&D activities.
Besides health food products, the group is also developing five new personal care products, including skincare products — particularly, a moisturising sunscreen, face mask, face mist, skin protection serum, and moisturising lipcare product.
Tan noted that the group currently has a single range of skincare products, hence the reason why it is looking to broaden its offerings.
NWE Resources primarily operates as a supplier of personal care and related products, as well as health foods for business-to-business customers. Most prominently, it supplies to hotels such as Genting Bhd (KL:GENTING), Berjaya Corporation Bhd (KL:BJCORP), Royale Chulan and Marriott, among others. The group also sells products to end-consumers in its M-Plan MLM segment.
Health food accounted for 55.1% of group revenue in the latest financial year ending March 31, 2026 (FY2026), while personal care and related products contributed 40.9%. The group posted a net profit of RM8.5 million on revenue of RM41.6 million for FY2026.
In response to its business strategy against Chinese companies entering the Malaysian market, Tan told reporters that NWE Resources would focus on its formulation and R&D capabilities in the health food segment in order to stay competitive.
“So, formulation gives us an edge over what you call a standard, like you say a China-based supplier and all that, coming in with a typical formulation and all that. So, that is what we are targeting. If you talk about the hospitality industry, from our experience with the hotels, what they emphasise more is the deliverables as well as the service. So these are areas that we believe we can excel compared to China-based players coming into Malaysia,” said Tan.
NWE Resources set its IPO price at 20 sen and is scheduled to list on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia on Oct 21. Upon listing, the group is expected to be valued at RM108 million based on the issue price.