KUALA LUMPUR: Advance Information Marketing Bhd (AIM) shares soared 43% to an 18 sen premium on their debut on the Mesdaq market yesterday. 

At the opening bell, the counter hit 60 sen with 777,600 shares traded. Offered at an initial public offering (IPO) price of 42 sen, the stock touched a day's high of 62 sen and low of 51 sen before closing at 53 sen. A total 13.6 million shares changed hands. 

The IPO raised RM14.7mil which the company plans to use mainly for its business expansion locally and overseas, research and development and the enhancement of its Enterprise Applications software. 

Speaking after AIM's listing ceremony yesterday, chief executive officer Nyang Koon Seng said the company was constantly exploring opportunities to expand abroad, especially through joint ventures.

AIM, via its subsidiary Customer Loyalty Solutions Sdn Bhd, recently teamed up with US-based Colloquy, the operator of the Canada AIR MILES reward programme that had secured the participation of more than 70% or 15.5 million of Canadian households, he said. 

“By next year, AIM will be looking for partners in Indonesia, China and Thailand to expand our business process outsourcing (BPO) business,” Nyang said. 

AIM specialises in providing end-to-end loyalty management solutions covering consulting, technology and outsourcing, which are all integrated through in-house information technology infrastructure, business intelligence, integrated marketing services, contact centres as well as procurement and fulfilment services. 

Its customers include AmBank Bhd, L'Oreal Malaysia Sdn Bhd, F&N Coca Cola (M) Sdn Bhd, TT Resources Bhd, Debenhams Department Store and Electronics Commerce Technology Sdn Bhd, the RealRewards' programme owner. 

AIM has forecast a net profit of RM9mil on the back of RM41.6mil revenue for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2006. 

The company posted RM7.6mil net profit on RM36.9mil revenue last year.