9 Things To Know About Ramssol Group Berhad Before You Invest

Ramssol Group Berhad (“Ramssol”), human capital management (HCM) solutions and technology provider, is seeking to raise RM25.09 million from its initial public offering (IPO) on Bursa Malaysia on 13 July 2021. If you are looking at Ramssol with interest, here are 9 things to know before you invest.  

1. Group structure overview

The Group was formed on 17 May 2021 after the acquisition of Rams Malaysia (RAMS Solutions Sdn Bhd) is a wholly-owned subsidiary, and its group structure upon listing is as follows:

(Source: IPO prospectus)

Ramssol is an investment holding company. The principal activities of its subsidiaries are as follows:

Company	Principal activities
Rams Malaysia	Business of software development and advisory
Rams Singapore	Provision of human resource consultancy services to corporate clients
Rams Vietnam	Provision of management consulting services for enterprises
Rams Thailand	Provision of information technology consultancy services
Feets Malaysia	Provision of internet-related services concerning the business of mobile application, electronic commerce, information systems integration and administration; provision of computer programming activities; provision of research and development on ICT
Rams Indonesia	Provision of management consulting services for enterprises
Feets Indonesia	Provision of internet-related services about the business of mobile application, electronic commerce, information systems integration and administration; provision of computer programming activities; provision of research and development on ICT

(Source: IPO prospectus)

2. Business model

Ramssol’s business model is depicted as follows:  

(Source: IPO prospectus)

3. Business activities   

Ramssol’s business activities are as follows:

1. HCM and student management solutions
   
   The group provides HCM and student management solutions to large organizations and educational institutions that are designed to manage employees and students respectively. The HCM and student management solutions aim to improve the efficiency of workforce management functions of organizations and student management functions of educational institutions respectively. The group’s expertise in the provision of HCM and student management solutions comprise the following:
   
   (a)    Consulting and implementation

Consulting: understanding an organization’s HR practices through a user requirement study, designing HR workflow processes and solutions to address the organization’s HR issues, and proposing an optimized HCM solution to the organization.

Implementation: software customization, configuration and deployment

    (b)    Sale of software licenses

The group is involved in the sale of third-party software licenses where it purchases software licenses from software vendors on a wholesale basis and resell them to its customers based on a number of software licenses, as and when required based on projects awarded, with a percentage mark-up.

(c)    Technical support and maintenance services

The group provides technical support and maintenance services to organizations and educational institutions as part of its after-sales services following consulting and implementation of HCM and student management solutions. 

2. IT staff augmentation services

Ramssol recruits and supply IT, professionals, to its customers, for their internal IT projects and /or to meet their IT operational needs, on fixed contractual periods. The customers for its IT staff augmentation services are business organizations, primarily enterprises, MNCs and conglomerates. 

3. HCM technology applications

1. Feet’s

Ramssol has an employee engagement mobile application called Feet’s which was deployed in-house and launched in Malaysia in March 2019 and Indonesia in October 2019. Feet’s promotes and modernizes communications between employees through built-in functions such as forums, peer recognition tools, suggestion platforms and even collaboration platforms. 

2. Lark

Ramssol sells a third party collaboration platform called Lark for the Asia Pacific region (including Japan and excluding Mainland China). Lark is a single online collaboration platform for business use that seamlessly interconnects multiple communication functions as well as other work-related functions.

3. IT-related training

The IT-related training provided by Rams Malaysia focuses on office automation which involves digitalization of business operations using computer software to enhance the efficiency of business processes.

4. Zoom

Ramssol resells or refers to Zoom, an enterprise unified communications platform that offers virtual meeting functions between gadgets (i.e. computers and/or mobile devices), for the Asia Pacific region (excluding the People’s Republic of China).

4. Revenue segmentation 

In the past 4 financial year ends (FYEs) 2017 to 2020, Ramssol’s revenue was mainly generated from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand with collective revenue contribution from these 3 countries at 93.38%, 95.19%, 90.00% and 86.72% respectively. In the past 4 FYEs 2017 to 2020, the group’s revenue was mainly generated from the provision of HCM and student management solutions with revenue contribution at 82.42%, 81.34%, 91.14% and 60.59% respectively. 

Ramssol’s revenue segmentation by geographical location and business activities for FYEs 2017 to 2020 are summarized in the following diagrams:

(Source: IPO prospectus)

5. The utilisation of IPO proceeds

Ramssol intends to use the IPO proceeds raised of approximately RM25.09 million as follows:

Description of utilization	Amount of proceeds	The estimated timeframe for utilization upon listing
(RM’000)	%
Business expansion into the Philippines	2,503	9.98	Within 24 months
Expansion of Feet’s and Lark in Southeast Asia	6,348	25.30	Within 24 months
R&D expenditure	4,101	16.34	Within 24 months
Working capital (i) Expansion of IT staff augmentation service business (ii) Expansion of the sale of software licenses (iii) General working capital	787 2,252 4,521	3.14 8.97 18.02	Within 24 months Within 24 months Within 24 months
Listing expenses	4,580	18.25	Within 1 month
Total public issue proceeds	25,092	100.00

6. Business strategies 

The Group intends to undertake the following business strategies:

1. to enlarge its regional presence in Southeast Asia by expanding into the Philippines;
2. to expand the presence and subscriber base of Feet’s and Lark in Southeast Asia;
3. to enhance its R&D activities primarily for the enhancement of Feet’s and development of bolt-on modules for its HCM solutions;
4. to expand its IT staff augmentation business;
5. to increase the sale of software licenses from the large organizations; and
6. to continue to expand its IT-related training business.

7. Competitive landscape

The HCM solutions industry is measured in terms of sales revenue of HCM software licenses, consulting and implementation services, and technical support and maintenance services. According to an independent market research report by Smith Zander, the size of HCM solutions industry in the Southeast Asian countries grew from USD226.86 million (RM975.68 million) in 2017 to USD257.69 million (RM1.08 billion) in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of 4.34%.  

 (Source: IPO prospectus)

For the FYE 2020, the segmental revenue of Ramssol derived from the provision of HCM and student management solutions using Oracle software was recorded at RM14.36 million and thereby, Ramssol captured a market share of 1.33% in the HCM solutions industry in the Southeast Asian countries involved comprising the provision of HCM solutions using software from Oracle, SAP and Workday. 

In the HCM solutions industry, Oracle, SAP and Workday are HCM software that is deemed as the closest comparable HCM software, in terms of cost and functionality. The HCM software vendors for Oracle, SAP and Workday, who may also be involved in the provision of HCM solutions, generally work with their locally appointed HCM solution providers such as Ramssol, to deliver HCM solutions instead of directly competing with them. This is because HCM solution providers have the required local HR knowledge, specialized IT expertise and a dedicated local team on-site for the delivery of HCM solutions. For example, HCM software vendors often participate in project tenders with their HCM solution providers. In such cases, the HCM software vendors will supply HCM software licenses to the customers while the HCM services will be delivered by the HCM solution providers with a local presence.  

8. Substantial shareholders 

Collectively, Ramssol’s promoters and substantial shareholders will hold approximately 59.63% of the group’s shares post IPO. 

(Source: IPO prospectus)

The profiles of its key promoters and substantial shareholders are as follows:

1. Tan Chee Seng – Mr. Tan is the group’s Managing Director and CEO. He is responsible for the overall strategic direction, business development and growth of the group. 

2. Lee Miew Lan – Ms. Lee is the group’s Non-Independent Executive Director and COO. She is responsible for overseeing the operational functions of the group, and assisting its CEO in implementing operational strategies and policies.  

3. Wong Kum Loong – Mr. Wong is a substantial shareholder in on the group’s subsidiary, Feets Malaysia, with a 46.03% equity interest. Mr. Wong became a substantial shareholder of Feets Malaysia on 2 June 2020 as he saw potential growth in the employee engagement mobile application, Feet’s. The equity participation of Mr. Wong was an opportunity for Feets Malaysia to obtain financial support by way of additional equity injection, if required, for the working capital requirements of Feet’s and to expand the business of Feet’s through his business network in Indonesia. 

4. Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai – Tan Sri Dr Lim is the Executive Chairman and founder of Top Glove Corporation Bhd, the world’s largest manufacturer of gloves. He is a substantial shareholder of Ramssol. 

9. Financial Highlights  

The following table sets out a summary of the combined financial information of the group for FYE 2017 to FYE 2020. 

(Source: IPO prospectus)

Ramssol is a profitable company. Revenue and net profits have grown by leaps and bounds at growth rates of 54.96% and 330.07% respectively. Gross profit margins and net profit margins have also expanded considerably over the years. However, investors should pay close attention to its operating cash flows which are unstable and seem to fluctuate widely from year to year.   

Separately, Ramssol is in a stable financial position since it has a current ratio of 2.61 times and the gearing ratio is at 0.56 times as of 31 December 2020. The group presently does not have a fixed dividend policy and does not have any intention to declared dividends for the FYE 2020. At a proposed IPO price of RM0.45, Ramssol will be listed at a market capitalization of RM100.37 million, and a trailing price to earnings (PE) ratio of 14.3 times. 

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