AHB to Appoint More Dealers Worldwide for Market Expansion

By Sharifah Pirdaus Syed Ali KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Bernama) -- AHB Holding Bhd (AHB), a premium office furniture manufacturer under the brand Artwright, plans to expand its market by appointing more dealers worldwide as well as introduce new products. Its chief executive officer/managing director, Yong Yoke Keong, said the company planned to appoint at least 20 more dealers worldwide to add to the current 12 dealers the group had, including locally, within the next one year. AHB, which is looking at growing its presence in India and had set up two dealerships recently, has over 25 export markets in different regions. "We are expanding the network and at least three new products are in the pipeline in addition to the current 15 to help penetrate the market and attract more dealers to sign on and invest in distribution,” he told Bernama after the company's extraordinary general meeting (EGM), Friday. The premium office furniture manufacturer is currently classified as Practice Note 17 under the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities. Yong said the group was optimistic about its future growth and confident of its profitability as it has now strengthened its balance sheet and was more focus on growing its business. He projected the global market for office furniture of over RM50 billion while the group sales annually was about RM15 million (US$1=rm3.68). About 85 per cent of AHB’s products are currently exported. On the Good Services Tax, Yong said its impact would be minimal for the group as most of its products were for export, with exempted tax supply. -- BERNAMA