Chase for a Malaysian brand

Its GBH brand of sanitary ware like toilet bowls and sinks is a well-recognised name. Today, GBH has a market value of RM78 million and is the subject of a takeover offer from Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon.

GBH was listed on Bursa Malaysia some 20 years ago, but as a business enterprise, the company had its origin in the early 1900s when it made ceramic cups for the rubber industry.

The enterprise was started by a patriarch of the current controlling shareholders, the Goh family.

GBH's tableware plant started operation in the 1940s. In the 1950s and 1960s, the company enjoyed a substantial share of the traditional Chinese coffee shop requirements for coffee cups and saucers.
The company started making ceramic sanitary ware in 1960 to supplement other ceramic manufacturing activities of the company.

In 1969, GBH began warehousing activities to make economic use of the vacant land it owned and to diversify revenue sources.

Prior to 1978, mortar-jointed sewerage clay pipes were manufactured by GBH. These were discontinued when the authorities decided to introduce new technical requirements in respect of the pipes in 1978.

In response to these new requirements, GBH began manufacturing flexible joint clay pipes using technology imported from Australia. Its plant commenced production in 1979.

Interestingly, GBH has not made money since 2000. It made a net loss of RM11.8 million in the year to December 31 2008 and revenue was RM44.6 million, almost the same level eight years ago.

However, the company has built up a comfortable level of shareholders' fund, although that has steadily fallen to RM157 million last year.

It has about RM36 million in debt, but assets of more than RM200 million, of which more than half are fixed assets.

That may explain why Robert Tan considers GBH worth pursuing.