UPDATE 2-99 Speed Mart shines in debut in Malaysia's biggest IPO in 7 years

* Shares jump as high as 1.92 ringgit a share * Also Southeast Asia's biggest IPO since July 2023 * Malaysia IPO market is region's best performer this year (Adds comments from CEO and founder in paragraph 5, updates stock performance in paragraphs 1 and 3, adds details of principal adviser in paragraph 13) By Yantoultra Ngui SINGAPORE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Malaysia's 99 Speed Mart Retail IPO-99SP.KL jumped as much as 16.4% in its market debut on Monday after the country's top mini-market chain retailer raised 2.36 billion ringgit ($542.8 million) in the biggest domestic listing in seven years. Shares of 99 Speed Mart stock opened at 1.85 ringgit on the Malaysian stock exchange, 12.1% higher than the initial public offering price of 1.65 ringgit apiece. The stock rose as high as 1.92 ringgit before the midday break, while the local benchmark stock index .KLSE edged 0.08% higher. 99 Speed Mart, founded by Lee Thiam Wah in 1987 as a traditional sundry store, plans to use proceeds from the IPO to open about 250 stores annually by 2027 to reach around 3,000, from the 2,526 outlets as at Dec. 31, 2023, according to its prospectus. "The funds will be the driving force behind our expansion plans," Lee said in a press statement on Monday. Last week, 99 Speed Mart posted a 66.3% year-on-year jump in second-quarter net profit to 125.5 million ringgit, and an 8.2% revenue climb to 2.4 billion, driven by higher sales from new outlets and its e-commerce platform, according to a stock filing. 99 Speed Mart's IPO was Malaysia's largest since South Korea's Lotte Chemical Titan Holding's LOTT.KL listing in 2017. The listing was also Southeast Asia's biggest IPO since Amman Mineral Internasional's AMMN.JK listing in Indonesia in July 2023. The positive debut by 99 Speed Mart could bode well for upcoming listings in Malaysia. Proceeds raised from Malaysian IPOs have doubled to $1.3 billion so far this year from $593 million the same period a year earlier, according to LSEG data, making it the best performer in Southeast Asia this year. Bursa Malaysia BMYS.KL Chief Executive Muhamad Umar Swift told Reuters last week that he was looking at a healthy pipeline into 2026. Upcoming listings could include Malaysian mobile data service company U Mobile, which is planning a domestic IPO that is expected to raise more than $500 million as early as the first half of 2025, Reuters has reported. The positive IPO market comes against the backdrop of a strong stock market where the local benchmark stock index's .KLSE has risen 13.7% in 2024 according to LSEG data, on course for its best annual performance in well over a decade. CIMB CIMB.KL is the principal adviser of the IPO. ($1 = 4.3480 ringgit) <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Malaysia leads the charge in Southeast Asia's IPO market https://sphinx.thomsonreuters.com/graphics/?#/graphic/zdpxxzzdrpx ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; additional reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore and Vineet Sachdev in Bengaluru; Editing by John Mair and Sherry Jacob-Phillips) (([email protected];))