Innotek readies for impending storm-with cash

Met up with Neal Chandaria, the chairman and controlling shareholder of Innotek. His family is also a major shareholder and founder of Venture Corp, the largest manufacturer listed on the SGX.

Innotek was formerly known as Mangecomp, a company I covered a couple of decades ago. It’s core HDD business was sold off about 15 years back to Japan-based TDK. It has since been specialising in precision component stamping and assembly for office automation, consumer and automotive sectors.

As with manufacturers globally, Innotek has been facing challenges from multiple fronts – semicon shortage, China’s covid lockdown, as well as soaring raw material and logistics costs.

To its credit, Innotek has built up huge cash reserves to the tune of S$90m, which has been earmarked for M&A. I am quite sure that Neal, who is also the Honorary Consul of Kenya in Singapore, will have many options in the coming months as recession looms.