SOUTHERN CABLE GROUP BERHAD (SCGBHD)

Southern Cable Group Berhad (SCGBHD) is Malaysia's leading manufacturer of power cables and wires, operating since 1993. Listed on Bursa Malaysia in October 2020 under the Industrial Materials, Components & Equipment sector, SCGBHD is a Shariah-compliant stock.

The group operates through two core segments:

• Cable Manufacturing: Production of power cables and wires — LV (low voltage), MV (medium voltage) through HV/EHV (high voltage, including 132kV). This is the higher-margin core business.
• Trading Division: Resale of cables and electrical products to contractors and utilities — contributes to volume but carries thinner margins.

Key customers include Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), SESB (Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd), SEB (Sarawak Energy Berhad), and Petronas. As one of the only active domestic producers of 132kV cable in Malaysia following the exit of Leader Cable (Sarawak Cable subsidiary), SCGBHD is capturing rapidly growing demand from both grid upgrade projects and data centre operators.

In the context of the "GRID: Lifeblood of AI Data Centres" theme, Southern Cable is the quintessential "picks and shovels" play — every new substation, data centre grid connection, and grid upgrade requires MV/HV cables. The company is a direct beneficiary of TNB's RM43 billion grid capex commitment under Regulatory Period 4 (RP4).

Current manufacturing capacity stands at 49,900 km of cable per year (Q1 2025), expanding to 65,000 km per year by end-2027 — a 30% increase. Simultaneously, aluminium rod production will triple from ~20,000 MT to over 60,000 MT per year, reducing dependence on external suppliers and improving vertical integration.