Singaporean feng shui firm to list on Aim
A SINGAPORE-BASED consultancy firm that advises blue-chip companies using the ancient Chinese philosophy of feng shui is to float on London’s junior stock market to raise £1.5m.
New Trend Lifestyle Group, which counts Citibank and Standard Chartered among its clients, announced yesterday its intention to float on Aim at the end of June to fund its expansion in Asia.
The seven-year-old company offers services on everything from building and office design consultancy to astrology readings and marriage matching, and made a profit of £1.4m on sales of £6.1m last year.
It runs six retail outlets in Singapore and employs over 120 staff including a number of feng shui masters. In 2011 it also opened a flagship office and six distributor partnerships in China.
NTL plans raise funds to open 50 shops in China over the next three years and bolster its growth in Singapore.
“The directors believe the Aim float will raise the profile of the business internationally and enable them to incentivise key employees through the issue of options”, the company said in a statement.
Feng shui, meaning wind and water, is the Chinese art of arranging buildings and interiors to maintain spiritual equilibrium. It plays an important part in Chinese culture, where it has developed into a multi-million pounds industry.
Recent figures show that the Hong Kong authorities spent at least £6m in recent years compensating people living around construction sites for disturbing their feng shui.
“Whether you believe it or not, it makes a lot of money,” a spokesperson for the company said. “It is a credible entity both in China and Singapore.”
Converts include Disney, which made changes to Disneyland using feng shui principles, and US property mogul Donald Trump, who, after losing Asian clients due to “bad feng shui” hired a master to rearrange Trump Towers.