FOCUS Point to proceed with IPO

KUCHING: In proceeding with its initial public offering (IPO) which has now been postponed to August 23 and in fully complying with the Optical Act 1991 (Act), Focus Point Holdings Bhd (Focus Point) has ceased prescribing and dispensing contact lenses at outlets that are not manned by optometrists or qualified opticians.
Focus Point chief executive officer Datuk Liaw Choon Liang

Focus Point chief executive officer Datuk Liaw Choon Liang

For the record, Part Four of the Optical Act stated that no person shall prescribe or dispense contact lenses unless he is a registered optometrist or optician who has been prescribing and dispensing contact lenses for a period of three years or more immediately prior to the date of coming into force of the Act.

Focus Point clarified via an announcement that as of December 31, 2009, a total of 38 of its 64 professional eye care centres were found to have been dispensing contact lenses over the counter without an optometrist or optician who was qualified to dispense contact lenses.

According to OSK Research Sdn Bhd (OSK Research), this practice had since ceased while the remaining Focus Point outlets did have optometrists and qualified opticians to prescribe contact lenses. It further stated that as for the 70 franchise outlets, it was the responsibility of the franchisee to ensure its outlets were manned by relevant qualified personnel.

OSK Research believed that the technology had evolved over the years and that regulations governing the sector might need fine-tuning given that the dispensing of disposable contact lenses over the counter is common practice in Malaysia.

While the group was endeavouring to ensure that either an optometrist or optician qualified to dispense contact lenses was stationed at, at least each of its top 30 professional eye care centres, there was also a possibility that vacated shelf space might now be used to market other allowed products.

Focus Point had extended an ‘exit’ option for investors wishing to exit from the IPO by filling in a specific ‘exit’ form and returning it before August 16.


by Borneo Post