FBMKLCI 1570.02 DJ+145.13 CRUDE OIL92.69 RM3.0210

MAA Holdings Bhd says it is not urgently seeking to sell its overseas units now that its debt obligations of RM140mil which are due for repayment soon, can be paid off following the sale of its insurance business for RM344mil cash. Instead, the group was now looking to “build up” its insurance businesses in Indonesia and the Philippines, chief executive officer and group managing director Muhamad Umar Swift said after the company’s shareholders’ meeting here yesterday. “Our business in the Philippines is doing well. Indonesia has been slower than expected. We are looking at partnerships that can leverage that particular asset,” he said without elaborating.

Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd (P1), a subsidiary of Green Packet Bhd, has sealed a technology cooperation agreement with China Mobile Ltd to spearhead the time division-long term evolution (TD-LTE) technology in Malaysia and South-East Asia. TD-LTE technology is a 4G telecommunications evolutionary path for the future of mobile broadband.

The coming together of Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings to develop RM30bil worth of real estate projects in Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia will help UEM Land Holdings Bhd make a great leap forward, both financially and in terms of branding, say analysts. UEM is among the top landowners in Iskandar Malaysia, with 1,300 acres of development land in the southern economic corridor. Among the several economic corridors spearheaded by the Government, Iskandar Malaysia remains the most upbeat and vibrant. In many ways, according to analysts, the alliance of the two government investment holding companies is expected to be a win-win proposition for both sides.

Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) has entered into a shareholders' agreement with Pulau Indah Ventures Sdn Bhd to develop a wellness township Nusajaya. E&O (via wholly-owned subsidiary Galaxy Prestige Sdn Bhd) and Pulau Indah have agreed to establish a 50:50 joint venture (JV) company named Nuri Merdu Sdn Bhd.

Pulau Indah is a 50:50 JV between Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings. This will be E&O's maiden foray into Johor. The 210-acre freehold land for the proposed development is 15 minutes away from the Tuas Second Link to Singapore, and is owned by Iskandar Investment Bhd, a 60% subsidiary of Khazanah.

Cypark Resources Bhd posted net profit of RM6.22 million in the second quarter ended April 30, 2011 on the back of RM40.98 million in revenue. Earnings per share were 4.0 sen. The second quarter revenue was about RM1.6 million lower than in the first quarter. It said the second quarter revenue was generated mainly from the second phase of the national landfill restoration projects and foundation works for the leachate treatment plans.

Muhibbah said it believes it will not have to write down RM300 million in outstanding payments due from its major client Asia Petroleum Hub (APH), which was reported to be in receivership. Muhibbah managing director Mac Ngan Boon said APH was actively speaking to potential investors and hoped for a resolution "soonest". He added: "We do not believe there will be a write down. We believe there are other solutions.” To recap, APH is the developer and operator of the APH oil terminal in Johor and had awarded Muhibbah the marine piling and jetty works worth RM820 million.

Ingress reported net profit for the first quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 34% to RM6.94 million from RM10.47 million a year earlier, due to a one time gain on disposal of shares totaling RM7.6 million included in 1Q 2010 net profit. Revenue for the quarter slipped to RM175.07 million from RM180.41 million in 2010. Earnings per share were 9 sen, while net assets per share was RM2.08. It expects its automotive division to further improve during the financial year.

SIG Gases Bhd inked an MoU with Japan-based Iwatani Corporation Bhd (IC) to establish a partnership to set up a helium refilling plant in Southern Industrial Gas plant in Senai, Johor.

IRIS CORPORATION BHD [] expects to raise gross proceeds of RM25.52 million from a proposed private placement exercise of up to 10% of its paid-up share capital. It plans to use RM25.37 million of the proceeds as working capital and the remaining RM150,000 as estimated expenses relating to the proposed private placement. Iris said the RM25.52 million in proceeds would be based on an indicative issue price of 15 sen per placement share.

FBMKLCI 1562.52 DJ+108.98 CRUDE OIL91.09 RM 3.0265

New stock listing

No.  Stock  Code    Stock Name     Reference Price      Lower Limit     Upper Limit

1.         5202                   MSM                      3.50                         2.45                       17.50

AmResearch has valued MSM at RM4.53 per share based on a price earnings ratio (PER) of 10 times financial year 2012 earnings per share. Its PER of 10 times is about 23% below the regional average PER of 13 times ex-Japan and Australia. The research house said MSM was expected to be a high dividend-yielding stock. It added that the group’s estimated FY11 to FY12 dividend yields of 6% to 7% (based on the IPO price of RM3.50) would be higher than most of the consumer and numbers forecast operator companies. It said MSM plans to pay out 50% of its net profit as dividends every year.

Oil and gas services provider Bumi Armada has set a price range of RM2.80 to RM3.15 per share for its initial public offering (IPO) next month, raising as much as US$906mil (RM2.77bil), according to a term sheet seen by Reuters yesterday. Bumi Armada is an offshore support specialist, and is the only Malaysian company that owns floating production storage and offloading vessels, which carry a premium lease rate. Bumi Armada was privatised in 2003 by tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan, and a planned relisting in 2008 was delayed due to the global financial crisis.

Petroleum Nasional Bhd and its partner PetroVietnam have been successful in their drilling campaign via the Diamond-4X exploration well in offshore Vietnam. The Diamond-4X well, drilled to test the hydrocarbon potential in the prospect’s clastics reservoir and fractured granite basement, was spudded on April 27, 2011 and reached its final target depth of 4,564 m on June 1, the company said in a statement.

The well tested the flow rate of 5,200 barrels per day of oil.

Shandong-based Sozo Global Ltd intends to set up a halal processing facility in Malaysia within the next six to 12 months from now. Chief executive officer Shen Hengbao said the company had completed its feasibility study on the project and was currently identifying the potential locations for the plant. He said to date, it had shortlisted three states as the potential location for the plant but nothing was finalised. Sozo, according to him, aims to base the facility at a park dedicated for halal food products with good transportation and logistics network to facilitate distribution and export activities. Shen said Sozo would invest more than RM5mil in the plant which will cater halal Chinese cooked duck meat products for domestic and international markets.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) does not rule out the possibility of taking the company private or spin off its other divisions, according to chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid. “No options are off the table. It's the shareholders' call. We can put the option on the table but it is still the shareholders call,” he said after the company AGM that lasted for three hours yesterday. On Monday, StarBiz reported that Maybank Investment Bank suggested that MAS be privatised but list Firefly Sdn Bhd, MAS Engineering, MasKargo and even its terminal services. The research house in its report said the privatisation of MAS was not an outlandish idea and the shareholders might just warm up to the idea. More so since the analyst community had an overwhelming “sell” call on the carrier after the airline reported RM242mil in net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

Kim Loong, its earnings jumped 49% to RM19.91 million from RM13.36 million a year ago boosted by its PLANTATION []s business, underpinned by the strong crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Revenue rose 37.9% to RM175.15 million from RM127 million while earnings per share were 6.52 sen versus 4.39 sen a year ago. Pre-tax profit rose 68% to RM35.16 million from RM20.89 million. “The 38% and 68% increases in revenue and PBT respectively were mainly due to higher CPO and palm kernel oil prices which were about 38% and 91% respectively higher than the corresponding period last year,” Kim Loong said.

FBMKLCI DJ-115.42 CRUDE OIL90.63 RM 3.002

Worries about the Greek debt issue and the slide on Wall Street will weigh on investors’ sentiment in the week ahead, starting Monday, June 27, and maybe investors may give up the hope of window dressing as the first half draws to an end.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) hopes the result of its bid for the expansion of the Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah will come out by year-end. “We’ve already submitted our bid. The work is through a consortium to build a new terminal and runway,” MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said on Friday at the inaugural GLC Open Day 2011 organised by Khazanah Nasional Bhd. MAHB had prequalified to bid for the work based on its experience and also strong technical knowledge, he said.

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are likely to see continued bearish sentiment.

Jim Teh, Interband Group of Companies' senior trader, said technical correction could drive the market with CPO prices hovering between RM2,800 and RM3,000 per tonne. “Buyers will not actively enter the market this week due to the current high prices,” he told Bernama.

TALAM Corp Bhd, once the country's largest builder of low- and medium- cost houses, has unfortunately been making headlines for the wrong reasons. Recently, the company reported a net loss of RM25.97mil for its first quarter ended April 30, 2011 versus a net profit of RM1.57mil in the previous corresponding period, mainly attributable to lower progress billings generated from the development projects during the quarter under review. Revenue for the period plunged 43% to RM13.18mil from RM23.26mil a year earlier.

LNG Resources Bhd is upbeat on the prospects for the connector industry as many new innovative products required connectors in their settings and assemblies. Managing director Low Chee Thean quoting a Bishop & Associates' research said 2010 was a comeback year for the connector industry following improvement in the global connector sales. He said global connector sales last year was estimated at US$44.2bil, an increase of 28.4% after a sharp decline of 21.8% in 2009 oneconomic recessions in Europe and the United States.

Kencana’s earnings rose 81% to RM56.42 million in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011 from RM31.17 million a year ago underpinned by the progress achieved for the contracts. Revenue rose 34.7% to RM377.83 million from RM280.37 million. Earnings per share were 3.08 sen versus 1.92 sen a year ago.

When compared with a year ago, where revenue and pre-tax profit came in at RM280.37 million and RM36.5 million, this was an improvement of 35% and 91% respectively in the current quarter.

Muhibbah was awarded a RM338 million contract from Northport (Malaysia) Bhd to build a multipurpose wharf and the associated facilities. Hopefully, this could inject some positive news into the stock which was battered by its exposure to the Asian petroleum hub debacle.

Muhibbah said the wharf would be an extension to the existing wharf eight and upgrading of wharf 16. The contract is scheduled to start in July and completed in March 2014.

Subur Tiasa’s  net profit in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 19.5% to RM8.40 million from RM10.44 million a year ago but it expects the outlook to be positive on firm demand overseas. “The market outlook for timber and timber products in the coming quarter remain positive with the continued firm demand for timber in India and China,” it said. The company’s financial performance was impacted by higher operational costs due to the increase in raw material, fuel and adhesive costs. Revenue declined 11.8% to RM144.66m from RM164.12 million. Earnings per share were 4.62 sen compared with 5.55 sen. Subur Tiasa said for the nine-month period, net profit was flat at RM23.838 million while revenue declined 4.8% to RM486.22 million from RM510.79 million.

Tambun Indah has several ongoing projects on mainland Penang with total GDV of RM1.6 billion, which is enough to last until 2016.