FBMKLCI 1484.14 DJ-137.74 CRUDE OIL 99 RM 3.005

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday on deepening fears about Japan's economy after its nuclear crisis worsened following a devastating earthquake and tsunami. Potentially dangerous levels of radiation have been reported leaking from a crippled nuclear complex in the disaster area. More than 10,000 people are thought to have died after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on Friday. Investors worried about diminished demand for oil and other products in Japan, the world's third-largest oil importer. However, Wall Street analysts expect that Japan will eventually increase imports of oil, coal and natural gas.

BJToto net profit for the third quarter ended Jan 31, 2011 rose 17.4% to RM114.87 million from RM97.85 million a year ago, driven by an increase in revenue, mainly contributed by Berjaya Philippines Inc. group. BToto declared a third interim single tier exempt dividend of 6 sen per share in respect of the financial year ending April 30, 2011.

Brem's 75%-owned subsidiary Harmony Property Sdn Bhd is acquiring two parcels of industrial land in Petaling Jaya from ROCA Malaysia Sdn Bhd for RM48 million cash as part of its plan to accumulate strategic land bank. Brem said the acquisition represented an opportunity for the group to accumulate strategic land bank at a reasonable price as the PROPERTIES [] are situated in a prime location with positive commercial property development potential within the popular Petaling Jaya area.

GD Express could be in focus after Singapore Post Ltd raised its stake in the company to 27.08% from the initial 4.98%, positioning itself as a strategic investor in the Malaysian express delivery and logistics services provider. Singapore Post on Tuesday acquired 56.84 million shares — representing a 22.1% stake, in GD Express — for a total purchase consideration of RM45.47 million cash or 80 sen a piece.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD and AIRASIA BHD, meanwhile, could see some selling pressure following HwangDBS Vickers Research lowering its target price for the two stocks on Tuesday. The research house said it expected high oil prices to drag the airlines' earnings.

TAN Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun's plan to buy back his company Berjaya Retail Bhd, barely seven months after listing it, has got most people perplexed. Why would someone privatise a company so soon after listing it? If the deal goes through though, this would most likely mark the fastest exit of a listed company from the stock exchange. It isn't entirely clear what the rationale of the privatisation is, although indications are that he could be driven by the “undervaluedness” of his company. In its letter to Berjaya Retail's board, Tan's vehicle undertaking the offer, Premium Merchandise Sdn Bhd, pointed out that both the company's stock and irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS) “have not performed well” since their listing. This indicates that Tan may be privatising the company as the market has not valued it sufficiently.

FBMKLCI 1494.42 DJ-51.24 CRUDE OIL 102.23 RM 3.007

Timber companies will benefit from the surge in demand from Japan as post-construction activities in the country take place following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred there. However, the quantum of demand from the surge for timber products is hard to quantify at the moment. Malaysia is already the largest exporter of timber to Japan and imported timber products like plywood easily make up more than half of timber consumption in the country, according to analysts. In a timber sector update yesterday, RHB Research said Malaysian companies were likely to benefit; specifically WTK Holdings Bhd and Ta Ann Holdings Bhd given their focus on the Japan market which constituted 80% to 90% of their timber product sales.

George Kent (M) Bhd plans to invest up to RM100mil in the next three to four years to expand its meter and original equipment manufacturing (OEM) businesses. Chairman and CEO Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock said the company had embarked on a RM50mil plan to upgrade its manufacturing facilities at its plant in Puchong, Selangor to accommodate higher sales in the meter and OEM businesses.

Berjaya Retail Bhd share price soared by 21.5 sen to 64 sen yesterday after it announced that it would be taken private by its major shareholder, Premier Merchandise Sdn Bhd, controlled by Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.

Johor Corp (JCorp) and its 55% subsidiary Kulim (M) Bhd have denied the claim made by Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim that there were plans for Kulim to be sold. Both companies said that they were not aware of any such proposal. Kulim, in an announcement to Bursa Malaysia, said it “was not the source of the statement that appeared in the articles in local newspapers”.

Cocoaland Holdings Bhd said its wholly-owned unit CCL Food & Beverage Sdn Bhd entered into a S&P agreement yesterday with Riviera Properties Sdn Bhd to buy freehold industrial land in Rawang for RM7.85mil.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on Ranhill Bhd to B minus from B due to its weak liquidity and exposure in the political instability in Libya. Due to the same reasons, it also lowered the issue rating on US$220mil, 12.5% senior unsecured notes due October, issued by Ranhill (L) Ltd to CCC plus from B minus. Ranhill guaranteed the notes. Both the ratings remained on CreditWatch, where they were placed with negative implications on Dec. 30, 2010, it said in a statement.

FBMKLCI 1515.74 DJ-79.85 CRUDE OIL 104.99 RM 2.99

New stock listing

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

1.    5196                BJFOOD            0.51                         0.21                 2.55

Local airlines, along with other carriers worldwide, will see higher fuel costs eat into their first-quarter profits, as political unrest in Libya continues to push oil prices to new highs not seen in over two years.

Crude for April delivery was quoted at US$106.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, with the jet fuel price hitting close to US$130 per barrel.

DRB-HICOM Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech) has received a contract worth RM7.55bil from the Malaysian Government to supply armoured-wheeled vehicles (AWV). DRB-HICOM told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that Deftech had accepted a letter of award from the Government to design, develop, manufacture, commission, supply and deliver 257 units of 12 variants of the 8x8 AWVs . The contract is for a period of seven years beginning 2011.

Trading in the shares of Berjaya Retail Bhd was suspended yesterday pending a material announcement.

The company yesterday requested for a suspension of trading of its securities for three market days, from 9am on Monday until 5pm tomorrow.

Multi Sports Holdings Ltd plans to sponsor a Taiwan depository receipt programme (TDR) that would represent up to 67.50 million new shares of 5 US cents each or 15% of its current paid-up share capital.

The company told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that it would issue up to 67.50 million new shares at an issue price to be determined later, which would be the underlying shares for the programme.

Malaysian Merchant Marine Bhd (MMM) is facing a possible de-listing after failing to submit its regularisation plan to the Securities Commission or Bursa Malaysia Securities for approval within the stipulated timeframe.

Sunway Holdings Bhd’s unit Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd (SunCon) has secured a contract worth RM74.1mil from Bio-XCell Sdn Bhd to undertake the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a central utilities facility at Biotechnological Park Bio-XCell in Nusajaya, Johor.

The Edge FinancialDaily reports that while investors may have turned sceptical towards loss-making WiMAX player Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1) (which is under Green Packet Bhd), its new strategic partner SK Telecom (SKT) believes there is much value in P1's wireless business as a launchpad for SKT's aspiration to expand regionally in Southeast Asia.

SEGI International Bhd (SEGi) group managing director Datuk Clement Hii Chii Kok has emerged as the second largest shareholder of the company after he acquired 30.3 million shares on Monday, raising his stake to 20.61%.