FBMKLCI 1496.99 DJ-634.76 CRUDE OIL 77.61 RM 2.97

The Dow Jones industrials fell 634.76 points, the first trading day since Standard & Poor's downgraded American debt. It was the sixth-worst point decline for the Dow in the last 112 years and the worst drop since December 2008. Every stock in the Standard & Poor's 500 index declined Monday. The market is under a lot of stress that really has little to do with the downgrade. Investors are focused on worries about another recession and "how Europe and the U.S. are going to work their way out of a high debt burden" if economic growth remains slow.

Oil plunged to its lowest price of the year Monday on concerns about the slowing global economy and future demand for oil and gas. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell $5.57, or 6.4 percent to settle at $81.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is the lowest settlement price of the year for crude, but it's still higher than the $71.63 per barrel low of the past 12 months. Oil hit that on Aug. 24 of last year, when a combination of disappointing economic news and abundant supplies drove down prices.

FBMKLI 1558.01 DJ-10.75 CRUDE OIL95.35 RM2.919

Salcon Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Salcon Engineering Bhd, has secured a RM16.2mil (243 million rupees) contract from Davanagere City Corporation, Karnataka, India, for the laying of raw water pumping mains and related ancillary works.

A consortium which includes Scomi Engineering Bhd has sealed an agreement with the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Company for the design, manufacture, supply and implementation of a monorail system in Brazil, the company told Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Yinson Holdings Bhd is downsizing its current core activities of land transportation and logistic services businesses to focus on building and developing its oil and gas (O&G)-related activities.

Notion VTec Bhd said its controlling shareholders were still in negotiations with various parties over the latter’s interest to acquire the business or equity interest in the company.

It said that it was informed by the shareholders that “the negotiations with various parties are still on-going”.

FBMKLC I1558.17 DJ-198.75 CRUDE OIL 96.90 RM 2.9145

  

Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd has accepted a term loan facility of RM75mil from Insas Credit & Leasing Sdn Bhd to repay its loan from CIMB Bank Bhd. The loan from CIMB, which has been in default for the last three years, was secured on a 24.28-ha land held by its unit, Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd.

Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB), a concrete products manufacturer, was issued an unusual market activity (UMA) query yesterday by Bursa Malaysia due to the high trading volume of its shares on the Main Market. SCIB shares rose from 30 sen on July 19 to a high of 65 sen yesterday, a 116.7% increase. Total SCIB shares traded yesterday was 5.62 million, up from 30,000 a day earlier. In a response to Bursa Malaysia on the UMA, SCIB said it was not aware of any corporate developments, rumours, reports or possible explanation for the unusual market activity.

Ingress Corp Bhd has submitted tender for several projects including the Ampang line light rail transit (LRT) extension and RM1.5bil worth of jobs from Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB). Executive vice-chairman cum CEO Datuk Rameli Musa said Ingress had submitted the tender for KTMB works in March and the results would be announced in September.

SP Setia Bhd's subsidiary, Setia (Hangzhou) Development Co Ltd, and Hangzhou Ju Shen Construction Engineering Ltd have terminated their joint-venture (JV) contract for the development of a mixed property project on 25 acres in Zhejiang, China. SP Setia said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia that the conditions precedent set out in the JV contract had not been met as at Wednesday.

 

Favelle Favco Bhd secured four separate contracts worth a combined RM79.3 million to supply offshore cranes, a tower crane and winches. It said on Wednesday, July 27 that its subsidiaries Favelle Favco Cranes (M) Sdn Bhd, Favelle Favco Cranes Pty Ltd, Favelle Favco Cranes Pte Ltd and Favelle Favco Winches Pte Ltd had received the purchase orders or letters of intent from their clients.

FBMKLCI 1561.77 DJ-91.50 CRUDE OIL 99.22 RM 2.9370

New stock listing

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

1.         5204             PRESBHD                      0.90                 0.60             4.50

Prestariang Bhd, which debuts on Bursa Malaysia today has secured an RM80mil contract from the Higher Education Ministry for an industry-based certification scheme. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Prestariang said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd, had secured the contract from the Government to provide professional information, communications and technologies (ICT) training and certification of ICT and ICT-related fields in public higher education institutions in Malaysia.

PeterLabs executive director Dr Teo Kooi Cheng said the company had begun exporting its products now that it had appointed official distributors in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. “The local market is already mature as our market share for animal feed additives is 19.1%. The focus for us now is overseas expansion,” Teo told reporters after the listing ceremony yesterday. Last year, PeterLabs poster net profit of RM5.9mil on revenue of RM40.7mil. The company expects a 15% to 20% growth this year with 5% of it coming from exports.

Sarawak Cable Bhd has formed a strategic partnership with power and automation technologies company ABB Malaysia Sdn Bhd to submit a tender for Sarawak’s Samajaya substation to be implemented by Sarawak Energy Bhd. The proposed joint venture – Sarawak Cable Bhd-ABB Malaysia Sdn Bhd – was entered into yesterday via a consortium agreement and a supplemental consortium agreement.

Uzma Bhd's subsidiary, Uzma Engineering Sdn Bhd (UESB), has secured a contract worth RM170mil from Petronas Carigali Bhd. In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, Uzma said the contract was for the provision of integrated equipment and services for idle well reactivation project. The contract period will be three years effective from July 25.

TELEKOM MALAYSIA BHD []’s unit has placed out 92.36 million Axiata Group Bhd at RM5.07 a share. The exercise raised gross proceeds of RM468.3 million for TM.

Alam Maritim’s unit has received a letter of award from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide one anchor handling tug supply vessel for RM10.6 million. The contract  started on July 13 and the duration is for a primary period of 150 days with two  extension options of 45 days each.

Berjaya Food Bhd is expanding its Kenny Rogers Roasters (KRR) brand into Indonesia after it inked a joint venture (JV) agreement with three Indonesian companies to develop and operate the franchise. It had entered into a conditional JV agreement with PT Mitra Samaya (MS), PT Harapan Swasti Sentosa (HSS) and PT Boga Lestari Sentosa (PT Boga) to operate the franchise in Java island and Bali, Indonesia under PT Boga.

FBMKLCI 1559.60 DJ-88.36 CRUDE OIL 99.10 RM 2.9465

New stock listing

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

1.         0171             PLABS                      0.30                 0.005             1.50
 

KNM Group Bhd and Zecon Bhd has entered into an agreement with Gulf Asian Petroleum (GAP) Sdn Bhd to build a refinery and an oil storage terminal worth a combined RM17 billion in Teluk Ramunia, Johor.

Public Bank Bhd's net profit jumped 20% to RM880.3mil for the second quarter ended June 30, from RM734.1mil a year ago, on the back of improved loans and deposits growth and improved asset quality.

Its revenue for the quarter was 18.3% higher at RM3.17bil from RM2.68bil a year ago. It reported earnings per share of 25.14 sen against 20.96 sen previously. The bank also announced a first interim single-tier dividend of 20%, which will result in total payout of RM700mil.

Daya Materials has bagged two contracts valued at 6.47 million euros or RM27.6mil of supply and delivery agreements with Petronas Methanol (Labuan) Sdn Bhd. The contracts were won via competitive bidding through its wholly-owned subsidiary Daya Secadyme Sdn Bhd. The two agreements are to supply methanol synthesis catalyst and desulphurisation catalyst to Petronas Methanol.

SP SETIA Bhd has proposed to acquire 40 per cent equity interest in KL Eco City Sdn Bhd (KLEC) from Yayasan Gerakbakti Kebangsaan for RM75 million. The acquisition will be through the issuance of 19.37 million new ordinary shares of 75 sen each in SP Setia at an issue price of RM3.87 per share, SP Setia said.

FBMKLCI 1565.06 DJ-43.25 RM 2.948

New stock listing

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

1.         5199             HIBISCS                      0.625                 3.12              0.325

Hibiscus Petroleum – a special purpose acquisition company – will make its debut on Monday. Its public issue of 10 million new shares at 75 sen each made available to the public was oversubscribed 3.8 times.

Petronas Gas Bhd is reported to be planning a RM1.2 billion fund raising exercise to finance its 300MW gas-fired Kimanis power plant in Sabah. This would be undertaken though project financing while the rest would be from equity financing. Petronas Gas is said to be looking at Sukuk bonds or a term loans for the 80% of the funding while the remaining 20% would be financed from equity.

Latexx Partners Bhd, a Malaysian rubber-glove maker, fell to its lowest level in seven weeks after its merger plan with the YTY group of companies collapsed. The stock slid 4.1 per cent to RM2.09 at 9:10 a.m. local time, set for the lowest close since June 2.

FBMKLCI 1562.59 DJ-15.51 CRUDE OIL 98 RM 2.97

New stock listing

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

1.         5210             ARMADA                      3.03                 2.13               15.14

Bumi Armada Bhd which will be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, July 21. Its institutional price was fixed at RM3.03 per share after it had completed the bookbuilding process. The final retail price was fixed at RM3.03 per share, which was 12 sen below the retail offering of RM3.15.

TNB was likely to report weaker 3QFY11 ended May 31 results tomorrow due to higher coal cost and plant maintenance. The utility giant posted a net profit of RM1.11 billion in the previous corresponding quarter on the back of RM7.72 billion revenue. In 2QFY11 ended Feb 28, TNB recorded a net profit of RM630.3 million. HwangDBS said while weaker 3Q earnings are expected this year, it looks forward to stronger earnings from 4Q onwards as TNB has received an average tariff hike of 7% effective June 1. “We estimate there will be a net profit enhancement of RM600 million per year for TNB from the 7% tariff hike, despite the 28% increase in subsidised gas cost,” said the research house.

DiGi’s earnings fell 15.1% to RM236.31 million from RM278.41 million a year ago on accelerated depreciation of RM323.76 million and also due to premium relating to the up-coming early redemption of its debt notes. Revenue rose 9.7% to RM1.46 billion from RM1.33 billion, earnings per share were 30.4 sen compared with 35.8 sen. It declared a tax exempt interim dividend of 30 sen per share. It said the RM1.5 billion revenue was well above the RM1.3 billion reported a year ago.

YTL Communications Sdn Bhd (YTL Comms) will put together a business plan to secure licences to roll out its 4G mobile Internet-with-voice service, Yes in Sabah and Sarawak. Chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said it had received acknowledgement from the Government for the required licence to start operation in the two states and had been requested to submit its business plan. “It is a multi-step process. We will put together our business plan for the licence. Hopefully we can introduce our service in Sabah and Sarawak,” he told StarBiz.

Shares of diversified company CI Holdings Bhd were suspended yesterday and will remain suspended until tomorrow, on a strong chance that the company will announce the sale of its unit, Permanis Sdn Bhd.

Cypark Resources Bhd has received an approval from the Negri Sembilan state government to lease the closed landfill site in Pajam, Nilai to be developed into an integrated renewable energy (RE) park for a period of 21 years.In a statement yesterday, Cypark said an approval was also given for two other sites in the state.

Cypark recently opened a 26ha RE park in Pajam.

UDA Holdings Bhd is terminating the proposed sale of a piece of land in Jalan Sultan Ismail in the heart of Kuala Lumpur for RM215.50 million to Nadayu, formerly known as MUTIARA GOODYEAR DEVELOPMENT [] Bhd.UDA said it was “unable to obtain the approval of UDA’s shareholder” for the disposal of the 3.56 acres and intends to terminate the sale and purchase agreement with Nadayu.

FBMKLCI 1579.84 DJ-54.49 CRUDE OIL 96.30 RM 2.9730

Daya Materials Bhd has secured a RM120 million contract from B Braun Medical Industries Sdn Bhd to build a new six-storey building in Bayan Lepas, Penang. Daya’s unit Daya CMT Sdn Bhd was awarded the contract on June 22 and it involved building a one-storey utility plant rooms, a building for multi-level parking and a two storey multi-purpose building.

Hua Yang’s net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011 surged 133% to RM11.48 million from RM4.91 million a year earlier, due mainly to higher sales achieved. Revenue for the quarter rose 66% to RM61.75 million from RM37.22 million. Earnings per share were 10.63 sen while net assets per share were RM2.15. Hua Yang also proposed a bonus issue of 36 million shares on a one-for-three basis. The company expects the corporate exercise to be completed in the second half of 2011.

Tradewinds Plantation, which had proposed to acquire Mardec Bhd, plans to build an integrated rubber-city in Kota Putra in Kedah, possibly a year from now. Bernama reports its CEO Chan Seng Fatt as saying the integrated rubber city, which is set to provide a free trade rubber area would attract foreign investors to the country.

Dialog Group Bhd’s unit has proposed to acquire a 51% stake in India’s Anewa Engineering Private Ltd for RM7.88 million which would further provides access to new customers in various parts of the world namely in the Middle East and India. It said on Thursday, July 14 Anewa is an outsourcing company that provides engineering design to customers, mainly multinational companies in India, Middle East and Southeast Asia in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry.

Atlan Bhd posted net profit of RM92.35 million in the first quarter ended May 31, 2011 from RM24.21 million a year ago, boosted by sale of several pieces of land. Its revenue was marginally higher at RM177.29 million from RM175.96 million a year ago while earnings per share were 36.60 sen compared with 10.05 sen. The earnings were boosted the sale of six pieces of land measuring 43.95 acres in Penang by its unit Blossom Time Sdn Bhd for  RM104.42 million and a piece of land measuring 17.08 acres in Penang also for RM40.58 million

AirAsia is likely to have a joint venture with Japan's largest carrier - All Nippon Airways (ANA) - to set up a low cost airline likely to be called AirAsia Japan. An announcement on the collaboration is expected to be made next week and it would involve the setting up of a low cost carrier (LCC) and a hub in Japan by AirAsia. The LCC will serve the domestic market and eventually regional markets, sources say.

FBMKLCI 1578.10 DJ-58.88 CRUDE OIL 96.87 RM 2.9970

New stock listing

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

1.         5201             OLDTOWN                      1.25                  0.875                6.25


Old Town, Hwang DBS Vickers Research fair value was RM1.50 based on FY12 price-to-earnings of 12 times. Old Town operates café chain and coffee beverage manufacturing.


Petra Perdana Bhd has undergone a name change and will now be known as Perdana Petroleum Bhd.

BTM Resources Bhd’s subsidiary Syarikat Maskayu Sawmill Sdn Bhd has secured an agreement to extract forest products from the Terengganu state government.

FBMKLCI 1588.58 DJ -151.44 CRUDE OIL 95.03 RM 2.9710

Two local oil and gas (O&G) service providers, SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd and Kencana Petroleum Bhd, are set to merge and become the largest O&G service provider by asset size in the country, allowing it to undertake larger and more complex projects in a proposed deal valued at RM11.85bil. Both companies announced yesterday they received offer letters from special-purpose vehicle (SPV) Integral Key Sdn Bhd (IKSB) to buy up the assets and liabilities of both companies, to be paid for in cash and new shares in the new merged entity. Both SapuraCrest and Kencana will then distribute the cash and IKSB shares they receive, back to their shareholders. This will result in the current shareholders of SapuraCrest and Kencana owning shares in IKSB.

KPJ Healthcare Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Kumpulan Perubatan (Johor) Sdn Bhd (KPJSB) has signed a joint venture deal with Yayasan Islam Perlis (YIP) to build and operate a hospital on a leasehold 4.33 acres in Kangar. The private healthcare facility will be known as KPJ Perlis Specialist Hospital.

Silk Holdings Bhd has secured four long term contracts worth a total of RM39.75mil from Petronas Carigali Sdn for the provision of four units of anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTSV). Silk Holding said the contracts would not materially affect the results of Silk for the financial year ending July 31 but was expected to contribute positively to its earnings and assets for the financial year ending July 31, 2012.

Securities of Sunway Holdings Bhd and Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) will be suspended for trading from Aug 2 until the removal of both companies from the official list of Bursa Securities.  Both companies’ shareholders had agreed at an EGM last month to a proposal that would see a new company (newco) called Sunway Sdn Bhd take over Sunway and SunCity in a RM4.5bil deal via cash and share swaps.vNewco proposed to take over Sunway Holdings for RM2.60 a share and SunCity at RM5.10 a share, as well as buy Sunway Holdings and SunCity warrants at RM1.50 and RM1.29 respectively. Under the deal, new shares in newco will be issued, valued at RM2.80 per share. The newco will merge the assets and liabilities of Sunway and SunCity. A new Sunway entity is expected to be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia in the third quarter of this year.

Inari Bhd, which is en route to a listing on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia on July 19, had its initial public offering (IPO) oversubscribed by 10.42 times. At an issue price of 38 sen per share, Inari's IPO raised RM31.54mil in proceeds for the group. About RM17.5mil from the proceeds will be allocated for capital expenditure, including the building of a new assembly and manufacturing facility in Penang which is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2012.

Bumi Armada Bhd’s institutional price under its initial public offering (IPO) was fixed at RM3.03 per share after the completion of the bookbuilding process. In a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday, the offshore oil and gas services provider stated that the final retail price was fixed at RM3.03 per share. The company will refund the 12 sen difference between the final retail price and the retail price of RM3.15 per issue share, within 10 market days from the date of the final ballot of the applications. The retail offering closed on July 7.

FBMKLCI 1581.85 DJ-12.90 CRUDE OIL 97.15 RM 2.9740

MRCB’s subsidiary will undertake a RM128.7 million contract to upgrade Little India in Brickfields and build government quarters. MRCB’s 70% owned Country Annexe Sdn Bhd had signed a privatisation agreement with the government and Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd (Hartanah). The agreement will see Country Annexe upgrading and beautifying Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields; develop the Pines Bazaar and build 212 government Class F quarters near Jalan Ang Seng. In return, Country Annexe will receive two pieces of land.

Hap Seng Consolidated fixed the issue price of the rights shares with warrants at RM1.05. The exercise price of the new free detachable warrants was fixed at RM1.65.

Genetec’s outstanding orderbook grew to RM98.8 million after it secured new orders worth RM45.4 million from its existing and new clients in the hard disk drive, hazardous material containment and other industries.

It said the orders for the hard disk drive (HDD) industry were RM26.8 million and hazardous material containment was RM14.1 million.

Ramunia Holdings Bhd’s unit has inked two MoUs with India’s SEW Infrastructure Ltd to take part in the bid to develop an oil and gas project. Ramunia Fabricators Sdn Bhd had on Tuesday, July 5 signed the MoU to bid for the development of WO-16 cluster and SB-14 well head platforms project. In a separate statement, Ramunia Fabricators had also signed an MoU with SEW to participate in the bid for the cluster 7 well platforms project.

FBMKLCI 1582.35 DJ no market CRUDE OIL 95.04 RM 2.9670

Gopeng Bhd will be lifted from its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status effective today, the company announced in a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday.

The market is again abuzz with speculation that Genting Bhd, whose businesses include gaming and leisure under Genting Malaysia Bhd in which the company has a 49.39% stake, is finalising the deal to acquire Tanjong plc's gaming unit Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd (PMP) for an estimated RM2.5bil. “They'll be signing the deal on Thursday worth RM2.5bil,” a source said, adding that four persons were involved in seeing the deal through. However, another source said Genting's bid has too many conditions and therefore the other bidders have been asked to resubmit their offers.

Low cost airline AirAsia is set to become one of the biggest airline groups in the world following its landmark order of 200 Airbus A320neos, said Frost & Sullivan Aerospace & Defence senior consultant Kunal Sinha.

The AirAsia deal is the largest ever single order placed with Airbus in terms of number of aircraft. The AirAsia group currently operates 89 A320s and already has orders for another 86 A320s. The 200 A320neos, which will be powered by CFM LEAP-X engines, will be delivered from 2016 to 2026,” he told Bernama yesterday.

JAKS Resources Bhd could attract trading interest on Tuesday, July 5 after it finally cleared the hurdle for a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in Vietnam. For JAKS, the investment certificate is important for it to go ahead with the signing of the projects documents which include the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, power purchase agreement, coal supply and land lease.

DiJaya announced that Tael One Partners Ltd had acquired 22.75 million shares of the property company on Monday at RM1.65 per share. The shares amounted to 4.99%. DiJaya said TAEL One was acting in its capacity as general partner of The Asian Entrepreneur Legacy One, L.P.

Petronas Dagangan has proposed a special gross dividend of 25 sen  and final gross dividend of 35 sen per share in respect of the financial year ended March 31, 2011. The company said the special and final dividends would be paid on Aug 28, subject to shareholders’ approval at its annual general meeting to be held on July 28.

FBMKLCI 1582.94 DJ+168.43 CRUDE OIL 95.15 RM 2.9860

Tanjung Offshore was awarded RM50 million contract by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide three offshore support vessels for periods ranging between one and three years. The contract would see it providing the ships for the primary period from June and July 2011 respectively with options to extend between one and two years.

Wah Seong secured a US$45 million (RM136.78 million) contract from Australia Pacific LNG Pty Limited to provide pipeline coatings for the Australia Pacific LNG project in Australia. The contract secured by its pipe coating business unit on June 29 involved coating of over 700 km of pipes.

Petronas Gas inked a shareholders’ agreement with NRG Consortium (Sabah) Sdn Bhd (NRG) to provide operation and maintenance services to a 300-Megawatt gas power plant and its related facilities and infrastructure in Kimanis, Kota Kinabalu. The service would be provided through a joint venture company.

Notion Vtec announced that the controlling shareholders of Notion Vtec had abandoned negotiations to dispose of their business/equity interest after talks with the interested party fell through, just two weeks after it said negotiations were still on-going. Analysts said pricing could be an issue due the difficulties which the hard-disk drive manufacturers are facing. Perhaps, Notion VTec could brace for a mild recovery and await better offers.

The Edge weekly reports that Asia Media is seeking a boost from its broadcasting licence. The company's huge margins and licence to provide free-to-air broadcasting services are an attractive proposition for bigger media players eyeing a piece of the electronic media market.

Tebrau Teguh Bhd is shifting its focus to high-end residential and commercial developments from low to medium cost residential projects previously. Executive vice-chairman Johar Salim Yahaya said it was a normal progression or transition for any developer to shift its focus to development projects that provided better yields. It has 413.53ha of undeveloped land and 12km water frontage within the Tebrau-Plentong river basin development with a net book value of RM591.93mil.

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.

FBMKLCI 1560.79 DJ+109.63 CRUDE OIL93.66 RM 3.002

AFTER looking for a suitable buyer for its composite insurance business over the past four years, MAA Holdings Bhd has finally found one in Zurich Insurance Co Ltd. The previous deal to dispose of its insurance unit, Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd (MAAB), to AMMB Holdings Bhd hit a snag and was aborted due to unspecified reasons. On Monday, MAA told Bursa Malaysia that it would be selling its insurance business for RM344mil cash. Under the sale and purchase agreement, the company would sell its entire stake in MAAB, Multioto Services Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Alliance Property Services Sdn Bhd and Maagnet System Sdn Bhd. The cash price of RM344mil translates into 1.36 times book value and is cheap, going by industry standards. Previous deals ranged from close to 1.6 times for Pacific Insurance Bhd to 2.24 times for Jerneh Insurance Bhd while Hong Leong Assurance Bhd was sold for 6.5 times. The rationale for the sale was to meet the requirements of minimum supervisory capital-adequacy ratio (CAR) of 130% under the risk-based capital (RBC) framework.

Scientex Bhd’s earnings rose 21.2% to RM20.38 million in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011,underpinned by its property development and also announced a dividend policy to pay a minimum of 30% of earnings as dividends. It said revenue climbed 21.1% to RM217.31 million from RM179.50 million while earnings per share were 9.48 sen compared with 7.81 sen. For the nine-months period ended April 30, its earnings rose 32.9% to RM56.47 million from RM42.49 million while revenue increased by 19% to RM598.82 million from RM503.13 million.

Daibochi Plastic and Packaging Industry Bhd is eyeing Australia and Association of South-East Asian Nations for expansion to increase revenue in the face of a steep increase in the prices of raw materials, Bernama reported. Managing director, Thomas Lim Soo Kim, said the company expected its revenue to increase by 30% per cent in two years as the packaging market in Australia was 10 times bigger than Malaysia's.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] has exercised an option to purchase 10 additional Next-Generation 737-800s. The new plans are valued at more than US$800 million. The additional planes were part of an option under the original deal signed with Boeing in 2008.

Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has deferred the proposed suspension of Ho Hup CONSTRUCTION [] Co. Bhd’s shares and also the commencement of delisting procedures. It had received a letter from the regulator the trading suspension and delisting had been deferred pending its decision on its application for more time to regularise its financial condition.

Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd hopes to shed its PN17 status by year-end after the company submits its revised regularisation plan to the regulator in the next two to three weeks. “Once the regularisation plan is in place, we are confident that we will be out of PN17 by year-end the latest, and we will grow this company into a significant property player,” executive director Derek Wong said after the company AGM yesterday. “We have submitted an extension of time from June 19 to July 19. We've not received the approval yet but we're confident that through conversations with them (Bursa) this extension should be granted, and we will submit our regularisation plan before July 19,” said Wong.

The delisting of ECOFUTURE BHD. [] scheduled for June 27, has been deferred after the company submitted an appeal to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd.  It said it had submitted the appeal against the commencement of the delisting procedures. It had initially faced suspension on June 23 and delisting by June 27.

FBMKLCI 1563.43 DJ+42.84 CRUDE OIL93.20 RM 3.0175

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday, June 17 after France and Germany outlined the aid for Greece but analysts said a recent bearish trend may not be over. Reuters reported that a slew of data showing the United States is on the verge of a slowdown has already done its damage to the market. After the heavy selling of the past several weeks, it seems investors are taking a wait-and-see approach -- for now.

Ramunia’s net profit for the second quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 58.7% to RM1.41from RM3.42 million a year ago, due mainly to a reduction in revenue due to the tail end of remaining projects billings and lower operating income. Revenue fell to RM1.74 million from RM11.88 million in 2010. Earnings per share were 0.21 sen, while net assets per share were 25.3 sen. For the six months ended April 30, Ramunia’s net profit plunged 87.3% to RM2.51 million from RM19.83 million, while revenue fell 89% to RM3.09 million from RM27.74 million.

Construction company Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd has been in the spotlight last week after its contract with Asia Petroleum Hub (APH), a private company that develops and operates a multi-billion-ringgit oil terminal in Johor could be jeopardised by the latter's receivership status. Muhibbah's shares tumbled 20% or 38 sen last Thursday, closing at RM1.52 with 74.35 million shares traded.

Talam posted net loss of RM25.97 million in the first quarter ended April 30, 2011 compared with net profit of RM1.56 million a year ago as it was impacted by the high administrative and finance costs totaling RM32.49 million. Talam said administrative and other expenses totalled RM14.94 million while finance costs were RM17.55 million. Its revenue was RM13.18 million compared with RM23.26 million a year ago due  to lower gross profit and other operating income, as well as higher administrative and finance costs. Its loss per share was 0.72 sen versus earnings per share of 0.06 sen. Its net asset per share was 17 sen.

Wah Seong Corporation with a book order of RM1.2 billion plans to expand into water-related businesses and renewable energy after the demerger with Wasco Energy Ltd. It plans to boost its biomass equipment and power generation business, as well as integrating into the fast growing agro-based sector and water industry. Another key growth area would be in deepwater pipe and gas pipe coating.

Top Glove’s net profit for the third quarter ended May 31, 2011 fell 60.3% to RM25.60 million from RM64.48 million a year earlier due mainly to higher latex price and weakening US dollar. Revenue eased 3.7% to RM535.36 million from RM555.85 million. Earnings per share were 4.14 sen. It declared a first single tier net interim dividend of 5 sen, payable on July 21, 2011. For the nine months ended May 31, Top Glove’s net profit fell 56.5% to RM87.06 million from RM200.22 million in the previous corresponding period, while revenue declined to RM1.51 billion from RM1.54 billion in 2010.

FBMKLCI 1554.24 DJ+64.25 CRUDE OIL 95.57 RM 3.01

The sale of a 25% stake in RHB Capital Bhd (RHB Cap) by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Bhd (ADCB) at 2.25 times the book value of RHB Cap or RM10.80 per share, has set a relatively high pricing benchmark for the potential takeover of the bank by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

Muhibbah Engineering Bhd would continue to be actively traded after the sell-down on the stock following concerns that Asia Petroleum Hub (APH) -- which it undertook a project for -- faced receivership.
It saw RM152.11 million in market capitalisation wiped out on Thursday, as its shares fell 38 sen to close at RM1.52 – the lowest since mid-May. The market capitalisation was reduced from RM608.43 million to RM456.32 million. However, there could be some mild bargain hunting as some analysts viewed the selling as overdone and the worst-case scenario for Muhibbah was a write-down of the RM300 million due from APH, which would push Muhibbah into losses for FY11. APH, the developer and operator of the APH oil terminal in Johor, faced the prospects of receivership, news reports said. Muhibbah was awarded the marine piling and jetty works worth RM820 million. Cost escalation in 2008 led to funding issues for APH and the stalling of payments due to Muhibbah.

UEM Land Holdings Bhd has set an internal target for a 50% revenue growth in FY2011 and a 10% return on investment. Its managing director and CEO Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim said with the acquisition of SUNRISE BHD [], UEM Land was hoping to build its portfolio and surpass its competitors' revenue in the near future.

Mitrajaya has proposed to invest RM6 million cash for a 20% stake in Rawang Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd (RSHSB). RSHSB is a private limited company incorporated in Malaysia to principally operate and manage a specialist hospital and to provide healthcare solutions under the name of Optimax Specialist Hospital (Rawang). On May 23, it awarded to Mitrajaya's unit, Pembinaan Mitrajaya Sdn Bhd, a RM46.41 million contract to build the eight-storey private hospital with 180 beds. The hospital is expected to commence operations in December 2013.

Merge Energy Bhd has secured RM38.1 million contract to undertake water treatment and associated projects in Kuantan. The contract was awarded by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council. It  involves the balancing reservoir, access road, treated water mains and associated works for the Panching water treatment.

Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) unveiled - the new MyVi -- an upgraded version of the best seller on Thursday night, June 16 and prices range from RM43,900 to RM57,400. The second national carmaker expects to sell about 8,500 units monthly. The price is from RM43,900 for the standard manual transmission and RM57,400 for the elegance automatic transmission on-the-road. Perodua plans to export the new MyVi units to Indonesia this month, starting with 500 cars, under the Daihatsu Sirion badge.

FBMKLCI 1556.19 DJ-178.84 CRUDE OIL 95.80 RM 2.9970

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has bought more than 200,000 tonnes of fuel oil, for delivery between April and August, in addition to buying electricity from Singapore utility PowerSeraya, industry sources said yesterday. The fuel oil volumes were the largest TNB has purchased in at least five years, traders said, and were linked to natural gas supply disruptions that resulted from the maintenance shutdown of gas production platforms owned by state oil company Petronas. The first 15,000 tonnes is for Aug 1–3 delivery to the Sultan Iskandar Power Station in Pasir Gudang. Two more lots of 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes are for delivery to Kapar in Selangor in August

Integrated steel contractor Eversendai Corp Bhd plans to double its order book this year to RM3bil, on expectations of new projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India.  Group managing director Datuk A.K. Nathan said the group was already in serious negotiations for some of the jobs related to infrastucture, power plants and high rise buildings. “We are pursuing quite a fair amount of jobs this year and I think we should not have any problem to secure about RM1bil to RM1.5bil worth of new jobs based on our good track record all this while,” he told reporters yesterday at a media briefing after the official launch of the group's initial public offering (IPO) prospectus.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd is bidding for RM400mil to RM500mil worth of contracts in offshore installation and construction (OIC) as well as offshore support vessel (OSV) services sector, said managing director and chief executive officer Azmi Ahmad. However, Azmi said the success rate was quite difficult to predict under the prevailing market environment although the company's historical success rate was at 10% to 22%.

Gamuda Bhd and MMC Corp Bhd have entered into a joint venture (JV) for the pre-qualifying and tendering works in relation to the underground work package for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project. In separate announcements to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, both companies said they would each have a 50% stake in the JV. “The breakdown of the total capital, investment outlay and the eventual issued and paid-up capital of the JV will be according to the proportion of interest of each party and could only be determined when the JV is successfully awarded the underground work package of the project,” they said.

Both companies said they planned to finance their respective portions of investments via their own funds and/or borrowings.

HPI Resources Bhd has received a takeover offer from Japan's Oji Paper Co Ltd to acquire all of the former's 58.528 million shares for RM257.52mil or RM4.40 per share. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the corrugated packaging manufacturer said it had received the notice of the conditional take-over offer from RHB Investment Bank on behalf of Oji Paper's wholly-owned subsidiary, Oji Paper Asia Sdn Bhd. “The board has deliberated on the offer and does not intend to seek an alternate person to make a take-over for the offer shares,” the company said. The offer price of RM4.40 represents a premium of 47 sen or 12% over its last traded price of RM3.93.

Trading of shares in ACE Market-listed Ecofuture Bhd will be suspended from June 23 as it failed to appoint a replacement sponsor by designated June 10 deadline. The Guidance Note 3 company could also potentially be delisted on June 27 unless an appeal is submitted to Bursa Malaysia by June 22. Ecofuture was unable to appoint a replacement sponsor within three months after its then sponsor ECM Libra Investment Bank Bhd tendered its resignation on March 10.

Equine Capital, which had fallen from the radar screen in recent years, is trying to make a company through its property venture. It is launching a mixed commercial and residential freehold development project -- da:mén -- or “Great Door) in USJ, Subang Jaya which is near the Summit shopping mall and hotel. It promises to offer a distinctively unique retail and dining experience with lifestyle pleasures for the urbanites. The company has also returned to the black in the financial year ended March 31, 2011. In the fourth quarter ended March 31, it reported net profit of RM2.25 million compared with net loss of RM25.57 million a year ago. For the 12-months, its net profit was RM6.37 million compared with net loss of RM36.43 million a year ago. However, its cashflow was enhanced following proceeds from disposal of investment property totaling for RM28 million. Its cash and cash equivalents at end of the financial year was only RM6.4 million

Unisem expects the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2011 to be lacklustre due to tough economic environment in major markets. Group managing director John Chia said Unisem’s financial results in FY 2011 was unlikely to be better than the previous year's numbers due to a tougher economic environment in the US, Europe, Japan and China, apart from the weakening of the US dollar. "Our capital expenditure this year will be less than FY10 capex of some RM380 million" Chia said at Unisem's shareholders meeting.

FBMKLCI 1547.92 DJ+123.14 CRUDE OIL 99.31 RM 3.0080

Tenaga Nasional Bhd's (TNB) unit TNB Repair and Maintenance Sdn Bhd (TNB Remaco) has secured an operation and maintenance agreement worth US$14.1mil (RM43mil) from Pakistan's Laraib Energy Ltd.

TNB Remaco will be the operator of the 84MW New Bong Escape Hydroelectric Power Complex on the Jhelum River in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Furniture-maker Baswell Resources Bhd made a slight gain when it resumed trading yesterday after its shares trading was halted in the morning session. The counter rose 0.5 sen to 10 sen at 3.14pm doing 90,000 shares as investors ignored the winding-up petition that was served the company on June 10. Baswell said on Monday that the petitioner Oh Han Cheng had sought for the winding up of Baswell for defaulting a payment of RM3.31mil. The company said the repayment of the loan was deferred from Dec 16, 2010 to June 16, 2011 at the request of Baswell vide a letter dated Dec 20, 2010, and confirmed and accepted by the petitioner by a letter dated March 25. It also said the group had announced on March 30 its intention to dispose of BISB's land for RM19mil and would use the proceeds to repay RM693,000 of the RM3.31mil.

MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, the federal land authority’s sugar refining arm, has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at RM3.50 per share for institutional investors, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said yesterday. The price is at the top end of the RM3.30-RM3.50 range set earlier, valuing the IPO at about RM817mil. MSM is selling about 234 million shares in the IPO. The institutional portion would comprise about 206 million shares or 29.4% of the enlarged share capital. The retail portion would consist of about 28 million shares or 4% of the enlarged share capital.

United U-Li Corp Bhd will be in focus again on Wednesday, June 15 after the company said it was mulling distributing part of the RM200 million from the sale of its three units to entitled shareholders.

MBM Resources will invest some RM250 million over the next five years to transform the group into one of the key automotive players in Malaysia and the region. Managing director, Looi Kok Loon, said the capital expenditure would primarily be used to expand its manufacturing infrastructure and enhance its nationwide retail and service network. "The company is also investing in new manufacturing facilities to cater to product line extensions and equip itself with vehicle assembly capabilities," he said, adding MBM planned to expand the car parts business and vehicle assembly.  He said the company was actively seeking partners in vehicle assembly.

FBMKLCI 1545.88 DJ +1.06 CRUDE OIL 96.87 RM 2.9980

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) will be making a proposal to acquire RHB Capital Bhd before the end of this month, according to Maybank chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor. He said Maybank would proceed with the acquisition only if it was earnings accretive. Megat Zaharuddin said a merger with RHB Capital Bhd would provide scale to Maybank. “For example, it would expand our reach in Thailand and Singapore. Scale is important, especially when you are trying to compete in a region which is becoming a lot more challenging. We have global players from other parts of the world which are focusing on this part of the world, and you need scale in order to compete,” he said after Maybank EGM yesterday.

Malaysian property developer SP Setia Bhd plans to increase its landbank in Australia, predominantly in popular cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and even Gold Coast, as it seeks to capture the growing opportunities from the population boom of these cities. Having made its first Australian investment last year, the developer is in the midst of scouting for more investment opportunities in Melbourne. “For the first few years, we are looking for investment opportunities and to take on projects that will provide quick turnaround and are easy sell. Subsequently, we will look at greenfield projects and (at building) townships,” Setia (Melbourne) Development Co Pty Ltd chief executive officer Choong Kai Wai told Malaysian reporters here last Friday.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd (AMRB) has been awarded a contract valued at RM52mil from Samsung Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd. The contract, awarded to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd, was for the purchase order from Samsung to supply engineering work, supply of materials, fabrication, load-out and commissioning of two units of single point mooring buoy for Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal project.

Silver Bird Group Bhd has proposed a private placement exercise of new ordinary shares of up to 10% of its issued and paid-up share capital. The actual proceeds to be raised from this would be dependent on the issue price and actual number of placements shares to be issued. The company, in its filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, said the said proceeds from the proposed private placement should be utilised for repayment of bank borrowings as well as to defray the expenses in respect of the proposed private placement.

The group's total outstanding borrowings stood at RM130mil as of June 6.

MMC Corp Bhd’s subsidiary Malakoff Corporation Bhd is set to build a 1,000MW coal-fired plant next to the current Tanjung Bin power plant. The company said it had accepted a conditional offer made by the government to develop the plant and the expected commercial operation date was March 1, 2016. Malakoff is MMC Corp’s 51%-owned subsidiary, whose unit Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd owns the Tanjung Bin power plant. MMC Corp said among the conditions in the offer by the government via the Energy Commission were the finalisation of the terms of the agreements relating to the project; and the approval of the detailed environmental impact assessment from the Department of Environment Malaysia.

Sime Darby's healthcare division is investing RM280 million in two hospital projects in the Klang Valley as part of the government’s health tourism plan under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The conglomerate said it would invest in a 220-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara in Subang which will be operational by the third quarter of 2011. The 300-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity will be operational by the second half of 2012.

KNM’s total book order rose to RM5.5 billion as at May this year, of which RM1.4 billion in orders were secured in 2010. Bulk of the orders was secured in the second half of last year, totaling RM3.10 billion. The remaining RM1 billion of orders were secured in the first half of 2010 and earlier. As at January this year it had tendered for RM16 billion of orders and based on a 20% success rate, that would translate into RM3.2 billion.

MWE has attracted attention after it disclosed that it bought RM98.12 million of quoted securities from Sept 2, 2010 to June 10 this year. It said the total cost represented 24.74% of MWE group's net assets as at Dec 31, 2010. As at June 10, the total cost of its acquisitions was RM121.08 million while the book value was RM203.84 million. This was an increase of RM82.76 million but MWE did not provide details of those quoted securities.

FBMKLCI 1550.89 DJ +75.42 CRUDE OIL 101.87 RM 2.9840

New stock listing

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

1.    0165                XOX                 0.80                             0.50                  4.00

 

 

XOX, the mobile virtual network operator reported net loss of RM1.66 million in the quarter ended March 31 mainly due to the selling and distribution expenses which were necessary in creating brand awareness for XOX’s services.

UOA Development Bhd continued its slide on Bursa Malaysia after making its debut on the stock exchange on Wednesday with the stock falling 2.7% to RM2.53 yesterday. OSK Research put a fair value of RM3.57 per share, which represented a 37.3% upside from its RM2.60 offer price, based on 1x its RNAV (revised net asset value) valuation. “There is nothing wrong. Maybe investors' perception was affected by the low par value against the share's offer price,” he said, adding that the local bourse was also flat over the last few days. Another analyst said perhaps investors did not like that a large portion of UOA Development's ongoing projects were in its 60-acre flagship Bangsar South City in Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur.

SP Setia Bhd's net profit for the second quarter ended April 30 surged 80% to RM92.22mil from RM51.21mil a year earlier due to a gain arising from the disposal of an investment property. Revenue for the period increased to RM496.75mil from RM409.07mil a year earlier.

Haisan Resources Bhd said the suspension on the trading of its securities and the delisting of the company had been deferred pending the decision of Bursa Securities on its application for extension of time to submit the regularisation plan to the relevant authorities, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering will replace Malaysia Airlines in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI following the semi-annual review of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series yesterday, FTSE Group and Bursa Malaysia Bhd said.

UEM Land Holdings Bhd, the real estate investment and development company of UEM Group, is collaborating with Iskandar Investment Bhd, the main property developer for Iskandar Malaysia, to develop retail and residential units in Nusajaya, Johor with a gross development value of RM850mil.

Favelle Favco received four contracts to supply cranes and spare parts totaling more than RM70.3 million. Three of the orders were to supply cranes and the fourth was to supply the spare parts.

Berjaya Food’s net profit slipped 14.2% to RM2.505 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2011 compared with RM2.92 million a year ago due to higher advertising and promotional expenses. Revenue rose 9% to RM17.75 million from RM16.28 million. Earnings per share were 1.77 sen versus 2.07 sen a year ago. It proposed dividend of three sen a share. For the financial year ended April 30, 2011, its net profit rose 22% to RM10.59 million from RM8.68 million while its revenue increased by 19% to RM71.94 million from RM60.41 million.

FOCUS DYNAMICS TECHNOLOGIES [] Bhd’s new 144.58 million shares issued under the rights issue with warrants and 96.39 million warrants will be listed and quoted on Friday.

FBMKLCI 1551.10 DJ-21.87 CRUDE OIL101.42 RM2.964

Petronas reported net profit attributable to shareholders of US$17.46 billion in the financial year ended March 31, 2011 (FY11), which was a 50% increase from the US$11.64 billion in FY10.Revenue increased to US$76.82 billion, up 26.1% from US$60.92 billion. President and CEO  Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas said Petronas will be spending RM300 billion in capital expenditure for the next five years, this was an upward revision from the RM250 billion mentioned a few months ago. For the fourth quarter, its earnings increased 49.8% to US$3.49 billion from US$2.33 billion the year before on the back of higher realised prices for petroleum products, crude oil and condensates, as well as other energy commodities.  Its revenue increased 22.8% to US$21.45 billion from US$17.47 billion.

Latexx Partners  accepted a lower offer of RM1.25 billion from the YTY Group of companies in a proposed merger instead of RM1.365 billion earlier. The glove maker said 30% of the purchase consideration or RM375 million would be in cash. The balance of RM875 million would be in the form of 350 million new shares at an issue price of RM2.50 per share.

MAA Holdings has obtained the Minister of Finance’s (MoF) approval to dispose of its 100% stake in Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd (MAAB) for RM344 million to Zurich Insurance Company Ltd.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is buying power from Singapore-based PowerSeraya Ltd, a unit of YTL Power International Bhd, as a shutdown of Petroliam Nasional Bhd-owned gas production platforms for maintenance work made worse a dwindling gas supply situation. Chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohd Noh said in a reply to a StarBiz query that the purchase was made to ensure supply security. “We're buying 180MW only, which represents 1.5% of total demand,” Che Khalib said. The report said the purchase was made following an approach by TNB in April to Singapore's Energy Market Authority and the generating companies for electricity supply needed to tide over capacity shortages “for a few months”. This was caused by natural gas feedstock shortages faced by TNB's power stations due to the maintenance shutdowns, which could further reduce by 30% in the May to June period.

The “very substantial transaction” that United U-Li Corp Bhd (Ulicorp) is expected to announce tomorrow is likely to be the signing of a deal with a foreign party. The management has remained tight-lipped about the details, but observers believe that the agreement will be for a major joint venture. In addition, sources close to the company have ruled out the possibility of the company being taken private. The proposed joint venture is primarily to open doors for business expansion, and not so much about funding, because the company's balance sheet is fairly sturdy.”

UOA Development Bhd closed at RM2.59, one sen lower than its reference price of RM2.60 per share, after the stock made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday.chief operating officer (development division) David Khor said UOA would work towards integrating more green building components in its commercial development. On its recent acquisition of a RM50mil land in Sri Petaling, Khor said the company planned to build high-end condominiums there but the details had yet to be finalised. “The company has about RM8.6bil worth of properties to be launched over the next seven to 10 years,” he said. Khor said about 70% of the properties developed by UOA were for commercial purposes while the rest were residentials. “We hope the ratio will change in two years, with residential projects contributing more (to the volume),” he said.

With the emergence of Malaysia’s pilgrim fund board Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) as one of major shareholders of Faber Group Bhd, chances of the latter securing renewal of crucial contracts and new projects, especially in the local and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) markets, will seem brighter now. According to analysts, investors over the past few months have been particularly concerned about the uncertainty of Faber’s 15-year concession in providing health support services to government hospitals in Malaysia being renewed. “But with LTH backing now, the prospects of the concession being renewed have certainly improved, and this would certainly enhance investor confidence in the integrated facilities management and property solutions company,” MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd analyst Belford Chang told StarBiz.

FBMKLCI 1551.89 DJ-19.15 CRUDE OIL 99.30 RM 2.9825

UOA’s institutional price has been fixed at RM2.60 and the final retail price at RM2.52. At RM2.52, this was below the indicative retail price of RM2.90.

Hap Seng Consolidated has allocated RM460 million as capital expenditure for its six divisions this year, said its group managing director, Datuk Edward Lee Ming Foo. The divisions are PLANTATION []s, property investment and development, credit financing, trading of fertilisers and automotive, as well as building materials and stone quarries. Bernama quoted Lee as saying the company planned to reduce its dependence on the plantation division as it hoped to grow other core businesses -- fertiliser trading, building materials, automotive and property holdings and development. He said the plantation division accounted for 50% to its profit.

Boustead Holdings Bhd, which holds a 97% stake in Pharmaniaga Bhd, will pare down its stake to 75% or below but will continue to be the pharmaceutical company's controlling shareholder. “Pharmaniaga will be maintained as a listed entity and we will have to fulfil the public shareholding spread,” Boustead deputy chairman and group managing director Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said after Pharmaniaga's AGM yesterday.

Zecon has received a letter of intent (LOI) from the Public Works Department to build the Petra Jaya Hospital in Kuching. Zecon said it had received the letter informing it that the company would be appointed to build the hospital by the Ministry of Finance by way of direct negotiation on the "design & build" basis.

In Faber Group Bhd, Lembaga Tabung Haji has emerged as a substantial shareholder with a 9.92% stake or 36 million shares. It acquired the shares in an off-market deal from Universal Trustee (M) Bhd on June 2.

Contrary to speculation, PLUS Expressways Bhd, the country’s largest toll operator, will not likely be paying out its dividends sooner than usual as the distribution of proceeds from the disposal of its assets will likely happen only in late September. It was previously reported that PLUS might be paying out a dividend sooner than the normal timeline to assuage shareholders who had a relatively long wait for the returns from the pending sale of the company’s assets and liabilities.