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 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 1540.94 DJ+8.10 CRUDE OIL100.49 RM3.0155

Several analysts have downgraded Malaysia Airlines (MAS) after the national carrier posted a net loss of RM242.3mil in the first quarter ended March 31 on rising fuel prices and stronger ringgit. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, 12 of the 18 analysts covering the counter gave a “sell” call while five gave a “hold”. Only one analyst has a “buy” call on MAS. Research houses including CIMB Equities Research, AmResearch, Hong Leong Investment Bank and ECM Libra have downgraded the stock to either “sell”, “hold” or “underperform”. MAS posted a net loss of RM242.3mil in the first quarter against a net profit of RM310.04mil in the previous corresponding quarter after taking into account Airbus' compensation for late delivery. Revenue was 3.26% lower at RM3.19bil as fuel cost surged by 32% or RM321mil.

AirAsia Bhd has won three major awards at the Malaysian Investor Relations Association (Mira) Inaugural Malaysia Investor Relations Awards ceremony yesterday. Group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr. Tony Fernandes was named the Best CEO for Investor Relation-Mid Cap while the group’s investors relations manager Benyamin Ismail was named the Best Investor Relations Professional-Mid Cap. Datuk Seri Dr. Tony Fernandes AirAsia also won the Best Investors Relation Website award.

KNM Group Bhd said its wholly-owned unit KNM Process Systems Sdn Bhd won a RM217.76mil award for the development of documentation and equipment supply facility “booster compressor station” at the Khauzak site, Uzbekistan from Lukoil Uzbekistan Operating Co. It told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the contract it won yesterday, was for two years from the date of contract commencement and the project would contribute to the group’s earnings for the financial years ending Dec 31 2011 and 2012.

KNM’s 1QFY11 net profit came in significantly below house and consensus expectations. Profit of RM19.4m made up less than 10% of full year estimates. “The reason for the poor showing is that the group is still going through their older orders, which were low margin orders secured over FY10 (excluding the turnkey projects). Management had earlier guided on softer results in 1H11 hence this comes as no surprise.

“On a positive note, revenue growth indicates increasing utilisation which we gauge should be at roughly 70% from 60%

Genting Bhd’s net profit surged 254% to RM824.17mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 from RM232.43mil a year earlier when it was impacted by net impairment losses. Revenue for the quarter was higher at RM4.89bil against RM3.11bil while earnings per share improved to 22.25 sen versus 6.29 sen previously.

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd reported net profit of RM932 million in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011, an increase of 5.7% from the RM881 million a year ago. Its revenue rose 8.9% to RM4.353 billion from RM3.996 billion while earnings per share were 12 sen. It proposed dividend of 19 sen per share totaling RM1.52 billion. For the financial year ended March 31, its net profit increased by 36.1% to RM2.994 billion from RM2.199 billion. Revenue rose 19.5% to RM14.586 billion from RM12.203 billion supported by higher prices and volume addition.

MRCB posted a 120% increase in its earnings to RM21.60 million in the first quarter ended March 31, from RM9.84 million a year ago, boosted by its on-going property development projects. MRCB was upbeat on its outlook for the next two years where it expected progressive completion of the on-going CONSTRUCTION [] projects and property development within KL Sentral which works had commenced since 2009. “Two major developments planned on strata sales at Kuala Lumpur Sentral comprising Q Sentral office block at Lot B and condominium residences at Lot D with combined gross development value in excess of RM2 billion will commence construction works in 2011,” it said.

DRB-Hicom’s earnings were 72% lower at RM72.39 million from RM259.36 million a year ago due to the absence of exceptional gains of RM211.43 million from the disposal of estates. Its revenue rose 25.1% to RM1.99 billion from RM1.59 billion a year ago. It proposed a final dividend of four sen per share.

MyEG recorded its best-performing quarter in 3Q11, boosted by the public’s growing adoption of e-Government services via its MyEG portal. Its revenue rose 20% on the back of an increased Highway Code test-tasking, increased online, increased online payment of traffic summonses an encouraging growth for online renewal of road tax and automobile insurance.

YTL Corp Bhd posted a lower net profit of RM312.06mil for its third quarter ended March 31, compared with RM330.59mil made a year earlier as the previous year’s pre-tax profit was inclusive of a one-off fee income. For the quarter that just ended, the group made a revenue of RM4.24bil against RM3.93bil from a year ago. For the nine-month period ended March 31, the group posted a net profit of RM755.14mil compared with RM754.33 previously. Revenue for the nine months grew 11.5% to RM13.15bil compared with RM11.79bil for the preceding corresponding nine months ended March 31, 2010.

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 1499.28 DJ+8.78 CRUDE OIL 102.74 RM 3.08

Asian markets retreated yesterday following gains in crude oil price as unrest in the Arab world triggered fresh protests in Iran. Nymex crude oil, which settled at US$99.63 a barrel on Tuesday, rose above US$100 per barrel early yesterday following reports of clashes between Iranian security forces and supporters of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who were arrested last week together with their wives.

Kencana and Dialog but AirAsia and MAS could see downside pressure due to the crude oil price and following the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) move to downgrade its airline industry outlook for 2011 to US$8.6 billion from the US$9.1 billion projected in December 2010.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) posted a RM10.1bil jump in net profit for its third quarter to RM23.7bil owing largely to proceeds from the listing of two subsidiaries on Bursa Malaysia but indicated high annual dividends to the Government will need to be cut in the future.

MMC Corp Bhd and Gamuda Bhd have entered into a shareholders agreement to regulate their rights and liabilities as shareholders of a company that will act as the project delivery partner for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project.

Evermaster Group Bhd’s removal from the official list of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd will be deferred until further notice by Bursa Malaysia.

Transmile Group Bhd has submitted an application to Bursa Malaysia to appeal against the latter's decision to delist the company, and to seek an extension of time to submit its regularisation plan. Meanwhile, the trading of Transmile shares will be suspended effective from March 2011 but the removal of the securities from the official list of Bursa Securities on March 7 will be deferred, pending the decision on the appeal.

Property developer SP Setia Bhd has bought 108.5ha of prime freehold land in Cyberjaya’s flagship zone for RM420.4mil from Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd.

Palm-to-property conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd said yesterday it has not entered into any agreement to invest in Cameroon oil palm plantations. The company was responding to a media report which said it was considering a US$2.5bil plantation expansion deal in the African nation.

Proton Holdings Bhd's endeavour to incorporate select technologies and manufacturing expertise from Nissan Motor Co could lead to potential cost savings in capital expenditure (capex) and research and development (R&D) for the national carmaker. OSK Research said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Tuesday between Proton and Nissan to conduct feasibility studies to use the latter's platform and power train for upcoming Proton models would augur well for the national car company. “We believe that using Nissan's versatile platform and power train for Proton's upcoming global compact car will lighten the national carmaker's capex burden, given that such an endeavour can be costly (at least US$150mil to US$200mil),” OSK said in a report yesterday.

Axiata could be in focus after Celcom posted net profit after tax and minority interests of RM1.9 billion for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, which was an increase of 23% on-year. Its revenue rose 8.3% to RM6.85 billion. Celcom had allocated RM1 billion as capital expenditure to enhance network coverage capacity and quality of which 60% is for data and 40% for voice.

FBMKLCI 1489.87 DJ-37.28 CRUDE OIL 97.39  RM 3.02

Sime Darby Bhd’s earnings surged 104.8% to RM877.06 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM428.19 million a year ago, boosted by most of its divisions while for the year ahead. Sime said its revenue rose 21.9% to RM10.28 billion from RM8.43 billion and planned to boost its property division by launching property projects with gross development value of RM1.6 billion.

AirAsia Bhd, which posted a record profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 is not looking at imposing fuel surcharge despite surging crude oil prices. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, its net profit jumped 110% to RM1.066 billion from RM506.26 million in FY09. Revenue rose 25% to RM3.992 billion from RM3.178 billion. In the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010, its earnings surged 835% to RM316.55 million from RM33.87 million a year ago while it was upbeat about its operations based on the current forward booking trend.

Tanjung Offshore Bhd received contract extensions from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide offshore support vessels (OSVs) for total charter contract of RM33.5 million. The contract extensions for the three units of OSVs were for a period of one year, effective March 2011 (one OSV) and July 2011 (two OSVs) respectively.

Land & General Bhd recorded a net profit of RM7.39 million for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 (3Q 2010), up from the RM5.38 million posted a year ago. It generated a revenue of RM14.08 million for 3Q 2010, compared to RM9.74 million posted a year ago.

Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit fell 54.5% to RM39.26 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM86.22 million a year ago, as its profit margin was squeezed mainly by higher investments in brand building, overhead expenses and increase in commodity costs. Its revenue for the quarter rose to RM963.89 million from RM950.63 million. Earnings per share were 16.74 sen while net assets per share was RM2.62.

FBMKLCI 1506.30 DJ+61.52 CRUDE OIL 88.15 RM 3.022

Petronas Dagangan Bhd net profit rose 26% to RM236.2mil in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM187.2mil in the same period last year on lower operating expenditures.

 

AirAsia may get new A320s only after 2016
PETALING JAYA: Low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd will likely only take delivery of new, more fuel-efficient Airbus 320 planes after 2016, according to analysts, commenting on news reports from Paris that it was in talks with aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS to buy upgraded A320 planes.

 

IOI Corp Bhd’s net profit rose 12.8% to RM520.2mil in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 compared with RM461.2mil in the previous corresponding period mainly on higher contribution from its plantation and property divisions. Revenue was RM3.97 billion compared to RM3.06 billion in 2009, while earnings per share was 8.15 sen. Net assets per share was RM1.73. IOI Corp declared an interim single tier tax-exempt dividend of 80% or 8.0 sen per ordinary share of 10 sen each in respect of the financial year ending June 30, 2011. In the 2Q ended Dec 31, 2010, total fair value losses on derivative contracts recognised were about RM73 million. For the six months ended Dec 31, IOI Corp net profit rose to RM1.02 billion from RM939.59 million, on the back of revenue RM7.49 billion. IOI Corp’s plantation segment reported a 14% increase in operating profit to RM363.7 million for 2QFY2011 as compared to RM319.9 million a year ago.

Dialog’s earnings rose 25.7% to RM35.99 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM28.63 million a year ago, due mainly to higher contribution from its engineering and CONSTRUCTION [] and plant maintenance activities in Malaysia and Singapore. Revenue slipped 2.5% to RM268.53 million from RM275.57 million in 2009. Earnings per share were 1.84 sen while net assets per share were 26.3 sen.

For the six months, earnings rose 24.3% to RM69.09 million from RM55.56 million. Revenue declined 8.9% to RM532.33 million from RM584.42 million.

Amway’s net profit rose 12.5% to RM18.32 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM16.28 million a year ago, year mainly due to the increase in sales revenue. Revenue rose to RM184.1 million from RM171.89 million mainly due to an increase in the distributors’ productivity after implementing the sales and marketing programme, effort index adjustment and the distributor price increase implemented in first half of the year. Earnings per share were 11.14 sen while net asset per share was RM1.28. It declared a fourth interim single tier dividend of 9.0 sen net per share. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, it posted net profit RM78.32 million on the back of revenue RM719.41 million.

Green Packet Bhd posted net loss of RM77.68 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010, which was lower compared with the RM100.71 million a year ago. Revenue rose 58% to RM116.25 million from RM73.54 million, loss per share was 11.8 sen compared with 15.3 sen. However, the loss from continuing operations were RM100.11 million compared with RM103.82 million a year ago. For FY10, it managed to reduce its net loss to RM134.97 million from RM182.64 million in FY09, while revenue increased 80.8% to RM393.97 million from RM217.81 million. Loss from continuing operations increased to RM209.67 million from RM187.41 million in FY09. Green Packet’s total group accumulated losses increased to RM274.67 million as at Dec 31, 2010 from RM196.53 million as at Sept 30, 2010.

Airports operator Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd’s net profit fell 29% to RM100.04 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 from RM140.97 million a year ago. MAHB said the decline was mainly due to the adoption of FRS 139 resulting in the higher share of losses in an associate company. However, the concession payable by the associate company was recognised at fair value and subsequently at amortised cost. Gains and losses arising from the changes in the fair value were recognised in the income statement.

Its 4Q revenue rose to RM494.37 million from RM476.84 million a year ago, while earnings per share were 9.15 sen. Net assets per share was RM2.99.

ZELAN BHD  recorded negative revenue from its continuing operations in Indonesia totaling RM39.2 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 and warned of more losses in the current fourth quarter.

Explaining the negative revenue, Zelan said this was due to a reversal made on the revenue recognised earlier as a result of additional foreseeable losses for the Indonesian project. It said net losses for the 3Q were RM41.29 million compared with RM60.38 million. Loss per share was 7.33 sen versus 10.72 sen.

“The group recorded a loss after tax from continuing operations of RM40.5 million as compared to RM64.4 million losses in the preceding year’s quarter,” it said.

Tambun Indah had proposed to acquire three companies for RM11.6 million, which would increase the group’s GDV by RM245 million to RM1.4 billion to last till 2016. “The group expects contributions of RM38.7 million in pre-tax profits over development period from FY2011 to FY2014,” it said.

FBMKLCI 1494.52 DJ+43.97 CRUDE OIL 89.20 RM 3.01

Rimbunan Sawit Bhd’s subsidiary, R.H. Plantation Sdn Bhd is buying 4,857 hectares of oil palm plantation in Niah for RM118 million.  It had entered into a memorandum of understanding with Sheba Resources Sdn Bhd to purchase the land. Sheba Resources is the registered owner of the land which has been charged to Agro Bank Malaysia Bhd for RM145.69 million.

Latexx Partners Bhd, Lembaga Tabung Haji acquired 2.69 million sahres on Feb 7 to 9, raising its shareholding to 6.97% or 15.38 million shares.

AIRASIA BHD [] has signed an agreement with Airbus S.A.S to revise the delivery dates of 10 Airbus A320 aircraft from 2012 to 2015. The move was to allow some flexibility to switch from its current order of the classic A320 to a new generation A320 aircraft which is more fuel efficient when such aircraft come into production in the near future. With the deferment, the delivery of 24 aircraft in 2012 would be reduced to 14 aircraft, while the number of deliveries in 2015 will be increased from nine aircraft to 19 aircraft, it said.

FBMKLCI 1497.52 DJ+41.78 CRUDE OIL 88.79 RM 3.11

AirAsia Bhd, which has formed a 40:60 joint venture (JV) with three Philippine partners, is investing US$8mil for its 40% stake in AirAsia Philippines. We will be funding it internally via equity, group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said after a signing ceremony between AirAsia and Antonio O. Cojuangco Jr, Dr Michael L. Romeo and Marianne B. Honours yesterday. He expects AirAsia Philippines to be profitable straight away and contribute to group revenue immediately as a lot of ground works had been done. The set-up cost is very low. There are already flights from Kuala Lumpur to the Philippines. Everything is there already, Fernandes said. AirAsia will hold 40% equity in AirAsia Inc, the JV company set up for AirAsia Philippines. The new airline is expected to begin operations in August 2011 with an initial working capital of US$25m. To a question, Fernandes said it was in the midst of getting approval from authorities for its airline operations in the Philippines.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has inked three agreements worth RM991.8mil for the Hulu Terengganu hydroelectric project involving the construction of two dams and the installation of two hydro turbines and generators in an underground power station with a total installed capacity of 250MW.

Four companies, namely construction firm Putrajaya Perdana, water infrastructure specialist Loh & Loh Corp, property developer General Corp and planter Kurnia Setia, will be delisted on 21 Dec. The companies made the announcements to Bursa Malaysia yesterday. Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh were being taken private by Javace SB and Sheikh Tarek Essam Ahmad Obaid for a cash offer price of RM4.85 per share respectively. General Corp was being taken private by Consistent Record SB, which was acquiring all the company's assets and liabilities for RM505.01m while Kreatif Selaras SB was taking private Kurnia Setia.

MAA Holdings Bhd and AmG Insurance Bhd (a 51%-owned subsidiary of AMMB Holdings Bhd) have mutually agreed to discontinue discussions on the proposed disposal of Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd’s (a subsidiary of MAA) general insurance business for RM180mil.

Mulpha International Bhd will use the RM327mil proceeds from the sale of its Hilton Melbourne Airport Hotel to repay its debt levels unless new investment opportunities arise.

Proton Holdings is to replace its existing Persona model with a new version in 2012, said its group managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir. However, he did not disclose which of the five Pahlawan concept cars shown at the recent KL International Motor Show would be replacing the Persona model. "Take a guess," Syed Zainal said, when asked by reporters to reveal more on the Persona replacement model. Industry talk has it that the Tuah concept, or code-named Espire, would be bound for production. It is learnt that the Tuah concept car shown to the public was not the final design approved as Proton is coming up with an improved version. Earlier, Syed Zainal witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between AutoV Corporation Bhd with US-based ArvinMeritor Inc and Germany's Continental AG.

FBMKLCI 1501.74 DJ -3.03 CRUDE OIL 88.23 RM 3.104

KNM finally held an analyst briefing after pausing for a few quarters as management believes the company’s operation is finally turning around and the outlook for its process equipment segment is getting brighter. Going forward, it will expand its services business and go into nuclear energy. KNM is still supported by strong orderbook of over RM2.0bn.

AirAsia Bhd, Southeast Asia’s biggest budget carrier, plans to form a Philippine unit by the first quarter of next year. Sepang, Malaysia-based AirAsia may expand into the Philippines as airlines including Cebu Air Inc increase their fleets and services to meet rising demand in the archipelago. The government has set a target to double tourism arrivals in six years to help spur economic growth.

Scomi Marine Bhd has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a framework of cooperation for the provision of maritime academic programmes in Malaysia. 

UEM Land Holdings Bhd said it planned to acquire two parcels of freehold agricultural land in Bangi for RM268.5mil from Inch Kenneth Kajang Rubber Public Ltd Co to develop the land into a comprehensive and integrated township. It told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that its wholly-owned unit UEM Land Bhd wanted to buy the land measuring 463.51 acres at RM13.30 per sq ft.   

Spritzer Bhd is in talks with potential joint venture partners in China and Australia on the possibility of producing bottled mineral or drinking water in these countries and expects to conclude these discussions sometime next year.  

Malaysian banks have extended their streak of sterling double-digit net earnings growth to a fifth straight quarter by posting a 20.1% year-on-year growth in the third quarter (Q3) of this year.

FBMKLCI: 1496.49 

New stock listing

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

1.    5183                PCHEM           5.200                         3.640               26.000

AirAsia Bhd posted a record net profit of RM327.29 million in 3QFY10 ended Sept 30, up 140% from RM136.26 million the previous corresponding quarter as it flew more passengers. 

Genting Bhd's 3QFY10 ended Sept 30 net profit grew 3.62% to RM765.92 million from RM739.17 million in the previous quarter with a deceleration of contribution from its Singapore and Malaysia leisure and hospitality operations.

JohorCorp (JCorp), the ultimate major shareholder of QSR Brands Bhd, has poured cold water on Tan Sri Halim Saad's bid for Malaysia's biggest fast food group on the same day that a much higher offer was made. Earlier yesterday, US private equity group Carlyle Group offered RM6.70 a share for QSR, its parent Kulim (M) Bhd told Bursa Malaysia. But JCorp's evening announcement provided a late twist to the tale and raised more questions as it did not comment on Carlyle's bid

DRB-HICOM Bhd  said net profit for the second quarter to September 30 grew 185.5 per cent to RM155 million, from RM54.3 million in the same period last year. Consequently, net profit for the six months was at RM355.2 million against RM114.8 million in the first half of last year.

The government is expected to award the jobs for the long-awaited light rail transit (LRT) extension project soon, and successful bidders have been short listed. Sources said. According to a source familiar with the matter, parties that had lobbied for the LRT extension jobs for the Ampang and Kelana Jaya lines include UEM Group, IJM Corp, Bina Puri and TRC Synergies. The contracts to be awarded will be building of LRT stations, laying groundwork and alignment before constructing the railway. The total extension length of the Kelana Jaya line is 17km and for the Ampang line 17.7km. Both extensions will see an additional 13 stations.

Construction work on the Penang Sentral Integrated Transport Hub in Butterworth is expected to begin next month, according to developer Malaysian Resources Corp (MRCB). MRCB executive director, Datuk Ahmad Zaki Zahid, said the company has solved all the land issues and the project could proceed as usual. "The first phase of the project is expected to be completed before 2013," he told a media briefing yesterday The hub, a component project of the Northern Corridor Economic Region, would be undertaken by a joint-venture between MRCB and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra .  It was earlier reported that the first phase would be delayed due to some land issues.  Ahmad Zaki said the actual cost of the project was expected to increase to RM2.7bn

MAS posted operating profit of RM122.7 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30 (3Q2010) compared with an operating loss of RM77.4 million a year ago, which lifted the nine-month financial period solidly into the black. For the 3Q2010, the significant improvement was mainly due to higher operating revenue and improvement in its yield.

PROTON saw its earnings decline 19.6% to RM65.92 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM82.06 million a year ago, due to  one-off provision for stock obsolescence and branding cost. It said on Thursday, Nov 25 revenue was 6.6% higher at RM2.24 billion compared with RM2.10 billion. Earnings per share were 12 sen compared with 14.9 sen. Its net asset per share was RM9.83. Group profit before tax was RM81.26 million, a decline of 19% from RM100.65 million a year ago.

YTL Corp Bhd reported a 34.3% increase in its earnings at RM278.9 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30 from RM207.5 million a year ago, boosted by the strong performance in its major operating companies.

 

FBMKLCI: 1496.65 DJ: +173.35 CRUDE OIL: 82.84 RM: 3.113

KNM 100% subsidiaries, KnmPS won the bid for the supply of technical documentation, equipment and services for the development of gas condensate fields i.e. Adamtash, Gumbulak and Djarkuduk Yangi Kizilcha in the Republic of Uzbekistan amounting to about USD216 million (RM680m) for a duration of 2 years from Lukoil Uzbekistan Operating Company, starting now.

AirAsia X, will start flying to Paris from next Valentine's Day, more than a year after getting the rights to do so. The carrier will start four times weekly direct flights from 14 February 2011, between Paris-Orly International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport's low cost carrier terminal. Yesterday, the airline announced that it would launch the route with an all-in-fare from RM499 one way. It is available for booking online from 22-24 Nov 2010. This will be the carrier's second European destination after London. The new route will be serviced by the Airbus A340 aircraft with 327 passenger capacity including 18 premium seats.

LHH has received an offer from Emerging Glory s/b to acquire the company's entire business, including all assets and liabilities, for RM318.6mil. Based on the issued and paid-up capital of Leong Hup as at Nov 18, the purchase consideration worked out to RM1.80 per share, Leong Hup told Bursa Malaysia yesterday. According to Emerging Glory's offer letter, it planned to pay RM169.7mil in cash while RM148.9mil would be considered as debt due to Leong Hup. In a separate filing with Bursa, Emivest Bhd has also received similar takeover offer from Emerging Glory for RM108mil which is inter-conditional with the Leong Hup's offer.

Shares of MRCB and IJM Land perked up amid a weak broader market yesterday after a popular finance blog speculated on a possible merger. The rise comes as retail investors have become more active in the market recently. Last month, they accounted for almost half of the volume traded. IJM securities, namely the mother share and the warrants, were among the top 10 most-actively traded securities yesterday. Meanwhile, MRCB, the master developer for the KL Sentral development in Brickfields, ended the day 9 sen higher at RM2.10 with more than 11m shares traded. The Malaysia-Finance Blogspot, under a post headlined "Does a MRCB-IJM Land merger make sense?” noted that "the word had switched from an IJM Land privatization to a merger with MRCB. Something along the lines of a UEM Land-Sunrise deal it seems". Early this month, UEM Land Holdings launched a RM1.4bn conditional takeover offer for Sunrise.