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.

FBMKLCI 1561.93 DJ-17.26 CRUDE OIL 110.30 RM 2.993

MRCB expects to reap about RM300 million from a proposed mixed development project in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. It proposed to acquire a company, 59 iNC Sdn Bhd, which has the rights to develop 27.41 acres of land in Setapak here, from RM110 million. It planned to undertake a mixed development project, comprising commercial and residential PROPERTIES [], with a gross development value (GDV) of RM1.5 billion. “At a total development cost of approximately RM1.2 billion, the expected profits to be derived from the said development amount to about RM300 million representing 20% of the GDV,” MRCB said.

The Edge FinancialDaily reports Nippon Steel Corp, the world's fourth largest steelmaker, says it intends to raise its stake in Tatt Giap subsidiary Nippon EGalv Steel Sdn Bhd, which manufactures electro-galvanised steel.

Boustead Holdings has set aside RM1 billion in capital expenditure this year to expand the businesses it recently acquired, PHARMANIAGA BHD [] and MHS Aviation Bhd, to boost group earnings.

Lion Corp is seeking the approval from the lenders to defer the repayment of its bonds and the coupon on loan stocks from April 30 to July 31. The deferment involved the redemption of the outstanding nominal value of the Lion Corp B(a) bonds, class B (b) bonds amounting to RM54.35 million; repayment of the outstanding nominal value of the B debts amounting to US$100,000.

Sozo Global Limited has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Halal Industry Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (HDC) to co-operate towards promoting and developing the Halal market.

FBMKLCI 1514.25 DJ-22.71 CRUDE OIL103.66 RM 2.9970

Boustead Holdings Bhd has proposed to pay RM100mil for a controlling stake in MHS Aviation Bhd, which has secured a RM3.1bil contract from Petronas Carigali to provide rotary wing aircraft, equipment and services.

Jaya Tiasa’s net profit rose 191% to RM39.89 million in the third quarter ended Jan 31, 2011 from RM13.67 million a year ago, boosted by higher prices for its timber and palm oil. Revenue rose 13.3% to RM237.64 million from RM209.68 million while earnings per share were 14.94 sen compared with 5.12 sen. Jaya Tiasa said the better results in revenue and pre-tax profit were mainly due to higher profit margin from logs sales with 36% increase in average selling price and 50 % increase in fresh fruit bunch (FFB) sales volume with 61 % improvement in average selling price. It said for the nine months, net profit jumped 425% to RM92.42 million from RM17.59 million while revenue rose 10.6% to RM615.39 million from RM556.38 million.

Silk Holdings Bhd registered a loss after tax and minority interest of RM3.2mil for the second quarter ended Jan 31 compared with profit after-tax and minority interest of RM970,000 recorded in the previous corresponding quarter.

SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd posted a net profit of RM72.7mil for the fourth quarter ended Jan 31, which was 79.1% higher than RM40.6mil recorded in the same period last year.

BHIC’s associate Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) has been served with a writ of summons by Meridien Shore Sdn Bhd which is claiming RM49.5 million in losses. Meridien, which is in liquidation, was claiming RM49.57 million as specific damages, interest at 8% per annum, general damages, cost and other relief over the alleged losses suffered after Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd foreclosed on several parcels of its land in Johor.

Cypark Resources reported net profit of RM6.55 million in the first quarter ended Jan 31, 2011 on the back of RM42.61 million in revenue and expects to ride on the growing renewable energy business. Earnings per share were five sen When compared to the previous quarter, it said the revenue rose by 17% to RM42.61 million mainly due to the smooth progress of phase two of its projects. However, the 1Q gross profit margin fell 10.7% to 26.1% due to lower margins from engineering works. It said it planned to venture into the renewable energy business. The proposed renewable energy park project in Pajam would harness the potential resources at the landfill. The solar, landfill gas (biogas) and waste (biocell) would enable it to tap into scalable renewable energy which would generate up 10 MW.

FBMKLCI 1492.09 DJ+161.29 CRUDE OIL 103.86 RM 3.036

Boustead Holdings Bhd will see some steady recurring income from Pharmaniaga Bhd now that the latter has entered into a 10-year concession agreement with the Health Ministry to supply medical products to Government-owned hospitals.

Sabah-based downstream timber manufacturer Focus Lumber Bhd’s public issue of 6.9 million new shares under its planned listing exercise on Bursa Malaysia has been fully underwritten by Bank Islam and BIMB Securities.

Adhesive and sealant manufacturer OCI Bhd’s entire issued and paid-up capital would be removed from the official list of Bursa Securities with effect from Monday.

Karambunai Corp Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Karambunai Resorts Sdn Bhd, has signed a joint venture agreement with China Central Asia Group Co Ltd (CCAG) to develop the RM1bil first phase of the Karambunai Integrated Resort City (KIRC) in Kota Kinabalu.

SP Setia Bhd’s earnings rose 62.41% to RM62.03mil for the quarter ended Jan 31 versus a year earlier, on property development activities in the Klang Valley, Johor Baru and Penang.

Kencana Petroleum Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Jan 31, 2011 grew by 56.69% compared with the corresponding quarter a year ago to RM50.60mil largely due to progress achieved for contracts in hand and better management of relevant costs, as well as contributions from drilling services.

Department store operator Parkson Holdings Bhd has entered into an “exclusivity agreement” with PT Tozy Bintang Sentosa for a period of 90 days for the purpose of developing and expanding in Indonesia.

Faber Group proposed to cancel 75 sen of the existing par value of its RM1 share in a move to reduce its accumulated losses. Based on its paid-up share capital as at Dec 31, 2010 of RM363.0 million, it said the credit arising from the reduction of the par value would be about RM272.3 million.

Cypark plans to invest RM94.29 million to build a 10Mw renewable energy plant with grid connection, at the RE Park in Pajam. The project is expected to generate gross national income (GNI) of RM12.16 million each year for the next 21 years, totaling RM255.36 million.

FBMKLCI: 1513.70 DJ: -73.94 CRUDE OIL: 87.56

Khazanah Nasional has sold 6% of its shareholding in Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) for RM396m. The exercise cuts Khazanah Nasional's holding in MAHB to 54%, maintaining its controlling stake. The statement did not identify the buyers of the placed out shares. HSBC and Nomura Singapore Ltd were agents of the deal too. MAHB's shares were sold for RM6 a piece, representing a 2.9% discount to the three-day volume weighted average price. (BT)

Proton offers Mitsubishi platform to widen tie-up. It is understood that the Japanese carmaker will then use the platform to build and sell cars for its export markets. While the Persona and Exora were among several models built from ground up by Proton, the national carmaker is developing a brand new car to replace the current Persona. Mitsubishi was the strategic foreign partner for Proton when the national car project was set up in the mid-1980s. (BT)

Boustead Holdings plans to sell for RM189.23m its Sabah’s Sutera estate, Taiping rubber plantation and Trong oil mill to Al-Hadharah Boustead REIT, and then lease back these assets. The move will result in a cash inflow for the group and its subsidiaries, which will be used to reduce bank borrowings by the group and potentially save RM9.5m interest expense per annum for the group. This exercise will expand the fund’s plantation assets by 3,580ha to 19,984ha with a gross asset value of more than RM1bn. (Starbiz)

MBMR earnings rose 52% to RM34.2 million from a year ago, underpinned by stronger vehicle sales. Revenue rose 30.3% to RM388.7 million on-year.