FBMKLCI 1536.27 DJ-68.79 CRUDE OIL 97.78 RM 2.9720

US blue-chip stocks fell on Tuesday, extending Monday's losses after data showed the housing sector remained deeply depressed in April and Hewlett-Packard painted a dim picture for personal computer sales.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks closed down 68.79 points (0.55 per cent) at 12,479.58.

EON CAPITAL BHD [] has declared a special tax exempt dividend of RM5.16 per share. The dividend will go ex on June 9 while the entitlement date is June 13.

United PLANTATION []s Bhd posted net profit of RM86.09 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, up 76% from RM48.90 million a year ago and it expects the current financial year results to be better, boosted by more replanting. It declared a final dividend of 20% per share or 15 sen net per share and a special dividend of 35% per share or 26.25 sen net per share. The dividends will go ex on June 30.

Investors can expect more upside from United Plantations after its comments that palm oil production in Malaysia and Indonesia was expected to recover in 2011 based on the recovery in the biological yield cycle after a pronounced setback in 2010.

Ideal Jacobs (Malaysia) Corp, a manufacturer of industrial labels and name-plates, surged on its listing debut on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange. The stock almost tripled to 70 sen at 9:02 a.m. local time in Kuala Lumpur trading. The company sold shares at 27 sen each in its initial public offering, according to its prospectus.

MMC CORPORATION BHD [] plans to list its subsidiaries -- Gas Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Malakoff Bhd -- and also its unit Johor Port. MMC group managing director Datuk Hasni Harun said the first company to be likely listed would be its 51% owned Gas Malaysia. Hasni said Malakoff is worth about RM7 billion currently while Gas Malaysia and Johor Port are worth RM5 billion and RM1.5 billion respectively.

IOI CORPORATION BHD [] reported net profit of RM656.71 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2011, up 19.6% from the RM549.02 million a year ago, boosted by the better overall performance of the group, especially plantations. Its 3QFY11 pre-tax profit of RM780.86 million was 10% higher than the RM709.27 million a year ago. Revenue rose 37.7% to RM4.34 billion from RM3.15 billion while earnings per share were 10.25 sen versus 8.6 sen. For the nine-months ended March 31, 2011 (9MFY11), it said net profit was RM1.74 billion compared with RM1.52 billion a year ago. Revenue was higher at RM11.83 billion versus RM9.48 billion.

Digistar Corp Bhd’s earnings surged to RM4.57 million in its second quarter ended March 31, 2011 from only RM457,000 a year ago underpinned by better profit margins from its system integration and broadcast engineering projects. Its revenue jumped 91.5% to RM23.57 million from RM12.31 million a year ago while earnings per share were 2.31 sen compared with 0.26 sen.

FABER GROUP BHD []’s subsidiary and the joint venture partner have been unable to secure any of the business in the building maintenance services and clinical waste management in Brunei. Its 70% owned Faber Medi-Serve Sdn Bhd and its joint venture agreement (JVA) with Brufors Technical Services had acknowledged the JVA had lapsed as they had failed to sure any business.

ESSO MALAYSIA BHD []’s earnings surged 154% to RM154.82 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 from RM60.94 million a year ago, boosted by inventory holding gains. Revenue rose 30% to RM2.6 billion from RM2 billion reflecting higher average product prices and increased retail volume. Earnings per share were 57.30 sen compared with 22.60 sen.

AMMB Holdings Bhd, Malaysia’s fifth-biggest lender, said fourth-quarter profit rose to RM316.3 million from RM241.7 million a year earlier

FBMKLCI 1515.50 DJ+54.57 CRUDE OIL 98.26 RM 2.9765

Recently, Ramunia Holdings Bhd unveiled a regularisation plan to address its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status that involved a proposed capital reconstruction, rights issue and business rejuvenation plan. Investors obviously didn't like the idea of pumping even more money into a shell company, and this was seen in its share price which was sold down 8 sen to 56 sen on Wednesday. As of Friday, the stock was down 0.5 sen to 55sen. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Ramunia said under the capital reconstruction, it would cancel 25 sen from the par value of the existing ordinary share of 50 sen each, or which the credit would be used to off-set against the accumulated losses of the company.

SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia will likely continue its downtrend this week with rising interest rates and a massive sell-off in commodities expected to be the biggest drag on the local bourse. Head of Retail Research, Affin Investment Bank, Dr Nazri Khan said the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) is expected to continue its downward correction to test the psychological 1,500 support level.

“We believe the old bearish stories are back again with investors worrying about the global double-dip recession and sovereign debt crisis in the developed world,” he added.

EON Capital will distribute the RM312 million, or 44.9 sen per share, which it will receive as special dividend from its unit EON Bank Bhd to all its entitled shareholders. The dividend was proposed by EONCap on April 29 and agreed by HONG LEONG BANK BHD [] as a last-minute extra condition to the latter’s acquisition of EONCap’s assets and liabilities for RM5.06 billion.

Coastal Contracts proposed a corporate exercise involving a bonus issue and free warrants to its shareholders and also to purchase up to 10% of its paid-up capital. It said on Friday, May 6 said it proposed a one-for-three bonus issue and one free warrant for every eight shares held after the proposed bonus issue.

Hap Seng Consolidated posted a strong set of earnings in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, with net profit surging 108% to RM82.17 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 from RM39.48 million a year ago. Revenue rose 28% to RM751.34 million from RM587.18 million while earnings per share doubled to 14.58 sen from 7.01 sen.

Fitters Diversified Bhd does not expect to be suspended on Tuesday after it submitted its outstanding annual audited financial statements for financial year ended Dec 31,2010 to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd on Friday, May 6. “There will be no suspension of trading in the above company's securities on May 10,” it said.

Fitters Diversified was due to submit the statements to Bursa Securities for public release on or before April 30. However, due to the delay, it had initially faced suspension on May 10.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE) posted pre-tax profit of RM114.08 million in the four quarter ended March 31, 2011, down 35.7% from RM177.45 million a year ago. The decrease was mainly due to lower revenue in engineering and CONSTRUCTION and marine repair and conversion segments. However, its net profit was up 11.7% at RM128.64 million compared with RM115.15 million a year ago. There was a tax writeback of RM14.43 million compared with tax paid of RM60.03 million a year ago. Its revenue fell 41.9% to RM923.29 million from RM1.59 billion a year ago. Earnings per share were 8.0 sen versus 8.6 sen.

Ranhill Bhd could issue another tranche of debt papers, amounting to about RM700 million, according to sources familiar with the company.

FBMKLCI 1535.30 DJ+72.35 CRUDE OIL 112.43 RM 2.9340

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has jumped 159 spots to rank as the 550th biggest company in the world, according to this year’s list of Forbes Global 2000. Of the 20 Malaysian companies on the list, TNB was placed third with sales of US$9.6bil (RM28.4bil), assets of US$23.6bil (RM70bil) and market value of US$11.1bil (RM32.9bil).

The suit by Primus Pacific Partners Ltd's Malaysian unit against certain shareholders and directors of EON Capital Bhd (EON Cap) over the proposed sale of the latter to Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) has been dismissed with costs. In his 100-page decision which took about one-and-a-half hours to deliver, Judicial Commissioner Varghese George Varughese held that petitioner Primus (M) Sdn Bhd had failed to prove the so-called complaints that formed the foundation of the petition against nine board members of EON Cap and three entities controlled by Rin Kei Mei and Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King, who are the shareholders in the banking group.

Sabah-based plywood, veneer and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) manufacturer Focus Lumber Bhd, which made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday, was the most actively traded stock and closed with a 97% premium at RM1.18.

Transmile Group Bhd told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that it had to change the way its accounts were prepared for the quarter ended Dec 31 last year due to a material deviation of more than 10% of its financial results. It said that its unaudited financial results released on Feb 22 was prepared on a going-concern basis as it had been optimistic that the lenders would support its debt-restructuring scheme. However, after a dialogue, “the lenders were still uncompromising on their demands for full repayment and disagreed to waive their rights to the corporate guarantee given by Trasmile to the lenders.”

SEGi net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 surged 90.5% to RM18.12 million from RM9.51 million a year ago due to the increase in student enrolments at its institutions. Revenue for the quarter rose to RM68.47 million from RM52.29 million in 2010. Earnings per share were 7.35 sen, while net asset per share was 77.2 sen.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is revising its passenger traffic volume target to 72 million for 2014, from 60 million earlier under its five-year plan. Managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid said passenger growth at KLIA has been very promising and it should be able to hit its initial 60 million passengers target by 2011. “The growth so far as been good as indicated by the traffic in the first three months of the year. We are definitely on track,” he said. Under the five-year plan, MAHB is also targeting to achieve an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and returns on equity of RM1 billion and 10% respectively under its five-year plan that expires in 2014.

 

FBMKLCI 1529.91 DJ+95.59 CRUDE OIL 113.57 RM2.95

KFC Holdings (M) Bhd (KFCH) will invest RM45mil to open 25 new KFC outlets nationwide this year.

AmBank (M) Bhd is issuing four new European-style cash-settled call warrants (CWs) to meet investor demand for trading opportunities and alternative investments for current market conditions over the ordinary shares of BIMB Holdings Bhd, IGB Corp Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PChem) and TSH Resources Bhd.

Gateway Benefit Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berjaya Land Bhd, had disposed 4.665 million shares in Berjaya Sport Toto Bhd for RM19.6mil.

Unisem (M) Bhd has posted a lower group net profit of RM5.4mil for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared with RM41.3mil in the same period last year.

One of the factors that is being considered by Bank Negara in reviewing the application by China Construction Bank Corp (CCB) to buy into EON Capital Bhd (EON Cap) is the fact that another state-owned bank from China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), already has a banking licence in Malaysia, industry sources said. Under Malaysia's Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia), no single party is supposed to own more than one banking licence.

Tanjung Offshore Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Tanjung Maintenance Services Sdn B hd, had on March 25 been awarded an RM15mil contract for the provision of valve repair and maintenance services for Murphy Sarawak Oil Co Ltd. But comments by Maybank IB Research could weigh down the share price. The research house said it expected Tanjung Offshore’s 1Q 2011 earnings to likely miss street expectations again. “Cost management strategies and operating prospects remain the key concerns. An equity cash-call could ensue should the cash situation worsen. “Tanjung Offshore will also suffer an RM8 million penalty cost for early bonds redemption. Valuations are expensive and consensus forecasts are aggressive. Nonetheless, Ekuinas’ next move remains a wild card,” it said.

EUPE expects pre-tax profit of more than RM30 million from a residential property project with a gross development value (GDV) in excess of RM130 million. EUPE unit EUPE Kemajuan Sdn.Bhd was buying 17.15 acres of land in Petaling district for RM37.35 million from Desaminium Jaya Sdn Bhd.

“The land is purchased for the purpose of residential development targeting about 150 units of terrace and semi detached homes with a GDV in excess of RM130 million and profit before tax estimated above RM30.0 million

TH PLANTATIONS BHD [] targets to increase its land bank to 50,000 hectares from 39,113 ha by 2012, a company official said. TH Plantations plans to acquire the first "substantial parcel" by the end of June and are looking at Sumatera and Kalimantan where land prices are said to be lower compared to Sabah and Sarawak. A total of RM150 million has been allocated this year to build a palm oil mill in Sarawak and the company's replanting programme. The company said revenue for FY2011 could rise 14.8% to RM420 million from RM365.97 million last year if the price of crude palm oil averages between RM3,400 and RM3,500 for 2011.

Masterskill Education Group Bhd (MEGB) is venturing into the provision of undergraduate business programmes in a tie-up with The University of Newcastle. MEGB said on Wednesday, April 27 the proposal covered the bachelor of business and bachelor of commerce programmes.

FBMKLCI 1524.05 DJ-26.11 CRUDE OIL 111.36 RM 2.9685

Bernas, which is the largest rice miller in Malaysia, has received a 10-year extension from Jan 11, 2011 to Jan 10, 2021 from the federal government. Bernas had received a letter dated April 20 from the Public Private Partnership Unit under the Prime Minister’s Department on the extension of the Bernas agreement dated Jan 12, 1996. It currently controls about 24% of the padi market and 45% of the local rice demand.

CB Industrial Product Bhd’s unit has secured a RM38.35 million contract from the Ministry of Health to supply 100 ambulances inclusive medical equipment to the ministry. Its subsidiary AVP Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd had accepted the letter of award from the Ministry of Health.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd’s unit has entered into two charter party agreements for a total sum of RM24.75 million.

Berjaya Land Bhd’s units disposed of 22.76 million BERJAYA SPORTS TOTO BHD [] (BToto) shares for RM101.821 million or at an average selling price of RM4.47. It said on Monday, April 25 the shares were disposed of by Immediate Capital Sdn Bhd and Gateway Benefit Sdn Bhd in the open market from May 3, 2010 to April 25, 2011. “The disposals resulted in a net loss of about RM6.07 million at the BLand group level,” it said. The disposed shares represented 1.70% equity interests in BToto.

DRB-HICOM Bhd will be using three of its main businesses involving banking, cargo handling and insurance to generate value from its 32.21% stake in Pos Malaysia Bhd. Those three companies are expected to feature heavily in the execution of the business plan for Pos Malaysia which in turn will also benefit DRB-HICOM as reinvigorating Pos Malaysia would lead to the expansion of the businesses involving Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, KL Airport Services Sdn Bhd (KLAS) and Uni.Asia (life and general insurance businesses). DRB-HICOM won the bid last week to buy the controlling stake in Pos Malaysia at RM3.60 per share or RM622.79mil.

China Construction Bank Corp (CCB), the country's No 2 lender, is eyeing a stake in EON Capital, and has approached the Malaysian Finance Ministry for permission to speak to EON's major shareholders, a source with direct knowledge said. “This is still at a very early stage. We've informed the Malaysian Finance Ministry,” said the source, adding that CCB had not yet received a response. The source declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the deal.

Software provider Infortech Alliance Bhd has proposed to acquire the entire interest in Jaring Metal Industries Sdn Bhd for RM64.8mil, which will see it gaining new controlling shareholders via the issuance of Infortech shares. Infortech told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the total purchase would be satisfied by the issuance of 462.86 million new 10 sen shares in Infortech at 14 sen each. Infortech is also proposing a renounceable restricted issue of up to 181.5 million Infortech shares together with up to 108.9 million free detachable warrants on the basis of five shares with three free warrants for every two existing Infortech shares held by the entitled shareholders of Infortech other than the vendors and the parties acting in concert (PACs) with the vendors.

Sime Darby Bhd’s unit, Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd, has been awarded a RM1.15bn contract to fabricate KBB Topsides for the Kebabangan northern hub development project by Kebabangan Petroleum Operating Company Sdn Bhd. The contract will be undertaken over 29 months effective from April 22 this year, Sime Darby said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd's Vice President, KFC Division, Lim Teck Huak said the company invested more than RM1mn in advertising and promotion for the new menu which would be initially available at the 144 outlets. One hundred and forty-four KFC restaurants throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, will see sales increase by 10% after the introduction of its redesigned breakfast menu.

 

WCT Bhd announced a final dividend of 5sen per share which makes the total dividend declared for FYE2010 10sen per share. This final dividend will be paid on 6 June 2011.