FBMKLCI 1533.57 DJ+38.45 CRUDE OIL 101.73 RM 3.0190

Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) posted a net loss despite recording strong revenue and traffic growth for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 as high jet fuel price and a stronger ringgit impacted earnings. The airline posted a net loss of RM242.33mil for the quarter under review from 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.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd's net profit for first quarter ended March 31 was 9.4% higher year-on-year at RM917mil as credit losses dropped sharply. The net profit was equivalent to net earnings per share of 12.3 sen from 11.86 sen a year ago. This was achieved despite a 1.3% decrease in revenue to RM2.75bil for the quarter under review. The annualised net return on equity (ROE) for the quarter was 15.7%.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) net profit for its first quarter ended March 31 (Q1FY11) was down 32.8% to RM163.3mil from a year ago mainly due to lower unrealised exchange gains on translation of foreign currency borrowings. But the revenue for the quarter under review recorded a 1.1% growth to RM2.15bil year-on-year (y-o-y), mainly attributed to higher revenue from data, Internet and multimedia services, which when combined contributed 57% of the group's total revenue for the quarter. Earnings per share was down to 4.6 sen for the quarter from 6.9 sen a year ago.

Mah Sing Group Bhd's net profit jumped 47.6% to RM41.1mil for the first quarter ended March 31 due to progressive recognition of development revenue and contribution from its property projects in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru. The company said in a statement yesterday that revenue for the quarter rose to RM311.7mil against RM238.3mil a year ago. Earnings per share stood at 4.95 sen. Mah Sing said projects that contributed to the group's profit and revenue included Perdana Residence 2 in Selayang, Garden Residence in Cyberjaya as well as Hijauan Residence and One Legenda in Cheras.

Proton Holdings Bhd posted a higher net profit of RM61.6mil for the fourth quarter ended March 31 compared with a net profit of RM2.64mil in the previous corresponding quarter. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company attributed the positive results to higher vehicle sales for Proton and Lotus Group International Ltd. Proton vehicle sales for the fourth quarter was driven by demand for its Persona, Saga, Exora and Inspira models. However, for its full financial year ended March 31 (FY2011), Proton's net profit dropped by 30.5% year-on-year to RM152mil against a net profit of RM218.9mil previously.

Revenue for FY2011 grew to RM8.98bil compared with RM8.2bil in the previous year.

Property developer Ibraco Bhd, which has exited the Practice Note 17 (PN17) list, will embark on a new residential project in Stutong here. The company also plans to extend its property development activities to other major towns in Sarawak and venture into construction business. Chief executive officer Chew Chiaw Han said Ibraco would launch the proposed Stutong housing project, comprising 77 single-storey terraced and semi-detached houses, in July. “The project will have a gross development value (GDV) of about RM15mil,” he told StarBiz.

Property developer UEM Land Holdings Bhd's net profit and revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 soared compared with the same quarter a year ago on realisation of earnings from its own projects in Nusajaya, Johor, and from subsidiary Sunrise Bhd. The company said net profit jumped 460.34% to RM17.60mil on revenue that advanced 372.77% to RM187.68mil. 

Muhibbah secured a contract worth RM101 million in Australia for the Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) jetty and marine structure project.

KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD (KLK) posted a strong set of earnings in the first quarter, with net profit at RM373.85 million, up 73% than the RM215.93 million a year ago. Revenue also showed an increase, rising 24.6% to RM2.368 billion from RM1.90 billion a year ago.

Alliance Financial Group Bhd’s fourth quarter earnings rose 10% to RM84.93 million from RM77.25 million a year ago due to higher net income, lower overheads and lower impairment charge. Revenue was RM270.53 million compared with RM277.56 million, earnings per share were 5.5 sen compared with 5.0 sen.

FBMKLCI 1525.28 DJ-130.78 CRUDE OIL 97.90 RM 2.9955

US stocks tumbled on Monday with European debt fears and easing Chinese growth giving investors jitters.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue-chip stocks closed down 130.78 points (1.05 per cent) at 12,381.26. S&P's downgrade of Italian sovereign debt fed fears of a spreading eurozone crisis, while slowing Chinese manufacturing figures were a new sign of a slowdown in the world's number-two economy.
"Centre stage belonged to global uneasiness surrounding the euro-area debt crisis, after Standard & Poor's downgraded its outlook for Italy, Fitch lowered its outlook on Belgium, debt restructuring in Greece remained uncertain, and Spain's ruling party was trounced in regional elections over the weekend," said analysts at Charles Schwab.
 

Bursa Malaysia yesterday queried enterprise software solutions provider Ingenuity Solutions Bhd over the unusual market activity pertaining to the sharp fall of its share price and the high volume of its shares changing hands. The ACE Market-listed shares shed 4.5 sen yesterday to close at 13 sen yesterday, and topped the list of most actively traded shares with volume reaching 59.4 million shares.

Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Puncak Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd (POG), had entered into two separate sale and purchase agreements with Global International Vessels Ltd (GIVL) for the acquisition of equity interests in two of the latter’s subsidiaries. Puncak Niaga said the acquisition of the 40% equity interests in Global Offshore (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (GOM) and KGL Ltd, respectively, would involve a total cash consideration of US$23.6mil (RM70.8mil). This would be made up of 300,000 GOM shares costing US$8.4mil and 80,000 KGL shares costing US$15.2mil.

PUNCAK NIAGA HOLDINGS BHD and its partner Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd signed a contract for a RM667.32 million rural water supply project in Sarawak. Puncak said the 40:60 Konsortium Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd-Quality Concrete had signed the contract to supply rural water from 2010 to 2012. The completion period is Dec 31, 2012. PBA’s net profit surged 105% to RM11.03 million from RM5.37 million a year ago mainly due to the improved sale of water revenue from trade consumers. Its revenue rose 15.3% to RM56.31 million from RM48.85 million while earnings per share were 3.33 sen compared with 1.62 sen.

Bursa Malaysia Securities has uplifted Ibraco Bhd from the Practice Note 17 classification with effect from Tuesday, May 24. With the completion of the regularisation plan, the company has regularised its financial condition and no longer triggered any of the criteria under PN17 of the Main Market Listing Requirements

Bursa Securities had also approved Ibraco’s waiver application to comply with the requirement to record a net profit in two consecutive quarterly results immediately upon the implementation of the regularisation plan.

Crane manufacturer FAVELLE FAVCO BHD  reported a 13.5% increase in earnings to RM3.86 million in the first quarter ended March 31 from RM3.40 million a year ago mainly due to higher sales. Revenue rose 13.6% to RM85.18 million from RM74.95 million while earnings per share were 2.18 sen versus 1.97 sen. It had cash and cash equivalents of RM103.03 million as at March 31. As at May 19, 2011, outstanding order book of the group is RM496.4 million of which majority is from oil and gas cranes for the offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities.

MITRAJAYA HOLDINGS BHD  has secured a RM46.40 million contract to build an eight-story private hospital in Rawang. It accepted the letter of award from Rawang Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd for the contract.

MAA Holdings Bhd, a Malaysian insurer, rose 1.6 per cent in Kuala Lumpur trading after saying its first-quarter profit more than tripled. The stock climbed to RM1.28 at 9:10 a.m. local time, set for its biggest gain since May 19.