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 1568.37 DJ-25.58 CRUDE OIL 88.26 RM 3.04

Selangor has made a fresh offer to the water concessionaires in another effort to resolve the impasse in the state’s water-restructuring exercise. Worth over RM9bil, according to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in a press briefing yesterday, the offer was the third by the state government and the fifth overall, counting one offer worth RM10.3bil by the Federal Government and another worth RM10.8bil by Gamuda Bhd, owner of a 40% stake in Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Splash). Khalid said in a press statement issued yesterday that the state was offering to acquire the entire stakes in Puncak Niaga Sdn Bhd for RM64.62 per share, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd for RM20.78 per share, Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd for RM9.39 per share and Splash for RM5.95 per share.

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), the country's largest bank in assets, is planning to take over Singapore stockbroker Kim Eng Holdings Ltd in a deal valued at up to S$1.79bil (RM4.26bil) to grow its regional footprint in investment banking and stockbroking operations. Maybank will pay S$768mil (RM1.9bil) to buy a 44.6% stake in Kim Eng from chairman and chief executive officer Ronald Anthony Ooi and Taiwan's Yuanta Securities Asia Financial Services Ltd and launch a buyout offer for the remaining shares of the Singapore company which is ranked as a top 5 stockbroker in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.Kim Eng also has a presence in global financial centres in Hong Kong, London and New York. 

Sunway City Bhd has launched its latest integrated mixed development – Sunway Nexis at Dataran Sunway, Petaling Jaya. In a statement yesterday, the company said the development covered 5.83 acres with a gross development value of RM500mil. The development is being undertaken by Sunway Damansara Sdn Bhd. Sunway City managing director of property development Ho Hon Sang said: “Sunway Nexis is a complete lifestyle centre encompassing leisure, entertainment, recreation and work facilities. Following the success of Sunway Giza, this development offers modern retail shops, office suites and SoHo with a promising potential for growth.

Ramunia, which is without a core business, is in talks to acquire Syarikat Borcos Shipping SB, sources said. Negotiation is rumored to have commenced, but it is not known how the acquisition will be concluded.

TM is expected to finish its internal investigation on alleged bribes to its employees, a month from the board subcommittee
inaugural meeting on 3 Jan.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha expects a conservative 7% growth in passenger arrivals at Malaysian airports this year, riding on the fast growing Asia Pacific region. “We have achieved more than 15% growth in 2010 and are confident of seeing growth this year,” he said.

FBMKLCI 1517.44 DJ+20.51 CRUDE OIL 91.57 RM 3.06

Jelas Ulung Sdn Bhd is not planning on asking the Government for an extension of PLUS Expressways Bhd's tolled-highway concessions post-2038 in its proposal to take over the company. Tan Sri Ibrahim Zain of Jelas Ulung told StarBiz this, adding that “our business model works well within the concession period until 2038 where we can already realise our investment by then”.

Jaks Resources Bhd, through subsidiary Jaks Sdn Bhd, has secured a RM201mil contract from MNH Global Assets Management Sdn Bhd for a commercial project located in Ara Damansara. MNH Global Assets is wholly-owned by Island Circle Development (M) Sdn Bhd, a major shareholder of Jaks Island Circle Sdn Bhd.

Wah Seong Corp Bhd’s wholly owned direct and indirect subsidiaries, Wah Seong International Pvt Ltd and Wasco E&P Services Ltd, have disposed of their 60% equity stakes in DrilBits International Pvt Ltd and DrilTools International FZCO, respectively. Wah Seong, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesteday, said the shares were sold to Omni Oil Technology Holdings Ltd in two separate agreements. The deals are expected to be completed in the first quarter next year.

Sunway City Bhd is acquiring 64.63 acres near Johor Baru from Bukit Lenang Development Sdn Bhd for RM134.52mil.

Furniture maker Kenmark Industrial Co (M) Bhd, a financially distressed company, would be removed from the official list of Bursa Malaysia this Friday.

Sime Darby Plantation SB is partnering Japan's Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co Ltd to build and operate a bio-ethanol demonstration plant, which will convert empty oil palm fruit bunches into bio-ethanol. Sime Darby officials said the plant would cost about USD10m (RM30.9m). Bio-ethanol is used as fuel for cars and unlike biodiesel, which is a blend of palm oil and diesel, it is made from plantation waste. The bio-ethanol plant will use fruit bunches as the main raw material, which is abundant and available throughout the year, Sime said in a statement. The collaboration is being undertaken by Sime Darby Research SB, the research and development arm of Sime Darby Plantation. The joint-venture plant will be built next to Sime Darby Plantation's Tennamaram palm oil mill at Bestari Jaya in Selangor.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) was mum on speculation of mergers among its property companies or the relisting of its wholly-owned property group Island & Peninsular Group SB (I&P). "We will make the necessary announcements when the time comes," president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman told reporters yesterday. There have been reports that major property groups like SP Setia and Sime Darby Property could be persuaded to merge. PNB is the single biggest shareholder in SP Setia and it also controls Sime Darby. As for the I&P group, it is the result of a merger with sister companies Petaling Garden and Pelangi. All three were once listed before being taken private by PNB in July 2007. The group now has a combined landbank of about 2,200ha in the Klang Valley and Johor, and has developed property projects over 35 townships such as Bukit Damansara, Bandar Kinrara, and Alam Damai
 

FBMKCLI: 1488.54 DJ+150.91 CRUDE OIL 83.97 RM 3.103

Stocks ended Wednesday on a positive note after a batch of economic reports offered hope that the U.S. economy was improving. Incomes rose last month and consumer spending climbed for a fifth month. That raised hopes that shoppers will hit the malls in droves the day after Thanksgiving, the start of the holiday shopping season.

Masteel, the country's third largest steel bar maker by market share, may see revenue hitting the RM1 billion mark this year on the back of robust demand for steel billets and bars as well as firm selling prices, said its managing director cum CEO Datuk Sri Tai Hean Leng.

MISC Bhd posted a jump in net profit to RM369.4mil for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 against RM82mil a year ago due to improved performance in the restructured liner business and increased profitability in the heavy engineering business.

MMC Corp Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30 surged 32% to RM117.8mil from RM88.7mil a year ago due to better performance from some divisions.

Axiata Group Bhd posted a 27% increase in net profit to RM639.13mil for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM503.66mil a year ago, driven by positive net profit contribution from Dialog Axiata Plc and Robi Axiata Ltd.

Sunway Holdings and SunCity will be merged under a proposed exercise undertaken by Sunway Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling. This would involve  RM4.5 billion in cash and share swap. The exercise entails Newco offering RM2.60 per Sunway share, RM1.50 per Sunway warrant and RM5.10 per SunCity share and RM1.29 per SunCity warrant.  

Naim Holdings’ earnings jumped 72% to RM36.94 million in the quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM21.39 million a year ago mainly due to higher sales of PROPERTIES and substantial completion of certain CONSTRUCTION projects.

KNM Group Bhd saw its third quarter bottomline improve by 75% to RM56.09 million from RM31.92 million a year ago. Pre-tax profit was RM41.03 million while there was also tax incentive of RM19.54 million.

Bina Puri Holdings is teaming up with a Chinese association to develop a two acre site in Jalan Pasar, which guarantees investment return of RM40.6 million in 14 years.

Bina Puri will be investing RM16.0 million which is the estimated construction cost.

PLUS Expressways Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30 rose 12% to RM349.7mil from RM311.6mil a year ago. The increase was primarily due to higher toll revenue mitigated by higher finance costs as well as amortisation and depreciation charges.

FBMKLCI 1487.53 DJ -142.21 CRUDE OIL: 81.23 RM: 3.081

Stocks fell Tuesday as a flare-up of tensions between North and South Korea combined with downbeat news on the economy gave investors plenty of reasons to sell ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. The dollar and gold rose as investors sought safe places to park money. 

  

MRCB and IJM Land Bhd yesterday announced their proposed merger exercise, which will create the country's second largest property player after the enlarged UEM Land Holdings Bhd, with a market capitalisation exceeding RM7 billion and a land bank of over 9,000 acres. 

Market observers are speculating that a “marriage” of sorts is on the cards for SunCity and Sunway Holdings Bhd, after both companies had their shares suspended from trading for two days from yesterday, pending a material announcement on a corporate exercise. 

Gadang Holdings Bhd is bidding for several engineering and construction projects totalling more than RM2 billion and the company anticipates stronger earnings for the financial year 2011 ended May 31.

LionInd’ 1QFY11 net loss of RM18.8m. The poor results were mainly attributed to the arrival of expensive feed material, namely iron ore and scrap metal, which were mismatched with weakening selling prices.

Parkson Holdings announced that it is selling its 100% equity interest in Shantou Parkson to its 51.5% owned subsidiary - Parkson Retail (PRG).

Msports 9MFY10 earnings of RM49.2m. Production volume increased by 34% to 23.4m in 9MFY10 while average selling price improved by 4.4% to RMB18.9 per pair, mainly driven by the higher demand for EVA MD products.

MPHB posted net profit of RM86.49 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, up 70% from RM50.73 million a year, boosted by its gaming and stockbroking operations. Revenue was 4.6% higher at RM850.7 million compared with RM813.24 million a year ago.

MUDAJAYA GROUP BHD net profit rose 31.8% to RM46.55 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM35.32 million a year ago, mainly due increased level of activities.