FBMKLCI 1560.40 DJ-41.59 CRUDE OIL100.73 RM 2.9955

Malakoff Corp Bhd, owned by MMC Corp Bhd, is expected to be awarded a contract to build a 1,000MW coal-fired power plant soon, said sources. According to sources, the plant will have a 15-year concession to sell the power at a rate of 25 sen per kwh to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), via its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas International Corp Ltd (PICL), has signed an agreement with Canada-based Progress Energy Resources Corp to acquire 50% of the latter's interest in shale gas assets worth C$1.07bil (RM3.32bil). In a statement yesterday, Petronas said the agreement was signed to develop the Altares, Lily and Kahta shale gas assets in north-eastern British Columbia. “The assets included in the transaction cover approximately 150,000 gross working-interest acres of land with an estimated contingent gas resource of more than 15 trillion cu ft. The assets will be operated by Progress,” said Petronas.

MTD Construction Sdn Bhd (MTDC) has won its RM38.59mil suit against AXA Affin Assurance Bhd  involving a claim on a contractors’ All Risks Policy against the latter. In a note to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, MTD ACPI Engineering Bhd said the case was ruled in favour of MTDC on May 27, with the judge holding AXA Affin liable for the damages to be assessed before the Court Registrar.

The hike in electricity tariff and gas prices will impact the steel, cement and glove manufacturing sectors, according to research firms. HwangDBS Vickers Research said the full-year earnings projections of steel makers Southern Steel Bhd, Kinsteel Bhd and might be lower by between 17% and 25% while forecast earnings for glove manufacturers Top Glove Corp Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd could drop by between 5% and 7%. CIMB Research said electricity accounted for 8% of total costs for steel maker Ann Joo Resources Bhd as well as 18% of those for cement producers Lafarge Malayan Cement Bhd and Tasek Corp Bhd.

Petra Energy Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Petra Resources Sdn Bhd (PRSB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Labuan Shipyard & Engineering Sdn Bhd (LSE) for the proposed utilisation of the latter’s shipyard facilities at Victoria Harbour, Labuan Island. Petra Energy told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the MoU was for the purpose of PRSB’s fabrication activities.

Mobile virtual network operator XOX Bhd’s initial public offering (IPO) has been oversubscribed by 13.2 times. Its IPO atracted 6,652 applications for 106.5 million shares with a total value of RM85.2mil, for the public tranche of 7.5 million shares, the company, which slated for ACE market listing on June 10, said in a statement yesterday.

Genting Bhd could also be in focus given its overseas expansion plans in Miami, with expectations that the group would try to secure a gaming licence there.

FBMKLCI 1519.13 DJ+73.11 CRUDE OIL 91.50 RM 3.074

Johor Corp will sell a parcel of land it owns in Johor as part payment for the RM3.6bil debt that is due in July 2012, says president and chief executive officer Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim. He also said the land had a market value of more than RM2bil.

Kencana Petroleum Bhd hopes to start recouping its portion of investment, estimated at US$200mil, in the Berantai marginal oil field development within two years, says chief executive officer Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir. Kencana is part of a consortium, which includes SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd and Petrofac Energy Developments Sdn Bhd to develop and operate an oil and gas field in Berantai, Terengganu estimated to cost a total of US$800mil.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd said yesterday that all bidders for its 32.21% stake in Pos Malaysia Bhd will be given an equal opportunity and that its divestment will undergo “a fair and transparent process”.The bidders will be considered based on their strategy and business plan, followed by the offer price. The name of the shortlisted bidders will be revealed to the panel after the shortlisting process is completed. These shortlisted bidders will then be invited to submit their revised strategy and business plan as well as their final offer.”

For the nine months ended Dec 31, AMMB’s net profit rose 34% to RM1.03 billion from RM766.87 million, on the back of revenue RM5.3 billion, up from RM4.87 billion a year earlier.

Tasek’s earnings in the fourth  quarter surged 325% to RM69.1 million from RM16.25 million. The much improved group results apart from the RM43.6 million gain from disposal of PLANTATION [] and other

property, was mainly in line with the increase in group's total revenue compounded by better local cement sales margin. Tasek said revenue rose 15% to RM133.67 million from RM116.08 million. Earnings per share were 43.3 sen compared with 8.77 sen. It proposed a bumper dividend, comprising of preference dividend of 6%, ordinary dividend 30% and special dividend 50%.

Mudajaya’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 rose 39% to RM57.09 million from RM41.05 million a year earlier, driven by the increased level of activities. Revenue rose to RM230.29 million from RM211.76 million a year ago. Earnings per share were 13.96 sen while net assets per share rose to RM1.75 from RM1. Mudajaya proposed a final dividend of 3.0 sen per ordinary share of 20 sen each under the single tier system for FY10. For the 12 months in 2010, Mudajaya’s net profit surged 75% to RM208.45 million from RM119.18 million a year ago, on the back of revenue RM869.43 million.

Hap Seng Consolidated’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010 surged to RM103.13 million from RM7.69 million a year earlier, driven by improvement in revenue in all divisions except for fertilisers trading which was affected by lower average selling prices. Revenue rose 19.3% to RM810.88 million from RM679.6 million. Earnings per share were 18.30 sen while net assets per share was RM4.59. For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010, Hap Seng’s net profit rose 222% to RM323.16 million from RM100.24 million a year ago. Hap Seng proposed to pay out as final dividend about 50% of its net profit tax and minority interest totalalling RM123.98 million or 22 sen per share.

RAMUNIA HOLDINGS BHD is eyeing some RM300 million worth of fabrication jobs this year as projects up for grabs start pouring into the market again, underpinned by the surge in crude oil prices. Chief executive officer Nor Badli Munawir Mohamad said on Friday that while Ramunia's existing order book was negligible, he expected it to grow this year after Petroliam Nasional Bhd  committed to opening more marginal oilfields and issue more oil and gas contracts this year.