FBMKLCI 1581.85 DJ-12.90 CRUDE OIL 97.15 RM 2.9740

MRCB’s subsidiary will undertake a RM128.7 million contract to upgrade Little India in Brickfields and build government quarters. MRCB’s 70% owned Country Annexe Sdn Bhd had signed a privatisation agreement with the government and Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd (Hartanah). The agreement will see Country Annexe upgrading and beautifying Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields; develop the Pines Bazaar and build 212 government Class F quarters near Jalan Ang Seng. In return, Country Annexe will receive two pieces of land.

Hap Seng Consolidated fixed the issue price of the rights shares with warrants at RM1.05. The exercise price of the new free detachable warrants was fixed at RM1.65.

Genetec’s outstanding orderbook grew to RM98.8 million after it secured new orders worth RM45.4 million from its existing and new clients in the hard disk drive, hazardous material containment and other industries.

It said the orders for the hard disk drive (HDD) industry were RM26.8 million and hazardous material containment was RM14.1 million.

Ramunia Holdings Bhd’s unit has inked two MoUs with India’s SEW Infrastructure Ltd to take part in the bid to develop an oil and gas project. Ramunia Fabricators Sdn Bhd had on Tuesday, July 5 signed the MoU to bid for the development of WO-16 cluster and SB-14 well head platforms project. In a separate statement, Ramunia Fabricators had also signed an MoU with SEW to participate in the bid for the cluster 7 well platforms project.

FBMKLCI 1582.35 DJ no market CRUDE OIL 95.04 RM 2.9670

Gopeng Bhd will be lifted from its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status effective today, the company announced in a Bursa Malaysia filing yesterday.

The market is again abuzz with speculation that Genting Bhd, whose businesses include gaming and leisure under Genting Malaysia Bhd in which the company has a 49.39% stake, is finalising the deal to acquire Tanjong plc's gaming unit Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd (PMP) for an estimated RM2.5bil. “They'll be signing the deal on Thursday worth RM2.5bil,” a source said, adding that four persons were involved in seeing the deal through. However, another source said Genting's bid has too many conditions and therefore the other bidders have been asked to resubmit their offers.

Low cost airline AirAsia is set to become one of the biggest airline groups in the world following its landmark order of 200 Airbus A320neos, said Frost & Sullivan Aerospace & Defence senior consultant Kunal Sinha.

The AirAsia deal is the largest ever single order placed with Airbus in terms of number of aircraft. The AirAsia group currently operates 89 A320s and already has orders for another 86 A320s. The 200 A320neos, which will be powered by CFM LEAP-X engines, will be delivered from 2016 to 2026,” he told Bernama yesterday.

JAKS Resources Bhd could attract trading interest on Tuesday, July 5 after it finally cleared the hurdle for a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in Vietnam. For JAKS, the investment certificate is important for it to go ahead with the signing of the projects documents which include the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, power purchase agreement, coal supply and land lease.

DiJaya announced that Tael One Partners Ltd had acquired 22.75 million shares of the property company on Monday at RM1.65 per share. The shares amounted to 4.99%. DiJaya said TAEL One was acting in its capacity as general partner of The Asian Entrepreneur Legacy One, L.P.

Petronas Dagangan has proposed a special gross dividend of 25 sen  and final gross dividend of 35 sen per share in respect of the financial year ended March 31, 2011. The company said the special and final dividends would be paid on Aug 28, subject to shareholders’ approval at its annual general meeting to be held on July 28.

FBMKLCI 1582.94 DJ+168.43 CRUDE OIL 95.15 RM 2.9860

Tanjung Offshore was awarded RM50 million contract by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide three offshore support vessels for periods ranging between one and three years. The contract would see it providing the ships for the primary period from June and July 2011 respectively with options to extend between one and two years.

Wah Seong secured a US$45 million (RM136.78 million) contract from Australia Pacific LNG Pty Limited to provide pipeline coatings for the Australia Pacific LNG project in Australia. The contract secured by its pipe coating business unit on June 29 involved coating of over 700 km of pipes.

Petronas Gas inked a shareholders’ agreement with NRG Consortium (Sabah) Sdn Bhd (NRG) to provide operation and maintenance services to a 300-Megawatt gas power plant and its related facilities and infrastructure in Kimanis, Kota Kinabalu. The service would be provided through a joint venture company.

Notion Vtec announced that the controlling shareholders of Notion Vtec had abandoned negotiations to dispose of their business/equity interest after talks with the interested party fell through, just two weeks after it said negotiations were still on-going. Analysts said pricing could be an issue due the difficulties which the hard-disk drive manufacturers are facing. Perhaps, Notion VTec could brace for a mild recovery and await better offers.

The Edge weekly reports that Asia Media is seeking a boost from its broadcasting licence. The company's huge margins and licence to provide free-to-air broadcasting services are an attractive proposition for bigger media players eyeing a piece of the electronic media market.

Tebrau Teguh Bhd is shifting its focus to high-end residential and commercial developments from low to medium cost residential projects previously. Executive vice-chairman Johar Salim Yahaya said it was a normal progression or transition for any developer to shift its focus to development projects that provided better yields. It has 413.53ha of undeveloped land and 12km water frontage within the Tebrau-Plentong river basin development with a net book value of RM591.93mil.

FBMKLCI 1570.02 DJ+145.13 CRUDE OIL92.69 RM3.0210

MAA Holdings Bhd says it is not urgently seeking to sell its overseas units now that its debt obligations of RM140mil which are due for repayment soon, can be paid off following the sale of its insurance business for RM344mil cash. Instead, the group was now looking to “build up” its insurance businesses in Indonesia and the Philippines, chief executive officer and group managing director Muhamad Umar Swift said after the company’s shareholders’ meeting here yesterday. “Our business in the Philippines is doing well. Indonesia has been slower than expected. We are looking at partnerships that can leverage that particular asset,” he said without elaborating.

Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd (P1), a subsidiary of Green Packet Bhd, has sealed a technology cooperation agreement with China Mobile Ltd to spearhead the time division-long term evolution (TD-LTE) technology in Malaysia and South-East Asia. TD-LTE technology is a 4G telecommunications evolutionary path for the future of mobile broadband.

The coming together of Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings to develop RM30bil worth of real estate projects in Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia will help UEM Land Holdings Bhd make a great leap forward, both financially and in terms of branding, say analysts. UEM is among the top landowners in Iskandar Malaysia, with 1,300 acres of development land in the southern economic corridor. Among the several economic corridors spearheaded by the Government, Iskandar Malaysia remains the most upbeat and vibrant. In many ways, according to analysts, the alliance of the two government investment holding companies is expected to be a win-win proposition for both sides.

Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) has entered into a shareholders' agreement with Pulau Indah Ventures Sdn Bhd to develop a wellness township Nusajaya. E&O (via wholly-owned subsidiary Galaxy Prestige Sdn Bhd) and Pulau Indah have agreed to establish a 50:50 joint venture (JV) company named Nuri Merdu Sdn Bhd.

Pulau Indah is a 50:50 JV between Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Temasek Holdings. This will be E&O's maiden foray into Johor. The 210-acre freehold land for the proposed development is 15 minutes away from the Tuas Second Link to Singapore, and is owned by Iskandar Investment Bhd, a 60% subsidiary of Khazanah.

Cypark Resources Bhd posted net profit of RM6.22 million in the second quarter ended April 30, 2011 on the back of RM40.98 million in revenue. Earnings per share were 4.0 sen. The second quarter revenue was about RM1.6 million lower than in the first quarter. It said the second quarter revenue was generated mainly from the second phase of the national landfill restoration projects and foundation works for the leachate treatment plans.

Muhibbah said it believes it will not have to write down RM300 million in outstanding payments due from its major client Asia Petroleum Hub (APH), which was reported to be in receivership. Muhibbah managing director Mac Ngan Boon said APH was actively speaking to potential investors and hoped for a resolution "soonest". He added: "We do not believe there will be a write down. We believe there are other solutions.” To recap, APH is the developer and operator of the APH oil terminal in Johor and had awarded Muhibbah the marine piling and jetty works worth RM820 million.

Ingress reported net profit for the first quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 34% to RM6.94 million from RM10.47 million a year earlier, due to a one time gain on disposal of shares totaling RM7.6 million included in 1Q 2010 net profit. Revenue for the quarter slipped to RM175.07 million from RM180.41 million in 2010. Earnings per share were 9 sen, while net assets per share was RM2.08. It expects its automotive division to further improve during the financial year.

SIG Gases Bhd inked an MoU with Japan-based Iwatani Corporation Bhd (IC) to establish a partnership to set up a helium refilling plant in Southern Industrial Gas plant in Senai, Johor.

IRIS CORPORATION BHD [] expects to raise gross proceeds of RM25.52 million from a proposed private placement exercise of up to 10% of its paid-up share capital. It plans to use RM25.37 million of the proceeds as working capital and the remaining RM150,000 as estimated expenses relating to the proposed private placement. Iris said the RM25.52 million in proceeds would be based on an indicative issue price of 15 sen per placement share.

FBMKLCI 1562.52 DJ+108.98 CRUDE OIL91.09 RM 3.0265

New stock listing

No.  Stock  Code    Stock Name     Reference Price      Lower Limit     Upper Limit

1.         5202                   MSM                      3.50                         2.45                       17.50

AmResearch has valued MSM at RM4.53 per share based on a price earnings ratio (PER) of 10 times financial year 2012 earnings per share. Its PER of 10 times is about 23% below the regional average PER of 13 times ex-Japan and Australia. The research house said MSM was expected to be a high dividend-yielding stock. It added that the group’s estimated FY11 to FY12 dividend yields of 6% to 7% (based on the IPO price of RM3.50) would be higher than most of the consumer and numbers forecast operator companies. It said MSM plans to pay out 50% of its net profit as dividends every year.

Oil and gas services provider Bumi Armada has set a price range of RM2.80 to RM3.15 per share for its initial public offering (IPO) next month, raising as much as US$906mil (RM2.77bil), according to a term sheet seen by Reuters yesterday. Bumi Armada is an offshore support specialist, and is the only Malaysian company that owns floating production storage and offloading vessels, which carry a premium lease rate. Bumi Armada was privatised in 2003 by tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan, and a planned relisting in 2008 was delayed due to the global financial crisis.

Petroleum Nasional Bhd and its partner PetroVietnam have been successful in their drilling campaign via the Diamond-4X exploration well in offshore Vietnam. The Diamond-4X well, drilled to test the hydrocarbon potential in the prospect’s clastics reservoir and fractured granite basement, was spudded on April 27, 2011 and reached its final target depth of 4,564 m on June 1, the company said in a statement.

The well tested the flow rate of 5,200 barrels per day of oil.

Shandong-based Sozo Global Ltd intends to set up a halal processing facility in Malaysia within the next six to 12 months from now. Chief executive officer Shen Hengbao said the company had completed its feasibility study on the project and was currently identifying the potential locations for the plant. He said to date, it had shortlisted three states as the potential location for the plant but nothing was finalised. Sozo, according to him, aims to base the facility at a park dedicated for halal food products with good transportation and logistics network to facilitate distribution and export activities. Shen said Sozo would invest more than RM5mil in the plant which will cater halal Chinese cooked duck meat products for domestic and international markets.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) does not rule out the possibility of taking the company private or spin off its other divisions, according to chairman Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid. “No options are off the table. It's the shareholders' call. We can put the option on the table but it is still the shareholders call,” he said after the company AGM that lasted for three hours yesterday. On Monday, StarBiz reported that Maybank Investment Bank suggested that MAS be privatised but list Firefly Sdn Bhd, MAS Engineering, MasKargo and even its terminal services. The research house in its report said the privatisation of MAS was not an outlandish idea and the shareholders might just warm up to the idea. More so since the analyst community had an overwhelming “sell” call on the carrier after the airline reported RM242mil in net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

Kim Loong, its earnings jumped 49% to RM19.91 million from RM13.36 million a year ago boosted by its PLANTATION []s business, underpinned by the strong crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Revenue rose 37.9% to RM175.15 million from RM127 million while earnings per share were 6.52 sen versus 4.39 sen a year ago. Pre-tax profit rose 68% to RM35.16 million from RM20.89 million. “The 38% and 68% increases in revenue and PBT respectively were mainly due to higher CPO and palm kernel oil prices which were about 38% and 91% respectively higher than the corresponding period last year,” Kim Loong said.

FBMKLCI DJ-115.42 CRUDE OIL90.63 RM 3.002

Worries about the Greek debt issue and the slide on Wall Street will weigh on investors’ sentiment in the week ahead, starting Monday, June 27, and maybe investors may give up the hope of window dressing as the first half draws to an end.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) hopes the result of its bid for the expansion of the Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah will come out by year-end. “We’ve already submitted our bid. The work is through a consortium to build a new terminal and runway,” MAHB managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said on Friday at the inaugural GLC Open Day 2011 organised by Khazanah Nasional Bhd. MAHB had prequalified to bid for the work based on its experience and also strong technical knowledge, he said.

CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives are likely to see continued bearish sentiment.

Jim Teh, Interband Group of Companies' senior trader, said technical correction could drive the market with CPO prices hovering between RM2,800 and RM3,000 per tonne. “Buyers will not actively enter the market this week due to the current high prices,” he told Bernama.

TALAM Corp Bhd, once the country's largest builder of low- and medium- cost houses, has unfortunately been making headlines for the wrong reasons. Recently, the company reported a net loss of RM25.97mil for its first quarter ended April 30, 2011 versus a net profit of RM1.57mil in the previous corresponding period, mainly attributable to lower progress billings generated from the development projects during the quarter under review. Revenue for the period plunged 43% to RM13.18mil from RM23.26mil a year earlier.

LNG Resources Bhd is upbeat on the prospects for the connector industry as many new innovative products required connectors in their settings and assemblies. Managing director Low Chee Thean quoting a Bishop & Associates' research said 2010 was a comeback year for the connector industry following improvement in the global connector sales. He said global connector sales last year was estimated at US$44.2bil, an increase of 28.4% after a sharp decline of 21.8% in 2009 oneconomic recessions in Europe and the United States.

Kencana’s earnings rose 81% to RM56.42 million in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011 from RM31.17 million a year ago underpinned by the progress achieved for the contracts. Revenue rose 34.7% to RM377.83 million from RM280.37 million. Earnings per share were 3.08 sen versus 1.92 sen a year ago.

When compared with a year ago, where revenue and pre-tax profit came in at RM280.37 million and RM36.5 million, this was an improvement of 35% and 91% respectively in the current quarter.

Muhibbah was awarded a RM338 million contract from Northport (Malaysia) Bhd to build a multipurpose wharf and the associated facilities. Hopefully, this could inject some positive news into the stock which was battered by its exposure to the Asian petroleum hub debacle.

Muhibbah said the wharf would be an extension to the existing wharf eight and upgrading of wharf 16. The contract is scheduled to start in July and completed in March 2014.

Subur Tiasa’s  net profit in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 19.5% to RM8.40 million from RM10.44 million a year ago but it expects the outlook to be positive on firm demand overseas. “The market outlook for timber and timber products in the coming quarter remain positive with the continued firm demand for timber in India and China,” it said. The company’s financial performance was impacted by higher operational costs due to the increase in raw material, fuel and adhesive costs. Revenue declined 11.8% to RM144.66m from RM164.12 million. Earnings per share were 4.62 sen compared with 5.55 sen. Subur Tiasa said for the nine-month period, net profit was flat at RM23.838 million while revenue declined 4.8% to RM486.22 million from RM510.79 million.

Tambun Indah has several ongoing projects on mainland Penang with total GDV of RM1.6 billion, which is enough to last until 2016.

FBMKLCI 1560.79 DJ+109.63 CRUDE OIL93.66 RM 3.002

AFTER looking for a suitable buyer for its composite insurance business over the past four years, MAA Holdings Bhd has finally found one in Zurich Insurance Co Ltd. The previous deal to dispose of its insurance unit, Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd (MAAB), to AMMB Holdings Bhd hit a snag and was aborted due to unspecified reasons. On Monday, MAA told Bursa Malaysia that it would be selling its insurance business for RM344mil cash. Under the sale and purchase agreement, the company would sell its entire stake in MAAB, Multioto Services Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Alliance Property Services Sdn Bhd and Maagnet System Sdn Bhd. The cash price of RM344mil translates into 1.36 times book value and is cheap, going by industry standards. Previous deals ranged from close to 1.6 times for Pacific Insurance Bhd to 2.24 times for Jerneh Insurance Bhd while Hong Leong Assurance Bhd was sold for 6.5 times. The rationale for the sale was to meet the requirements of minimum supervisory capital-adequacy ratio (CAR) of 130% under the risk-based capital (RBC) framework.

Scientex Bhd’s earnings rose 21.2% to RM20.38 million in the third quarter ended April 30, 2011,underpinned by its property development and also announced a dividend policy to pay a minimum of 30% of earnings as dividends. It said revenue climbed 21.1% to RM217.31 million from RM179.50 million while earnings per share were 9.48 sen compared with 7.81 sen. For the nine-months period ended April 30, its earnings rose 32.9% to RM56.47 million from RM42.49 million while revenue increased by 19% to RM598.82 million from RM503.13 million.

Daibochi Plastic and Packaging Industry Bhd is eyeing Australia and Association of South-East Asian Nations for expansion to increase revenue in the face of a steep increase in the prices of raw materials, Bernama reported. Managing director, Thomas Lim Soo Kim, said the company expected its revenue to increase by 30% per cent in two years as the packaging market in Australia was 10 times bigger than Malaysia's.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] has exercised an option to purchase 10 additional Next-Generation 737-800s. The new plans are valued at more than US$800 million. The additional planes were part of an option under the original deal signed with Boeing in 2008.

Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd has deferred the proposed suspension of Ho Hup CONSTRUCTION [] Co. Bhd’s shares and also the commencement of delisting procedures. It had received a letter from the regulator the trading suspension and delisting had been deferred pending its decision on its application for more time to regularise its financial condition.

Ho Hup Construction Co Bhd hopes to shed its PN17 status by year-end after the company submits its revised regularisation plan to the regulator in the next two to three weeks. “Once the regularisation plan is in place, we are confident that we will be out of PN17 by year-end the latest, and we will grow this company into a significant property player,” executive director Derek Wong said after the company AGM yesterday. “We have submitted an extension of time from June 19 to July 19. We've not received the approval yet but we're confident that through conversations with them (Bursa) this extension should be granted, and we will submit our regularisation plan before July 19,” said Wong.

The delisting of ECOFUTURE BHD. [] scheduled for June 27, has been deferred after the company submitted an appeal to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd.  It said it had submitted the appeal against the commencement of the delisting procedures. It had initially faced suspension on June 23 and delisting by June 27.

FBMKLCI 1563.43 DJ+42.84 CRUDE OIL93.20 RM 3.0175

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday, June 17 after France and Germany outlined the aid for Greece but analysts said a recent bearish trend may not be over. Reuters reported that a slew of data showing the United States is on the verge of a slowdown has already done its damage to the market. After the heavy selling of the past several weeks, it seems investors are taking a wait-and-see approach -- for now.

Ramunia’s net profit for the second quarter ended April 30, 2011 fell 58.7% to RM1.41from RM3.42 million a year ago, due mainly to a reduction in revenue due to the tail end of remaining projects billings and lower operating income. Revenue fell to RM1.74 million from RM11.88 million in 2010. Earnings per share were 0.21 sen, while net assets per share were 25.3 sen. For the six months ended April 30, Ramunia’s net profit plunged 87.3% to RM2.51 million from RM19.83 million, while revenue fell 89% to RM3.09 million from RM27.74 million.

Construction company Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd has been in the spotlight last week after its contract with Asia Petroleum Hub (APH), a private company that develops and operates a multi-billion-ringgit oil terminal in Johor could be jeopardised by the latter's receivership status. Muhibbah's shares tumbled 20% or 38 sen last Thursday, closing at RM1.52 with 74.35 million shares traded.

Talam posted net loss of RM25.97 million in the first quarter ended April 30, 2011 compared with net profit of RM1.56 million a year ago as it was impacted by the high administrative and finance costs totaling RM32.49 million. Talam said administrative and other expenses totalled RM14.94 million while finance costs were RM17.55 million. Its revenue was RM13.18 million compared with RM23.26 million a year ago due  to lower gross profit and other operating income, as well as higher administrative and finance costs. Its loss per share was 0.72 sen versus earnings per share of 0.06 sen. Its net asset per share was 17 sen.

Wah Seong Corporation with a book order of RM1.2 billion plans to expand into water-related businesses and renewable energy after the demerger with Wasco Energy Ltd. It plans to boost its biomass equipment and power generation business, as well as integrating into the fast growing agro-based sector and water industry. Another key growth area would be in deepwater pipe and gas pipe coating.

Top Glove’s net profit for the third quarter ended May 31, 2011 fell 60.3% to RM25.60 million from RM64.48 million a year earlier due mainly to higher latex price and weakening US dollar. Revenue eased 3.7% to RM535.36 million from RM555.85 million. Earnings per share were 4.14 sen. It declared a first single tier net interim dividend of 5 sen, payable on July 21, 2011. For the nine months ended May 31, Top Glove’s net profit fell 56.5% to RM87.06 million from RM200.22 million in the previous corresponding period, while revenue declined to RM1.51 billion from RM1.54 billion in 2010.

FBMKLCI 1554.24 DJ+64.25 CRUDE OIL 95.57 RM 3.01

The sale of a 25% stake in RHB Capital Bhd (RHB Cap) by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Bhd (ADCB) at 2.25 times the book value of RHB Cap or RM10.80 per share, has set a relatively high pricing benchmark for the potential takeover of the bank by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

Muhibbah Engineering Bhd would continue to be actively traded after the sell-down on the stock following concerns that Asia Petroleum Hub (APH) -- which it undertook a project for -- faced receivership.
It saw RM152.11 million in market capitalisation wiped out on Thursday, as its shares fell 38 sen to close at RM1.52 – the lowest since mid-May. The market capitalisation was reduced from RM608.43 million to RM456.32 million. However, there could be some mild bargain hunting as some analysts viewed the selling as overdone and the worst-case scenario for Muhibbah was a write-down of the RM300 million due from APH, which would push Muhibbah into losses for FY11. APH, the developer and operator of the APH oil terminal in Johor, faced the prospects of receivership, news reports said. Muhibbah was awarded the marine piling and jetty works worth RM820 million. Cost escalation in 2008 led to funding issues for APH and the stalling of payments due to Muhibbah.

UEM Land Holdings Bhd has set an internal target for a 50% revenue growth in FY2011 and a 10% return on investment. Its managing director and CEO Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim said with the acquisition of SUNRISE BHD [], UEM Land was hoping to build its portfolio and surpass its competitors' revenue in the near future.

Mitrajaya has proposed to invest RM6 million cash for a 20% stake in Rawang Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd (RSHSB). RSHSB is a private limited company incorporated in Malaysia to principally operate and manage a specialist hospital and to provide healthcare solutions under the name of Optimax Specialist Hospital (Rawang). On May 23, it awarded to Mitrajaya's unit, Pembinaan Mitrajaya Sdn Bhd, a RM46.41 million contract to build the eight-storey private hospital with 180 beds. The hospital is expected to commence operations in December 2013.

Merge Energy Bhd has secured RM38.1 million contract to undertake water treatment and associated projects in Kuantan. The contract was awarded by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council. It  involves the balancing reservoir, access road, treated water mains and associated works for the Panching water treatment.

Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) unveiled - the new MyVi -- an upgraded version of the best seller on Thursday night, June 16 and prices range from RM43,900 to RM57,400. The second national carmaker expects to sell about 8,500 units monthly. The price is from RM43,900 for the standard manual transmission and RM57,400 for the elegance automatic transmission on-the-road. Perodua plans to export the new MyVi units to Indonesia this month, starting with 500 cars, under the Daihatsu Sirion badge.

FBMKLCI 1556.19 DJ-178.84 CRUDE OIL 95.80 RM 2.9970

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has bought more than 200,000 tonnes of fuel oil, for delivery between April and August, in addition to buying electricity from Singapore utility PowerSeraya, industry sources said yesterday. The fuel oil volumes were the largest TNB has purchased in at least five years, traders said, and were linked to natural gas supply disruptions that resulted from the maintenance shutdown of gas production platforms owned by state oil company Petronas. The first 15,000 tonnes is for Aug 1–3 delivery to the Sultan Iskandar Power Station in Pasir Gudang. Two more lots of 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes are for delivery to Kapar in Selangor in August

Integrated steel contractor Eversendai Corp Bhd plans to double its order book this year to RM3bil, on expectations of new projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Saudi Arabia and India.  Group managing director Datuk A.K. Nathan said the group was already in serious negotiations for some of the jobs related to infrastucture, power plants and high rise buildings. “We are pursuing quite a fair amount of jobs this year and I think we should not have any problem to secure about RM1bil to RM1.5bil worth of new jobs based on our good track record all this while,” he told reporters yesterday at a media briefing after the official launch of the group's initial public offering (IPO) prospectus.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd is bidding for RM400mil to RM500mil worth of contracts in offshore installation and construction (OIC) as well as offshore support vessel (OSV) services sector, said managing director and chief executive officer Azmi Ahmad. However, Azmi said the success rate was quite difficult to predict under the prevailing market environment although the company's historical success rate was at 10% to 22%.

Gamuda Bhd and MMC Corp Bhd have entered into a joint venture (JV) for the pre-qualifying and tendering works in relation to the underground work package for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit project. In separate announcements to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, both companies said they would each have a 50% stake in the JV. “The breakdown of the total capital, investment outlay and the eventual issued and paid-up capital of the JV will be according to the proportion of interest of each party and could only be determined when the JV is successfully awarded the underground work package of the project,” they said.

Both companies said they planned to finance their respective portions of investments via their own funds and/or borrowings.

HPI Resources Bhd has received a takeover offer from Japan's Oji Paper Co Ltd to acquire all of the former's 58.528 million shares for RM257.52mil or RM4.40 per share. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the corrugated packaging manufacturer said it had received the notice of the conditional take-over offer from RHB Investment Bank on behalf of Oji Paper's wholly-owned subsidiary, Oji Paper Asia Sdn Bhd. “The board has deliberated on the offer and does not intend to seek an alternate person to make a take-over for the offer shares,” the company said. The offer price of RM4.40 represents a premium of 47 sen or 12% over its last traded price of RM3.93.

Trading of shares in ACE Market-listed Ecofuture Bhd will be suspended from June 23 as it failed to appoint a replacement sponsor by designated June 10 deadline. The Guidance Note 3 company could also potentially be delisted on June 27 unless an appeal is submitted to Bursa Malaysia by June 22. Ecofuture was unable to appoint a replacement sponsor within three months after its then sponsor ECM Libra Investment Bank Bhd tendered its resignation on March 10.

Equine Capital, which had fallen from the radar screen in recent years, is trying to make a company through its property venture. It is launching a mixed commercial and residential freehold development project -- da:mén -- or “Great Door) in USJ, Subang Jaya which is near the Summit shopping mall and hotel. It promises to offer a distinctively unique retail and dining experience with lifestyle pleasures for the urbanites. The company has also returned to the black in the financial year ended March 31, 2011. In the fourth quarter ended March 31, it reported net profit of RM2.25 million compared with net loss of RM25.57 million a year ago. For the 12-months, its net profit was RM6.37 million compared with net loss of RM36.43 million a year ago. However, its cashflow was enhanced following proceeds from disposal of investment property totaling for RM28 million. Its cash and cash equivalents at end of the financial year was only RM6.4 million

Unisem expects the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2011 to be lacklustre due to tough economic environment in major markets. Group managing director John Chia said Unisem’s financial results in FY 2011 was unlikely to be better than the previous year's numbers due to a tougher economic environment in the US, Europe, Japan and China, apart from the weakening of the US dollar. "Our capital expenditure this year will be less than FY10 capex of some RM380 million" Chia said at Unisem's shareholders meeting.

FBMKLCI 1547.92 DJ+123.14 CRUDE OIL 99.31 RM 3.0080

Tenaga Nasional Bhd's (TNB) unit TNB Repair and Maintenance Sdn Bhd (TNB Remaco) has secured an operation and maintenance agreement worth US$14.1mil (RM43mil) from Pakistan's Laraib Energy Ltd.

TNB Remaco will be the operator of the 84MW New Bong Escape Hydroelectric Power Complex on the Jhelum River in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Furniture-maker Baswell Resources Bhd made a slight gain when it resumed trading yesterday after its shares trading was halted in the morning session. The counter rose 0.5 sen to 10 sen at 3.14pm doing 90,000 shares as investors ignored the winding-up petition that was served the company on June 10. Baswell said on Monday that the petitioner Oh Han Cheng had sought for the winding up of Baswell for defaulting a payment of RM3.31mil. The company said the repayment of the loan was deferred from Dec 16, 2010 to June 16, 2011 at the request of Baswell vide a letter dated Dec 20, 2010, and confirmed and accepted by the petitioner by a letter dated March 25. It also said the group had announced on March 30 its intention to dispose of BISB's land for RM19mil and would use the proceeds to repay RM693,000 of the RM3.31mil.

MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, the federal land authority’s sugar refining arm, has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at RM3.50 per share for institutional investors, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said yesterday. The price is at the top end of the RM3.30-RM3.50 range set earlier, valuing the IPO at about RM817mil. MSM is selling about 234 million shares in the IPO. The institutional portion would comprise about 206 million shares or 29.4% of the enlarged share capital. The retail portion would consist of about 28 million shares or 4% of the enlarged share capital.

United U-Li Corp Bhd will be in focus again on Wednesday, June 15 after the company said it was mulling distributing part of the RM200 million from the sale of its three units to entitled shareholders.

MBM Resources will invest some RM250 million over the next five years to transform the group into one of the key automotive players in Malaysia and the region. Managing director, Looi Kok Loon, said the capital expenditure would primarily be used to expand its manufacturing infrastructure and enhance its nationwide retail and service network. "The company is also investing in new manufacturing facilities to cater to product line extensions and equip itself with vehicle assembly capabilities," he said, adding MBM planned to expand the car parts business and vehicle assembly.  He said the company was actively seeking partners in vehicle assembly.

FBMKLCI 1545.88 DJ +1.06 CRUDE OIL 96.87 RM 2.9980

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) will be making a proposal to acquire RHB Capital Bhd before the end of this month, according to Maybank chairman Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor. He said Maybank would proceed with the acquisition only if it was earnings accretive. Megat Zaharuddin said a merger with RHB Capital Bhd would provide scale to Maybank. “For example, it would expand our reach in Thailand and Singapore. Scale is important, especially when you are trying to compete in a region which is becoming a lot more challenging. We have global players from other parts of the world which are focusing on this part of the world, and you need scale in order to compete,” he said after Maybank EGM yesterday.

Malaysian property developer SP Setia Bhd plans to increase its landbank in Australia, predominantly in popular cities such as Melbourne, Sydney and even Gold Coast, as it seeks to capture the growing opportunities from the population boom of these cities. Having made its first Australian investment last year, the developer is in the midst of scouting for more investment opportunities in Melbourne. “For the first few years, we are looking for investment opportunities and to take on projects that will provide quick turnaround and are easy sell. Subsequently, we will look at greenfield projects and (at building) townships,” Setia (Melbourne) Development Co Pty Ltd chief executive officer Choong Kai Wai told Malaysian reporters here last Friday.

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd (AMRB) has been awarded a contract valued at RM52mil from Samsung Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd. The contract, awarded to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd, was for the purchase order from Samsung to supply engineering work, supply of materials, fabrication, load-out and commissioning of two units of single point mooring buoy for Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal project.

Silver Bird Group Bhd has proposed a private placement exercise of new ordinary shares of up to 10% of its issued and paid-up share capital. The actual proceeds to be raised from this would be dependent on the issue price and actual number of placements shares to be issued. The company, in its filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, said the said proceeds from the proposed private placement should be utilised for repayment of bank borrowings as well as to defray the expenses in respect of the proposed private placement.

The group's total outstanding borrowings stood at RM130mil as of June 6.

MMC Corp Bhd’s subsidiary Malakoff Corporation Bhd is set to build a 1,000MW coal-fired plant next to the current Tanjung Bin power plant. The company said it had accepted a conditional offer made by the government to develop the plant and the expected commercial operation date was March 1, 2016. Malakoff is MMC Corp’s 51%-owned subsidiary, whose unit Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd owns the Tanjung Bin power plant. MMC Corp said among the conditions in the offer by the government via the Energy Commission were the finalisation of the terms of the agreements relating to the project; and the approval of the detailed environmental impact assessment from the Department of Environment Malaysia.

Sime Darby's healthcare division is investing RM280 million in two hospital projects in the Klang Valley as part of the government’s health tourism plan under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The conglomerate said it would invest in a 220-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre Ara Damansara in Subang which will be operational by the third quarter of 2011. The 300-bed Sime Darby Medical Centre ParkCity will be operational by the second half of 2012.

KNM’s total book order rose to RM5.5 billion as at May this year, of which RM1.4 billion in orders were secured in 2010. Bulk of the orders was secured in the second half of last year, totaling RM3.10 billion. The remaining RM1 billion of orders were secured in the first half of 2010 and earlier. As at January this year it had tendered for RM16 billion of orders and based on a 20% success rate, that would translate into RM3.2 billion.

MWE has attracted attention after it disclosed that it bought RM98.12 million of quoted securities from Sept 2, 2010 to June 10 this year. It said the total cost represented 24.74% of MWE group's net assets as at Dec 31, 2010. As at June 10, the total cost of its acquisitions was RM121.08 million while the book value was RM203.84 million. This was an increase of RM82.76 million but MWE did not provide details of those quoted securities.

FBMKLCI 1550.89 DJ +75.42 CRUDE OIL 101.87 RM 2.9840

New stock listing

No.  Stock  Code    Stock Name     Reference Price      Lower Limit     Upper Limit

1.    0165                XOX                 0.80                             0.50                  4.00

 

 

XOX, the mobile virtual network operator reported net loss of RM1.66 million in the quarter ended March 31 mainly due to the selling and distribution expenses which were necessary in creating brand awareness for XOX’s services.

UOA Development Bhd continued its slide on Bursa Malaysia after making its debut on the stock exchange on Wednesday with the stock falling 2.7% to RM2.53 yesterday. OSK Research put a fair value of RM3.57 per share, which represented a 37.3% upside from its RM2.60 offer price, based on 1x its RNAV (revised net asset value) valuation. “There is nothing wrong. Maybe investors' perception was affected by the low par value against the share's offer price,” he said, adding that the local bourse was also flat over the last few days. Another analyst said perhaps investors did not like that a large portion of UOA Development's ongoing projects were in its 60-acre flagship Bangsar South City in Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur.

SP Setia Bhd's net profit for the second quarter ended April 30 surged 80% to RM92.22mil from RM51.21mil a year earlier due to a gain arising from the disposal of an investment property. Revenue for the period increased to RM496.75mil from RM409.07mil a year earlier.

Haisan Resources Bhd said the suspension on the trading of its securities and the delisting of the company had been deferred pending the decision of Bursa Securities on its application for extension of time to submit the regularisation plan to the relevant authorities, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering will replace Malaysia Airlines in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI following the semi-annual review of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series yesterday, FTSE Group and Bursa Malaysia Bhd said.

UEM Land Holdings Bhd, the real estate investment and development company of UEM Group, is collaborating with Iskandar Investment Bhd, the main property developer for Iskandar Malaysia, to develop retail and residential units in Nusajaya, Johor with a gross development value of RM850mil.

Favelle Favco received four contracts to supply cranes and spare parts totaling more than RM70.3 million. Three of the orders were to supply cranes and the fourth was to supply the spare parts.

Berjaya Food’s net profit slipped 14.2% to RM2.505 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2011 compared with RM2.92 million a year ago due to higher advertising and promotional expenses. Revenue rose 9% to RM17.75 million from RM16.28 million. Earnings per share were 1.77 sen versus 2.07 sen a year ago. It proposed dividend of three sen a share. For the financial year ended April 30, 2011, its net profit rose 22% to RM10.59 million from RM8.68 million while its revenue increased by 19% to RM71.94 million from RM60.41 million.

FOCUS DYNAMICS TECHNOLOGIES [] Bhd’s new 144.58 million shares issued under the rights issue with warrants and 96.39 million warrants will be listed and quoted on Friday.

FBMKLCI 1551.10 DJ-21.87 CRUDE OIL101.42 RM2.964

Petronas reported net profit attributable to shareholders of US$17.46 billion in the financial year ended March 31, 2011 (FY11), which was a 50% increase from the US$11.64 billion in FY10.Revenue increased to US$76.82 billion, up 26.1% from US$60.92 billion. President and CEO  Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas said Petronas will be spending RM300 billion in capital expenditure for the next five years, this was an upward revision from the RM250 billion mentioned a few months ago. For the fourth quarter, its earnings increased 49.8% to US$3.49 billion from US$2.33 billion the year before on the back of higher realised prices for petroleum products, crude oil and condensates, as well as other energy commodities.  Its revenue increased 22.8% to US$21.45 billion from US$17.47 billion.

Latexx Partners  accepted a lower offer of RM1.25 billion from the YTY Group of companies in a proposed merger instead of RM1.365 billion earlier. The glove maker said 30% of the purchase consideration or RM375 million would be in cash. The balance of RM875 million would be in the form of 350 million new shares at an issue price of RM2.50 per share.

MAA Holdings has obtained the Minister of Finance’s (MoF) approval to dispose of its 100% stake in Malaysian Assurance Alliance Bhd (MAAB) for RM344 million to Zurich Insurance Company Ltd.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) is buying power from Singapore-based PowerSeraya Ltd, a unit of YTL Power International Bhd, as a shutdown of Petroliam Nasional Bhd-owned gas production platforms for maintenance work made worse a dwindling gas supply situation. Chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohd Noh said in a reply to a StarBiz query that the purchase was made to ensure supply security. “We're buying 180MW only, which represents 1.5% of total demand,” Che Khalib said. The report said the purchase was made following an approach by TNB in April to Singapore's Energy Market Authority and the generating companies for electricity supply needed to tide over capacity shortages “for a few months”. This was caused by natural gas feedstock shortages faced by TNB's power stations due to the maintenance shutdowns, which could further reduce by 30% in the May to June period.

The “very substantial transaction” that United U-Li Corp Bhd (Ulicorp) is expected to announce tomorrow is likely to be the signing of a deal with a foreign party. The management has remained tight-lipped about the details, but observers believe that the agreement will be for a major joint venture. In addition, sources close to the company have ruled out the possibility of the company being taken private. The proposed joint venture is primarily to open doors for business expansion, and not so much about funding, because the company's balance sheet is fairly sturdy.”

UOA Development Bhd closed at RM2.59, one sen lower than its reference price of RM2.60 per share, after the stock made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday.chief operating officer (development division) David Khor said UOA would work towards integrating more green building components in its commercial development. On its recent acquisition of a RM50mil land in Sri Petaling, Khor said the company planned to build high-end condominiums there but the details had yet to be finalised. “The company has about RM8.6bil worth of properties to be launched over the next seven to 10 years,” he said. Khor said about 70% of the properties developed by UOA were for commercial purposes while the rest were residentials. “We hope the ratio will change in two years, with residential projects contributing more (to the volume),” he said.

With the emergence of Malaysia’s pilgrim fund board Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) as one of major shareholders of Faber Group Bhd, chances of the latter securing renewal of crucial contracts and new projects, especially in the local and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) markets, will seem brighter now. According to analysts, investors over the past few months have been particularly concerned about the uncertainty of Faber’s 15-year concession in providing health support services to government hospitals in Malaysia being renewed. “But with LTH backing now, the prospects of the concession being renewed have certainly improved, and this would certainly enhance investor confidence in the integrated facilities management and property solutions company,” MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd analyst Belford Chang told StarBiz.

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 1552.14 DJ-61.30 CRUDE OIL 98.76 RM 2.9660

MBSB’s additional 506.42 million new ordinary shares of RM1 each issued pursuant to the rights issue with warrants will be listed on Tuesday. MBSB closed three sen lower at RM1.50 on Monday. MBSB’s 506.42 million warrants issued pursuant to the rights issue will also be listed on Tuesday.

Knusford is teaming up with Pembinaan Hamid Abd. Rahman Sdn Bhd to submit prequalification and/or tender for part of the multi-billion ringgit Mass Rapid Transit project in the Klang Valley, The portion would be the Sungai Buloh to Kajang stretch. Knusford will hold a 40% stake and  PHAR 60% in the joint venture company.

London Biscuits Bhd’s net profit fell sharply to RM804,000 in the third quarter ended March 31, 2011 from RM4.03 million a year ago and the company expected the year to be challenging. Revenue fell to RM65.10 million from RM50.92 million while earnings per share were 0.84 sen compared with 4.64 sen. “The group’s result is within management’s expectation in view of the impact of the strength of the ringgit and increase in raw material cost,” it said. For the nine-month period, net profit was RM6.22 million compared with RM11.65 million despite higher revenue at RM183.79 million versus RM152.14 million.

N2N Connect said it was acquiring an 11-storey office building in Bangsar South for RM36 million cash to be partly used as its office space, and to be let out to tenants.

The new Perodua Myvi, due to be launched on June 16, will boost passenger vehicle sales this year, according to automotive analysts. OSK Research said in a report yesterday that Perodua's revised sales forecast of 195,000 units (previously 171,750 units) this year was easily achievable due to the earlier-than-expected launch of the new Myvi. The research firm also upgraded its Malaysian automotive total industry volume (TIV) forecast for 2011 by 4% to 597,456 units, which was a year-on-year decline of 1.3% (TIV hit an all-time high of 605,156 units last year). OSK Research maintained its “sell” call, with a fair value of RM6.61 on UMW Holdings Bhd, which owns a 38% stake in Perodua. OSK Research also upgraded its call on MBM Resources Bhd, which has a 20% stake in Perodua, to “buy” with a fair value of RM3.80, and raised its earnings projection for the current financial year by 20.2%.

Main-board bound UOA Development Bhd posted a net profit of RM130mil for the first quarter ended March 31. Revenue for the period stood at RM145.7mil. The property developer which is expected to be listed tomorrow said its pre-tax profit of RM155.7mil for the three months period was achieved after spending RM21.9mil for administrative and general expenses and RM22.1mil for tax expense.

Time Engineering's shareholderes approved its proposal of a renounceable offer for sale of up to 626.18 million shares (or 24.74% stake) in TdC to Time Engineering shareholders. The offer price for the shares will be fixed by Time Engineering's board of directors at a later date to be announced, and will be priced with at least 20% discount of the five-day volume-weighted average price up to the day prior to the price-fixing date. It will not be less than 48 sen per offer share. The offer is on the basis of eight offer shares for every 10 shares held in Time Engineering.

In an unprecedented move, Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd (SDP) has increased the salaries of 37,000 of its estate and mill workers throughout the country, with each of them expected to earn an extra RM200 in basic salary effective July 1st. SDP has allocated between RM120 mil and RM130mil per annum for this purpose including the increase in EPF and SOCSO contribution, said Sime Darby president and group CEO Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh.

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 1556.42 DJ-279.65 CRUDE OIL100.13 RM2.9770

The potential merger of either Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) or CIMB Group Holdings Bhd with RHB Capital Bhd would bring the new enlarged entity not too far behind some of the largest banks in the region. The top regional banks in Asean include three Singapore banks DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (UOB) with market capitalisation of US$27.7bil, US$25.7bil and US$24.5bil respectively. While in terms of asset size, the Singapore banks remain at the top, a Maybank-RHB Cap merger could overtake DBS Group in terms of combined market capitalisation with US$28.8bil. The potential merger of CIMB-RHB, on the other hand, would see a combined market capitalisation of US$27.3bil, just marginally below DBS but would overtake both OCBC and UOB. In terms of asset size, DBS, OCBC and UOB stand at US$238bil, US$198.4bil and US$178.8bil respectively.

Following the dismissal of Primus (M) Sdn Bhd's petition against the sale of EON Capital Bhd (EON Cap) to Hong Leong Bank Bhd (HLB), Primus now has to pay RM1.9mil in court costs. High Court Judicial Commissioner Varghese George Varughese ordered Primus to pay the sum to the 13 respondents in its suit EON Cap and nine of its board members, and three entities controlled by two of those board members.

Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB), which will have the rights to the Bakun dam's power at a rate of 6.25 sen per kwh, has a firm utilisation rate of 50% from its four customers. The electricity from the Bakun dam which is priced at 6.25 sen/kwh with an annual hike of 1.5% under a power purchase agreement (PPA) between Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Sesco Bhd confirmed a StarBiz report yesterday. StarBiz quoted sources saying the rate represented the cheapest tariff in Asian history but would be escalating at 1.5% per annum for 30 years.

SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd (SapCrest) has signed an agreement with Real Mild Sdn Bhd and Labuan Shipyard and Engineering Sdn Bhd (LSE) for the subscription of 25 million new shares in LSE. The shares, according to SapCrest in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday represented a 50% stake of the enlarged share capital of LSE.

Oil and gas services provider Dialog Group Bhd has entered into a joint-venture agreement with Vopak Terminal Pengerang BV, a unit of the Royal Vopak group, for the development of an independent deepwater petroleum terminal at Pengerang, Johor worth RM5bil. The company told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that both parties had set up a joint-venture company - Pengerang Terminals Sdn Bhd - in which Dialog would hold a 51% stake and Royal Vopak the remainder.

Water concessionaire Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd is expected to register a loss this financial year following the adoption of a new accounting treatment that requires certain charges to be capitalised as intangible assets and amortised. Managing director Datuk Hashim Mahfar said in a statement yesterday that the IC Interpretation 12-Service Concession Arrangements, which were retrospective, had also resulted in a drop in shareholders' funds from RM1.5bil to RM35.6mil. However, Puncak Niaga has obtained a conditional waiver from being categorised a PN17 company until the announcement of its second-quarter results for the period ending June 30, 2012. (Under Bursa Malaysia rules, that would have been the case if a company's shareholders' funds fell below RM40mil).

Benalec expects to realise a net gain of RM34.93 million from the completion of separate agreements its units have entered for the disposal of land and joint venture for a mixed property development. Benalec on June 1 said its subsidiaries Sentosacove Development Sdn Bhd and Orientalcove Realty Sdn Bhd had entered into a sale and purchase agreement and joint venture agreement with Vista Selesa Development Sdn Bhd, respectively.

CBIP is selling its entire equity interests in Sachiew PLANTATION []s Sdn Bhd and Empressa (M) Sdn Bhd for a total of RM268.06 million. Sachiew is principally involved in the cultivation of oil palm and production of crude palm oil and palm kernel, while Empressa engages in the cultivation of oil palm and the operation of a palm oil mill. CBIP said the gross proceeds of RM268.06 million from the disposal would be utilised for its working capital including for financing receivables, inventories, and repayment of bank borrowings.

Bina Puri’s 80%-indirect owned subsidiary PT Megapower Makmur has received two contracts from PT PLN (PERSERO) to operate power plants in Indonesia.

FBMKLCI 1558.29 DJ+128.21 CRUDE OIL102.85 RM 2.9735

the biggest takeover battle in Malaysia's corporate history, banking heavyweights Malayan Banking Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd have declared their interest to wrest control of RHB Capital Bhd, which could cost over RM20bil. This development confirmed heated speculation in recent weeks that the country's largest and second largest banks, Maybank and CIMB respectively, were vying to take over RHB Cap, which is the fifth largest banking group. Sources said due to the rife market talk and “leaks”, Maybank and CIMB were directed by the central bank to disclose their interest to bid for RHB Cap to curb further speculation. Alongside this major takeover bid, is the sale of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's (ADCB) 25% stake in RHB Cap.

Investor sentiment towards Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB)'s stock immediately turned positive, following Monday's announcement of a long-awaited power tariff hike, as evident in the rise of the company's share price yesterday. The counter gained 59 sen, or 9%, to close at RM7.11 yesterday. It also topped the list of most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia, with 89 million shares changing hands. TA Research in its report explained that the impact on TNB's FY11 earnings would slightly be negative as the higher tariff would only have two months' impact on revenue, that is, for July and August, since June bill would still be reflecting usage in May, in which the previous tariff still applied. The higher gas price, on the other hand, will have three months' impact, that is between June and August. In addition, the revised tariff was still based on coal price of US$85 per tonne, and Tenaga still had to absorb the differential to actual market rate of around US$120 per tonne.

Hydropower from the 2,400-megawatt Bakun Dam project is likely to be sold, on an escalating basis, at 6.25 sen per kilowatt (KwH) to Sarawak Energy Bhd, the state utility arm. Sources told StarBiz this represented the cheapest tariff in Asian history but would be escalating at 1.5% per annum for 30 years. “The tariff is expected to be sufficient to pay off all Federal Government debts in 15 years,'' said a source, adding that in total, the valuation came close to RM8bil. The power purchase agreement (PPA) signing between the Federal and Sarawak state governments is expected to take place today.

Maxis Bhd saw its first quarter net profit decline slightly by some 2% to RM539mil compared with RM552mil made a year ago due to higher borrowing costs. For the three-months ended March 31, Maxis made a revenue of RM2.13bil, or less by 1%, compared with RM2.15bil made a year ago. Revenue declined due to lower voice, interconnect and hubbing revenue. the company said the drop in interconnect revenue was due to reduction in mobile and fixed termination rates since July last year. Meanwhile, the decline in hubbing revenue was in line with the planned scale down in its hubbing business. Maxis declared a first interim single-tier tax exempt dividend of 8 sen per share in respect of the financial year ending Dec 31, 2011, to be paid on June 30, 2011.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) recorded a 20% jump in net profit to RM88mil for the first quarter ended March 31, led by strong demand for air travel. This was despite uncertainties in the aviation sector due to political tensions in the Middle East and earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Revenue rose 22%, or RM118mil, to RM610mil from RM498mil a year ago. However, the airport operator's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was marginally lower at RM189mil from RM190mil a year earlier.

Axiata Group Bhd reported a 40.5% year-on-year drop in net profit to RM548.4mil for the first quarter ended March 31. The lower net profit was attributed mainly to a 97.7% year-on-year dip in the group’s other operating income to RM7.5mil in the quarter under review. This was because there was a one-off gain from the disposal of shares in Indonesian unit PT XL Axiata Tbk of RM307.5mil recorded in the same period last year.

MMC CORPORATION BHD []’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 rose 29.5% to RM43.04 million from RM33.23 million a year earlier, due mainly to higher contributions from most of its divisions. Revenue for the quarter increased to RM2.23 billion from RM2.06 billion in 2010. Earnings per share was 1.41 sen while net assets per share was RM2.19.

Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Bhd net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011 rose to RM5.39 million from RM1.48 million a year earlier, due mainly to lower sales and marketing expenses. Ajinomoto proposed dividend of 20 sen per share in respect of the FY ended Mrch 31, 2011 comprising a first and final gross dividend of nine sen; a nine sen tax-exempt dividend as well as special gross dividend of two sen per share. For the financial year ended March 31, Ajinomoto’s net profit rose to RM25.73 million from RM23.94 million, on the back of revenue RM316.17 million.

FBMKLCI 1542.84 CRUDE OIL 100.67 RM 2.9910

After several rounds of deferment and a long wait, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has finally gotten the green light to implement new electricity tariff rates which will help it mitigate the effects of higher gas prices. “As a result of the gas price increase, TNB's gas bill will increase by about RM1.5bil per year. “Due to the gas price increase, TNB will have to increase the electricity tariff to cover for the additional cost,” TNB president and CEO Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohd Nor said at a briefing yesterday. Tenaga has been allowed by the government to increase its base tariff by 2%. As a result, average tariff will increase by 7.12%; industrial consumers and commercial users will see an average hike of 8.3%, but Tenaga said there would be no increase to about 75% of households.

Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) signed a joint-venture deal with Prokhas Managers Sdn Bhd (PMSB) yesterday to supply artillery propellants to the Malaysian Armed Forces. Under the joint venture, a new company, namely Pyrotechnical Ordnance Malaysia Sdn Bhd, will produce double base artillery propellants at a plant located on a 21-acre site in Bentong, Pahang. The plant is due to begin production in the third quarter of next year.

Analysts are confident that Sime Darby Bhd is making progress with the portfolio review and divestment of non-core assets after suffering massive losses in the oil and gas division a year ago. The share price has also moved up especially since the announcement of the non-binding memoranda of agreement to sell the Teluk Ramunia fabrication yard to Petroliam Nasional Bhd for RM296mil and the Pasir Gudang fabrication yard to Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd for RM399mil. The conglomerate posted a net profit of RM820.1mil for the third quarter ended March 31 after suffering a loss of RM308.6mil in the same corresponding period last year on higher contribution from plantation, motors, industrial, and energy and utilities divisions. Revenue for the period under review also rose to RM10.6bil from RM7.6bil previously.

Oldtown Bhd is pricing its issue/offer price at RM1.25 per share for its initial public offering (IPO) of 96.4 million shares of RM1 each,  The company, which owns and operates the Oldtown White Coffee chain, aims to list on Bursa Malaysia's Main Market on July 11. According to its prospectus draft, the company is offering 63.4 million new ordinary shares for application by the Malaysian public, directors, eligible employees and business associates of Oldtown and its subsidiaries.

Malayan Flour Mills Bhd (MFM) has proposed a share split of every one existing ordinary share of RM1 each in the company into two new ordinary shares of 50 sen each. Based on the issued and paid-up capital of MFM of RM107.6mil comprising 107.6 million shares as at May 27, the share split would result in an issued and paid-up capital of RM107.6mil comprising 215.3 million shares. 

CIMB Group's first quarter results came in slightly below expectations but the second half will likely be boosted by stronger capital market activities, higher domestic net interest margin (NIM) and impact from various economic transformation projects. CIMB reported net earnings of RM917mil, representing an increase of 9.3% for the first quarter (Q1) of financial year (FY) 2011.

PLUS Expressways Bhd’s net profit for its first quarter ended March 31 rose by 75.3% to RM495.1mil as it received RM364mil of compensation in accordance with the terms in the current concession agreements.

PLUS said RM364mil of compensation was included in the current quarter under review.

TIME dotCom Bhd net profit for the first quarter ended March 31 surged 21.8% to RM22.9mil from a year ago due to higher revenue and improved margins. Revenue for the quarter increased 7.7% from the same quarter last year to RM70mil as a result of higher data earnings within its wholesale and corporate segments. TIME’s data business posted a 16% growth to contribute RM51.1mil in revenue. Earnings per share for the quarter also increase to 90 sen from 74 sen a year ago.

Proton unit Group Lotus plc has won the right to use the name “Lotus” within Formula 1, and entitled to race in its historic black and gold livery. Proton said the Chancery Division of the English High Court had on last Friday, May 27 had also ruled that 1MRT was in breach of the Licence granted to them by Group Lotus to race in Formula 1 under the name Lotus Racing and had awarded Group Lotus damages in respect of that breach.

Brem Holding Bhd net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011 surged to RM26.72 million from RM2.12 million a year earlier, due mainly to the reversal of allowance for impairment of RM21.5 million.

The company proposed a gross dividend of five sen per share for the financial year ended March 31.