Stocks to watch: Public Bank, Maybank, Key West, Ken

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Written by Joseph Chin of theedgemalaysia.com
Tuesday, 19 April 2011 07:46
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KUALA LUMPUR: Stocks could see cautious trading on Tuesday, April 19 following the weaker close on Wall Street on Monday.

Wall Street’s key indices fell more than 1% as sovereign debt fears on both sides of the Atlantic and China's monetary tightening hurt the outlook for global economic growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 140.24 points, or 1.14%, to 12,201.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 14.54 points, or 1.10%, to 1,305.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 29.27 points, or 1.06%, to 2,735.38.

Stocks to watch on Bursa Malaysia include PUBLIC BANK BHD [], MALAYAN BANKING BHD [], KEY WEST GLOBAL TELECOMM []unications Bhd and KEN HOLDINGS BHD [].

Public Bank Bhd’s net profit rose 21% to RM828 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 from RM685 million a year ago, underpinned by strong growth in net interest and finance income.

Maybank has received the Securities Commission’s approval to undertake a multi-currency medium term notes (MTN) programme totaling US$2 billion.

The MTN programme would enable it to issue senior and/or subordinated notes in currencies other than in ringgit at any time, provided the aggregate amount of outstanding notes does not exceed US$2 billion in nominal value.

ACE Market-listed Key West, which has seen a change in shareholding, has taken the plunge into the extraction of crude oil from marginal oilfields in Indonesia.

Ken Holdings’ earnings surged to RM5.07 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2011 from RM1 million a year ago. However, details on the on-year earnings were not provided.

Revenue jumped 500% to RM19.55 million from RM3.26 million. Earnings per share were 5.55 sen compared with 1.07 sen. It had cash of RM41.64 million as at March 31, 2011.

In a separate statement, Ken Holdings said it was teaming up with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) to work together to develop green TECHNOLOGY [].

Ken Holdings had signed an MoU with UTAR to undertake joint collaborative research, share expertise and joint development on green technology.

Costume jewellery and consumer products manufacturer Zhulian Corp Bhd’s earnings fell 14.2% to RM21.30 million in the first quarter ended Nov 30, 2010 from RM24.84 million a year ago. Revenue was flat at RM86.22 million compared with RM86.33 million a year ago. Earnings per share were 4.78 sen compared with 5.42 sen.

The company reported cash and cash equivalents of RM133.14 million as at Nov 30, 2010.

UNITED MALAYAN LAND BHD []’s unit Seri Alam PROPERTIES [] Sdn Bhd is teaming up with Singapore’s Raffles Campus Pte Ltd to undertake a RM35 million campus in Iskandar Malaysia.

The MoU is to form a joint venture company to build the Raffles International School in Bandar Seri Alam. It will be managed and operated by Raffles as its first campus in Malaysia.