Business & Markets 2012
Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 31 December 2012 18:25
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 31): The FBM KLCI could start of 2013 on a cautious note after having climbed to a fresh record high on the final trading day 2012 which was boosted by window dressing activities.
MIDF Research head Zulkifli Hamzah said while the gain in December this year was 4.8%, the best in 11 years, he would therefore not be surprised if profit taking were to reign in the opening days of 2013.
Meanwhile, Affin Investment Bank Bhd vice president and head of retail research Dr Nazri Khan said that overall, the local market had climbed over the wall of worry in 2012.
“With MSCI All World at 17-month highs and the local index FBM KLCI sitting just 10 points below its all-time-high; we expect the local equity market to demonstrate the same resilience and hold onto its strong defensive proposition play to zoom towards 1720-1750 level next year,” he said.
He said that the market’s performance however had not been broad based, but was largely concentrated and driven by large cap defensive sectors with reasonably high growth and dividend yields – namely healthcare, telco, consumer staple and utilities sectors.
“Two best themes to describe the local market sentiment are defensive play and huge liquidity driven,” he said.
Among the stocks that could be in focus on Wednesday are Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), Sentoria Group Bhd, CypARK RESOURCES BHD [], Hock Heng Group Bhd and KIM LOONG RESOURCES BHD []
MAHB’s Headline key performance indicators (KPIs) for FY2013 include earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) without CONSTRUCTION [] profit of RM751 million
For the MAHB Group, the year 2013 is expected to be a better year in terms of overall passenger traffic performance.
It also set KPIs for Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards, in the 25-40 million passenger size category; and KLIA Ranking Top 5.
Sentoria Group said it plans to develop a RM1.8 billion integrated resort city in Morib, Selangor.
It issued a statement on the project on Monday after signing agreements with Seriemas Development Sdn Bhd to undertake the venture.
The planned development encompasses 354 acres (or 143 Ha) of land in Morib, of which 150 acres (or 61 Ha) will be developed into an integrated theme park resort and the remaining 204 acres (or 87 Ha) will comprise a mixed development of commercial and residential units.
Renewable energy engineering outfit Cypark recorded net profit RM4.96 million in its fourth quarter ended Oct 31, 2012, more than double from RM2.4 million in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
The company attributed its performance to its environmental engineering segment, while its landscaping and infrastructure division made a turnaround to profit.
Total revenue during the quarter increased by RM13.5 million or 31% to RM56.2 million from RM42.7 million recorded during the same quarter last year. The group's profit before tax jumped 84% to RM6.7 million from RM3.7 million recorded in 4QFY2011.
Hock Heng Group Bhd, which manufactures dimension stones and related products, in a filing Monday said it was diversifying into property development.
The company said it plans to undertake residential development project in Batu Berendam, Malacca with gross development cost and value of the project estimated to be approximately RM7.91 million and RM9.18 million respectively.
Kim Loong Resources reported a 63% drop in third quarter net profit from a year earlier on lower fresh fruit bunch (FFB) output, and crude palm oil (CPO) prices, resulting in weaker performance at its upstream and downstream operations.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on Monday, Kim Loong said net profit came to RM8.82 million in the third quarter ended October 31 (3QFY13) versus RM23.59 million a year earlier as revenue fell 15% to RM160.96 million from RM188.33 million.