Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 04 March 2013 20:36
KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): Based on announcements to Bursa Malaysia and news flow today, companies that may attract investor interest on March 5 (Tuesday) could include Genting, PLANTATION [] firms, Eversendai, IRM and Daiman.
GENTING BHD [] announced that it is entering the Las Vegas market with the purchase of an 87-acre parcel of land and structures on the property to build multi-billion-dollar Resort World Las Vegas – its first gaming resort in this famous gaming-and-leisure resort city in the United States.
Genting, via its new indirect wholly-owned unit, Genting Assets Inc (Genting Assets), will pay US$350 million to acquire the Echelon site on the Las Vegas Strip corridor from US-listed Boyd Gaming Corp.
The site, with a considerable frontage along South Las Vegas Boulevard, has with it full entitlement to apply for a non-restricted gaming license.
Genting said the acquisition represents a good opportunity for Genting to enter the Las Vegas market at an attractive price in the midst of a recovering USA economy.
Plantation companies are likely to be stir if the world’s top analysts forecast palm oil prices to be higher or lower than anticipated levels at the global palm oil conference on March 5-6.
Indeed, prices of crude palm oil futures have risen today.
Industry players ranging from plantation owners, refiners to traders and brokers are watching Bursa Malaysia's annual palm oil conference, which will focus on price outlooks, industry fundamentals and developments.
Price projections by Oil World magazine and leading analysts such as Dorab Mistry and James Fry will be followed closely.
Eversendai Corporation Bhd has secured a RM87.3 million (US$28.5 million) project for the supply, fabrication and installation of the structural steel works required for the Crescent City Project in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The project was secured through its integrated structural steel turnkey and power plant contractor's subsidiary, Eversendai Engineering L.L.C. in Dubai.
The work on the project will commence in March 2013 with a projected completion date of August 2014, and is expected to have a positive impact on Eversendai's financial performance in financial years 2013 and 2014, the company said.
The company's current order book stands at RM1.6 billion with over 20 major projects.
In 2012, Eversendai reported revenue and profit after tax of RM1.02 billion and RM121.7 million respectively, as compared to RM1.033 billion and RM131.6 million respectively the year before.
IRM GROUP BHD [] said it will be suspended from trading from March 8 until further notice as the company has failed to submit its fourth quarter results within the stipulated period.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia also issued an investor alert on the company.
On Feb 26, the company said the delay in submission was caused by “shortage of accounting staff” to prepare its financial statements. In addition, the management is “currently focusing on issues on default in payment”.
In December 2012, the company defaulted on a trade facility of RM26 million owned to CIMB due to its “inability to generate sufficient cash-flow following limited financial facility from banks”.
Last month, its substantial shareholder, Bank Perusahaan Kecil & Sederhana Malaysia Bhd, had on seven trading days sold down its stake to 11.11%.
DAIMAN DEVELOPMENT BHD [] said its unit Daiman Landmark Hotel Sdn Bhd has accepted a credit facility of RM70 million from PUBLIC BANK BHD [].
It said the facility is to partially finance the development of a hotel property in Johor Baharu. The hotel, when completed, will be managed by Hilton of Malaysia LLC under the brand name 'DoubleTree by Hilton'," the company said.
Daiman Development said the facility will have no impact on is financial performance.