Stocks To Watch BIMB, Patimas, MPHB, MAHB, AirAsia, Pesona, DRB-Hicom, Benalec


Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com   
Tuesday, 11 June 2013 19:57

KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): Based on corporate announcements today, stocks that may stir interest tomorrow include BIMB, Patimas, MPHB, MAHB, AirAsia, Pesona, DRB-Hicom and Benalec.



BIMB HOLDINGS BHD [] said it has received approval from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to commence negotiations with Lembaga Tabung Haji to acquire the latter’s stake in Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd (BIBM).

BIMB said the negotiations would be completed on or before Dec 31, 2013.

But it said consent from BNM should not be construed as an approval for the proposed acquisition.

PATIMAS COMPUTERS BHD [] informed the stock exchange that its directors have not received any offer from Tencent Holdings Limited of Hong Kong to acquire 15% of equity in Patimas.

It also said the company is not in any negotiation with Tencent Holdings Limited of Hong Kong to set up a data centre in Malaysia.

News reports on this had caused the share price of the company to be volatile and active yesterday.

But the company said it will write a letter to CPE Growth Capital Limited, a major shareholder of the company, to seek their confirmation on whether they are in discussion or negotiation with Tencent Holdings Limited in relation to the above matters.

MULTI-PURPOSE HOLDINGS BHD [] (MPHB) has extended the deadline for the acceptance of MPHB Capital Bhd offer shares, and deferred the latter's listing date.

In a statement to the exchange today, MPHB said the deadline for acceptance and payment for MPHB Capital shares is revised to 5pm on June 18 (from June 13).

MPHB said the firm has extended the deadline  "to facilitate an extended period of time for shareholders/renouncee(s) to accept and pay for the offer shares and to apply and pay for the excess offer shares (if any) after taking into consideration the feedback of the shareholders/renouncee(s)”.

MPHB is in the process of demerging its gaming and non-gaming operations. The move will see the creation of separate listed entity MPHB Capital for the non-gaming businesses.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has been urged by AIRASIA BHD [] to issue a definite delayed opening date of the new low-cost airport.

AirAsia Chairman Datuk Aziz Bakar told Bernama that Malaysia Airports, as the airport operator, has the responsibility to notify airlines using klia2 of a definite date, to enable them to be ready to move operations to the new airport.

Aziz said given the delay, Malaysia Airports should not compromise on safety and quality by rushing the CONSTRUCTION [] works to meet the deadline.

AirAsia Bhd said today it may dissolve its Japan-based joint venture with All Nippon Airways Co (ANA) due to disagreement between the companies over how to operate the business.

The budget airline said it would not rule out the "dissolution" of AirAsia Japan, a low-cost carrier based at Tokyo's Narita airport. But no decision has been made yet.

"Since its launch, AirAsia Japan has failed to track its proposed business plan due to the inability to manage costs," AirAsia said.

AirAsia Japan, which has been reporting losses since it began operating in August 2012,  operated four aircraft with a load factor of 70% as of March 2013 while AirAsia's other ventures recorded 75-87% for the same period, the company said.

AirAsia has a 33 percent stake in AirAsia Japan.

Pesona Metro Holdings Bhd (PMHB) has bagged an RM87.15 million contract from Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, said the company in a Bursa Malaysia filing.

PMHB, which replaced MITHRIL BHD [] on the local bourse, said its wholly owned subsidiary Pesona Metro Sdn Bhd had received a letter of award for the proposed construction and rectification works of government office building and Election Commission’s office.

PMHB said the project is for a duration of 11 months and is expected to complete on May 9 next year.

The company said it will fund the project from internally generated funds.

PMHB also said this project will contribute positively to its earnings and net assets for the financial years in 2013 and 2014.

DRB-HICOM BHD [] announced that its 100%-owned subsidiary, Lotus Advance Technologies Sdn Bhd (LATSB), has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire SLL of China for US$15 million.

“The proposed acquisition will allow LATSB to gain direct access into the vast mainland China (PRC) vehicle market and to capitalise on the expected continuous growth in the PRC’s premium vehicle market. As such, this is expected to be beneficial to the DRB-HICOM group in the future,” the company said.

Benalec Holdings Bhd’s EGM today adopted the resolution on a land sale amid doubts that the valuation of the land was “undervalued”.

The company announced to the stock exchange that 99.778% of shareholders present had voted in favour of the resolution while 0.222% had voted against it.

According to one disgruntled shareholder, a key question raised during the EGM was the valuation of the land as it was seen as “undervalued”.

“They (directors) told us that the land was undervalued because there were no buyers, but that is hard to believe because it is a sea-view land,” said the shareholder while taking a break from the meeting.

He added: “We asked what the proceeds will be used for? An independent director told us: they need money to continue to reclaim more land. But the question is, why doesn’t the company develop the land?”

At market close today, Benalec’s share price fell 7 sen or 4.6% to RM1.46.