Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 10 June 2013 19:33
KUALA LUMPUR (June 10): Based on corporate announcements and events today, companies that may attract interest tomorrow (June 11) include Yinson, Protasco, AirAsia, Patimas, PLANTATION [] companies, UMW, Paramount and Maxis.
YINSON HOLDINGS BHD [] said it is acquiring the entire stake in Norway-listed oil & gas support-services provider Fred Olsen Production ASA (FOP) for NOK995.74 million (RM551.34 million) cash.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Yinson said it has signed a conditional takeover agreement with FOP for the acquisition at NOK9.40 or RM5.20 a share.
FOP owns three FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) vessels. Upon completion of the acquisition, Yinson will have three more FPSOs, which should give the firm a steady income stream, Yinson said.
Yinson also said it has entered into an amended agreement with Kencana Capital Sdn Bhd to issue 37.81 million new shares at RM2.82 each to the latter, to raise RM106.62 million to part finance the FOP acquisition.
The proposed acquisition of FOP and share sale to Kencana are expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
PROTASCO BHD [] announed it has won a tender from Desaru Development Holdings One Sdn Bhd for CONSTRUCTION [] works worth RM50.4 million.
The infrastructure development provider said its subsidiary HCM Engineering had received a letter of acceptance from Desaru Development.
The contract, with runs for 12 months beginning June 17, encompasses construction and completion of a proposed infrastructure package.
“The project is expected to contribute positively towards the group’s results for the financial year ending December 31, 2013,” said Protasco.
Protasco’s share closed three sen higher at RM1.20.
AIRASIA BHD [], through its long-haul unit, AirAsia X, will look at the possibilities of reviving its previously-axed routes to Europe and India.
AirAsia’s group chief executive Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the long-haul frills-free carrier would be making a re-entry into India by introducing new destinations to cover the nation of 1.2 billion people.
"We have not covered India yet. The growth potential is definitely there," he told reporters after the launch of AirAsia X's prospectus today.
AirAsia X is enroute for listing on Bursa Malaysia on July 10.
PATIMAS COMPUTERS BHD [] will team up with Tencent Holdings Limited of Hong Kong in an equity partnership for a data centre in Malaysia, Bernama reported.
Tencent – a leading provider of comprehensive Internet services in China, would seal the deal in a signing ceremony with Patimas on June 12, according to a statement issued by the Hong Kong company.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004, while Patimas Computers provides data centre services.
Plantation companies, whose shares jumped today after the latest official report on palm oil data showed that May inventory was near its lowest level in a year, may either continue to advance or fall on profit-taking.
Malaysia’s palm oil stocks in May 2013 fell by 97,983 tonnes or 5.12% to 1,816,380 tonnes, from April’s 1,914,363 tonnes, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) at noon.
Companies that saw their prices soaring today included KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD [], SIME DARBY BHD [], PPB GROUP BHD [], IOI CORPORATION BHD [], Genting Plantations Bhd and IJM PLANTATIONS BHD [].
These companies had ignored the not-so-encouraging palm oil exports and production data.
Exports for the commodity fell 44,054 tonnes or 3.03% to 1,411,729 tonnes in May from 1,455,783 tonnes in April, while May production saw a 1.3% rise to 1,384,312 tonnes from 1,366,562 tonnes in April.
UMW HOLDINGS BHD [] announced that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has granted approval for its wholly-owned unit UMW-OG (UMW oil & gas Corporation Bhd) to launch its proposed IPO and proposed listing on the main board of Bursa Malaysia.
PARAMOUNT CORPORATION BHD [] (PCB) will not be expecting much growth in earnings due to the lack of property launches this year, said PCB executive deputy chairman and group CEO Datuk Teo Chiang Quan.
“We are trying our best to have more property launches this year but it is held back because the division has been experiencing slow approvals for our projects,” he said after the group’s annual general meeting today.
But he added the group is looking at better earnings growth in 2014, after the completion of several development projects.
The group’s property division contributes up to 75% of PCB’s turnover while the remaining falls on its education division.
PCB has an estimated RM7 billion gross development value on its tracts of land held for residential and commercial developments.
Maxis Bhd, an integrated communications service provider, announced a refined organisational structure to strengthen its core businesses for future growth.
Raja Tan Sri Arshad bin Raja Tun Uda, chairman of Maxis, said in a statement: “Efforts towards creating this structure have been made in response to evolving market dynamics and changing consumer demands and will enable Maxis to compete more effectively.”
The new structure, which will take effect on June 10, 2013, will consist of a team led by joint chief operating officers Nasution Mohamed and Suren J. Amarasekera.
Nasution brings with him over 19 years of business experience in Malaysia and overseas. He joined Maxis in 2011, having served in senior management positions in local and international companies.
Suren joined Maxis in 2011 and was responsible for the consumer mobile telephony business. He has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, of which over 13 years were with SingTel and 6 years as CEO of Mobitel, the mobile business of Sri Lanka Telecom.