Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 05 December 2013 20:04
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 5): Based on corporate announcements today, stocks that should not escape attention tomorrow (Dec 6) may include the following:
HELP International Corporation Bhd announced that it has received a written take-over offer dated today from Better Education Enterprise Sdn Bhd (BEE) to acquire all the shares not owned by BEE in HELP for a cash offer price of RM2.53 per share.
Selangor Properties Bhd (SPH), which holds 72,442,222 HELP’s shares representing 51% of all issued and paid-up share capital of HELP, also made similar announcement to the stock exchange.
These official announcements show that a morning story published by theedgemalaysia.com and written by Shalini Kumar on the offer price of RM2.53 was right.
SPH said the offeror is a newly set up firm under the Southern Capital Group.
Shares of HELP and Selangor Properties will resume trading tomorrow after being suspended for one day.
Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd saw a rise of 4.8% in net profit to RM123.7 million for its third quarter ended October 2013, from RM118.1 million in similar quarter last year.
A dividend of 2 sen was announced by the group. The dividend will be payable on Dec 20, 2013.
Revenue for the quarter was recorded at RM1.217 billion, a 12.8% increase from RM1.078 billion in the previous corresponding quarter.
“The increase in net profit is mainly due to increase in EBITDA of RM75.9 million, which was offset by an increase in depreciation of set-top boxes of RM48.5 million and an increase in net finance cost of RM26.4 million,” said the group.
The group attributed the increase in revenue to “the increase in subscription, advertising and other revenue of RM77.5 million, RM27.3 million and RM33.3 million respectively.”
Kelington Group Bhd announced that its unit, Kelington Engineering (S) Pte Ltd, has received an award from Kang Hui Maternity Center Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd to provide UHP mechanical & electrical services and medical system for a total contract value of US$46 million.
The contract is targeted to commence in December 2013 and shall be completed by October 2014.
“The contract is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of KGB Group for the financial year ending 31 December 2014,” the company said.
Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd has secured the approval of Norway’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to acquire an additional production licence in the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, the firm said the production licence was granted on Dec 3 this year to Lime Petroleum Norway AS, a wholly-owned unit of Lime Petroleum Plc, by North Energy ASA.
Lime Petroleum is jointly owned by Gulf Hibiscus Ltd, Schroder & Co Banque SA and Rex Oil & Gas Ltd. Gulf Hibiscus is a 35% owned subsidiary of Hibiscus.
In a separate statement, Hibiscus also said its subsidiary has been awarded a production licence over the West Seahorse oil field in the offshore Gippsland Basin, Victoria, Australia.
It said its unit, Carnarvon Hibiscus Pty Ltd, has today been awarded the production licence VIC/L31 for the said oil field, being developed by the VIC/P57 JV.
Berjaya Food Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended October 2013 rose to RM4.5 million, from RM3.9 million a year ago.
Revenue of Bfood (Berjaya Food) also rose to RM33.7 million from RM23.6 million.
The company told Bursa Malaysia in a filing: “The higher revenue was mainly due to the effect of consolidating the revenue of Jollibean Foods Pte Ltd for the quarter.
“The higher pre-tax profit achieved for the quarter was mainly due to share of higher results from Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company Sdn Bhd and consolidating the results of Jollibean in this current quarter.”
Boustead Holdings Bhd today obtained shareholders’ approval on its proposals to privatise Al-Hadharah Boustead REIT and list its plantation division via an enlarged Boustead Plantations Bhd on Bursa Malaysia.
Speaking today after the group’s EGM, Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said the privatisation of Boustead REIT will pave way for Boustead to consolidate all of its plantation assets into one entity with a view towards listing of its plantation business.
“This is part of Boustead’s ongoing exercise to rationalise the group’s activities and unlock the best possible value from all our investments,” said Lodin, who is group managing director of Boustead.
“In this way, we can gain the best possible returns in terms of dividend yield as well as appreciation in share price for shareholders.”