Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 13 December 2013 20:46
KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 13): Based on corporate events and announcements today (Dec 13), Lion Corporation and Barakah may be the focus of attention on Bursa Malaysia on Monday (Dec 16).
The other stocks may include RHB, Btoto, NTPM, TM and DiGi.
Lion Corporation Bhd announced that its subsidiary Megasteel Sdn Bhd has been served a writ of summons by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), which has made a financial claim totalling RM159.5 million.
TNB is demanding RM145.3 million for the supply of electricity and RM14.2 million for overdue interest, according to Lion Corp’s filing with Bursa.
It said TNB’s claim, dated 10 December 2013, named Megasteel as a defendant.
Lion Corp said Megasteel is now seeking legal advice with regard to the writ of summons and will engage TNB for settlement of the claim.
The RHB Banking Group announced the appointment of Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli as managing director/ CEO of RHB Bank Bhd and deputy group MD of the RHB Banking Group with effect from today.
Prior to his appointment, Khairussaleh was a key member of the senior management team of a leading local bank, said a statement from RHB.
In early September, Malayan Banking Bhd announced that the president director of its PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII) Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli had resigned to return to Malaysia.
Khairussaleh was appointed by shareholders as BII president director in January 2012.
RHB said today Khairussaleh will bring with him more than 20 years of experience in the financial services and capital markets industry. He won the “Best CFO in Malaysia Award” in 2010 and 2011 from Finance Asia and the “Best CFO in Malaysia Award” in 2012 from Alpha Southeast Asia.
Khairussaleh holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Washington University and is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.
Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd posted a lower net profit of RM82.6 million, down 27% year on year, for the quarter to October 2013.
Consequently, it declared a lower interim dividend of six sen compared to 9.5 sen a year ago.
For the quarter, the number forecasting operator recorded a 4.6% year-on-year decrease in revenue at RM866.9 million.
The decrease in profit was mainly due to the corporate exercise expenses incurred pursuant to the proposed listing of STM Trust (which was aborted) in the quarter under review, the company said.
It said its principal subsidiary, Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd, recorded a decrease in revenue and pre-tax profit of 3.3% and 9.2% respectively as compared to the previous year corresponding quarter.
The other subsidiary, BPI, recorded a decrease in revenue of 26.5% mainly due to lower lease rental income earned as a result of lower sales reported by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
For the 6-month period to October 2013, the group posted a lower net profit of RM181.4 million and lower revenue of RM1.75 billion.
On outlook, Berjaya Sports Toto said the gaming sector in Malaysia is expected to remain resilient and the directors expect the group “to maintain its market share in the NFO (number forecasting operator) business”.
Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd announced that it has via its wholly-owned subsidiary secured a Petronas contract to build pipelines and related equipment for offshore oil & gas fields within the country.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, the oil & gas service provider said its wholly-owned unit PBJV Group Sdn Bhd has received letters of awards from oil & gas production sharing companies (PSCs).
In a separate statement, Petronas said it has awarded the Pan Malaysia Integrated Offshore Installation Contract worth RM10 billion to three local offshore installation contractors, among which is PBJV.
Barakah said the letters of awards are for the provision of transportation and installation of facilities for the three years 2014 to 2016 under Package A.
It said the total value of the contract will depend on the actual work orders issued by the PSCs during the contract period.
“The contract is expected to contribute positively towards the earnings and net assets per share of the group for the entire duration of the contract beginning from financial year ending Sept 30, 2014,” said the firm.
Additionally, Barakah said the contract period of three years comes with a one year extension option.
NTPM Holdings Bhd’s net profit jumped 31% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM16 million in the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2013.
Revenue also rose to RM127 million from RM119 million.
In a filing to the stock exchange, the paper product manufacturer attributed the profit increase to higher margin for tissue products and higher sales contribution from personal care segment.
NTPM said the higher revenue was mainly due to the increase in sales of tissue and baby diapers in the domestic market.
For the half year period to October, profit earned was RM28 million, up from RM22 million a year earlier, while revenue raked in was RM252 million versus RM233 million in the previous corresponding period.
NTPM said while it expects the financial year to be full of challenges, it remains optimistic that the group will be able to achieve "satisfactory performance" in the financial year ending April 30, 2014.
Telekom Malaysia Bhd will gain between RM400 million and RM600 million in lease fee over the next 10 to 15 years from the TM Next-Gen Backhaul Services agreement signed with Celcom Axiata Bhd and DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, Bernama reported.
TM, together with Celcom Axiata Bhd and DiGi Telcommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGi), today signed a collaborative deal for TM Next-Gen Backhaul services.
This collaboration is to keep pace with the demands and needs of the industry, in order to provide low latency and high bandwith to mobile devices, according to a statement from TM.
Through this deal, TM will provide wholesale bandwith connectivity through TM Next-Gen Backhaul services for sites owned by Celcom and DiGi, which spans between 3,000 to 3,500km in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Leveraging on TM’s strength on its nationwide fibre coverage and resilient network platform, Celcom and DiGi subscribers will be able to enjoy seamless and quality services via their mobile devices everywhere, anywhere,” said Tan Sri Zamzamzairani, group chief executive officer of TM.
He added that the collaboration will be for the duration of more than 10 years, in two phases of development, with the first phase to be completed by 2016.
Henrik Clausen, CEO of DiGi said: “Ultimately, benefits derived from operational efficiencies will be channelled towards accelerating our reach and significantly improving the quality of our services to all customers across Malaysia.”