Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 02 January 2014 19:40
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 2): Index-linked shares and blue chips may lead the fall in the stock market tomorrow (Jan 3) if profit-taking on these overbought stocks continues after their recent highs due to window-dressing.
In addition, these stocks may also fall if investors are worried about the religious tension brought about by raids conducted by JAIS officers on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and arrest of their leaders today.
During the raid, JAIS seized 320 copies of the Malay languare Bible and 10 copies of the Bup Kudus, the Iban Bible. JAIS also arrested BSM President Lee Min Choon and its office manager, Sinclair Wong. Lee and Wong were released on bail after two hours and required to see JAIS officers on 10 January 2014.
BSM said it sees the action by JAIS as an infraction of the 10-Points Solution which was delicately worked out by the Federal Government and the Christian community in March 2011 in order to preserve peace and harmony between the Muslim and Christian communities in Malaysia.
Elsewhere, based on corporate announcements as at 7.00 pm today, the stocks that may lure trading interests tomorrow include the following:
Willowglen MSC Berhad, a computer based control systems supplier, has been awarded two contracts worth RM17.87 million by the Public Utilities Board of Singapore.
In a note to Bursa Malaysia, the company said the first contract is to upgrade PUB's existing SCADA system while the second is to maintain the system.
The upgrade contract is valued at RM12.38 million and will start on 6th January 2014 for completion by January 5th, 2016.
The maintenance contract valued at RM5.49 million will commence on 6th January 2016 and ends on January 5th, 2021
Both contracts are expected to contribute positively to the group’s earnings.
Cybertowers Bhd’s external auditor has expressed an audit disclaimer on the company's financials for the year ended August 31, 2013 (FY13) and casted doubt on the sustainability of Cybertower as a going concern.
In a statement to the exchange today, Cybertowers said its auditor Messrs. Siew Boon Yeong & Associates was not able to get enough evidence to support its audit opinion on Cybertowers.
According to Cybertowers, its auditor has indicated that it could not verify the existence and valuation of the former's computer servers which are installed in the US.
The auditor has also cast doubt on the sustainability of Cybertower as a going concern, based on Cybertowers' loss of RM7.65 million and RM3.7 million at group and company levels respectively in FY13. It noted Cybertowers' current liabilities had exceeded its current assets.
Mah Sing Group Bhd has again been chosen by CIMB Research as its top pick in the property sector.
Reasons given are: that the property sector was a top performer in 2013 and will stay robust in 2014. Despite the cooling measures on the property sector, CIMB believes that buying interest will progressively return in 1H14 as potential house buyers come to the realisation that property prices are unlikely to fall. Inflationary pressures from the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in Apr 15, 2015, could boost property prices further.
Malaysian Rating Corporation Bhd (MARC) removed its placement of Press Metal Bhd’s Redeemable Convertible Secured Loan Stock (RCSLS) rating from MARCWatch Negative and kept a rating of BBB with a negative outlook.
“The rating was placed on MARCWatch Negative on July 3, 2013 to enable the rating agency to assess the impact of the damage on Press Metal’s aluminium smelting plant in Mukah, Sarawak on the group following the power outage in the state on June 27, 2013,” said the rating agency in a press release today.
MARC said that the capacity loss at the Mukah Plant was partly offset by the increasing operations of the group’s Samalju Plant in Bintulu.
“An additional 80,000 MT/pa to Samalaju plant’s initial capacity of 240,000 MT/pa has come onstream and has provided support to the group’s overall performance,” said the rating agency in a press release today.
The group reported a slightly lower revenue of RM794.5 million for the three months ended Sept 30 (3QFY2013), from RM795.3 million in the preceding quarter (2QFY2013) before the outage.
The Mukah plant is currently going through reconstruction works which commenced on 18 November 2013, and is expected to be operating at full capacity by the end of February 2014.