Stocks To Watch MRCB, Berjaya Corp, TA Ent, Hiap Teck, Econpile, RHB Cap, EPMB, Rex, George Kent

WILL MRCB up PANG PANG SHENG tomorrow??

Business & Markets 2014
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com   
Monday, 30 June 2014 19:24

KUALA LUMPUR (June 30): Based on corporate news today, the stocks in focus tomorrow could include MRCB, Berjaya Corp, TA Enterprice, Hiap Teck, Econpile, RHB Cap, EPMB, Rex and George Kent.

Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) has won the bid to develop a RM7 billion development of MX-1, the first project in Kwasa Damansara township development by EPF’s Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd.

In a statement, MRCB said its group CEO En Imran Tan Sri Mohamad Salim has received the letter of award from Kwasa Land for the project.

The property development company said it is now “working towards finalizing the definitive agreement for this project”.

According to Kwasa Land, Project MX-1 is a 64-acre parcel of mix developments under the provisional master layout plan that has been earmarked to be the main town centre of the proposed Kwasa Damansara Township.  

Berjaya Corporation Bhd said it posted a net loss of RM250.45 million for the fourth quarter to end-April 2014, compared to a net profit of RM30.80 million a year ago.

The group registered an increased revenue of RM2.47 billion in the fourth quarter, as compared to RM2.05 billion in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

For the full year to April 2014, the group posted a net loss of RM160.4 million, compared to a net profit of RM75.0 million the previous year.

But the group registered higher revenue of RM8.63 billion, as compared to RM7.38 billion in the previous financial year.

Berjaya Corp recommends a final dividend of 1% single-tier dividend per share. The entitlement date and the payment date of the proposed final dividend shall be announced later.

Looking ahead, it said: “Given the group's diverse businesses and the current economic outlook, the directors are of the view that the group's performance will continue to remain challenging for the financial year ending 30 April 2015.”

TA Enterprise Bhd’s net profit soared 70.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM57.7 million in the first quarter ended Apr 30, 2014, from RM33.9 million.

Revenue jumped 16.3% y-o-y to RM210.4 million from RM180.9 million.

The firm said the significant increase in net profit was mainly due to contribution from broking and financial services, credit and lending, hotel and investment holding divisions.

“The global economy is expected to be challenging, resulting from the rollback of the quantitative easing in US and slower than expected growth in China,” said TA Enterprise on prospects for the current financial year.

“However, the domestic economy is expected to be resilient because of sustainable domestic demand and recovery in exports.”

Hiap Teck Venture Bhd said its net profit for the third quarter to end-April 2014 rose to RM13.57 million, up 48.8% from RM9.12 million a year ago.

It recorded a 6.2% growth in revenue in the third quarter to end-April 2014 (Q3FY2014) to RM296.7 million, from RM279.3 million achieved in Q3FY2013.

For the nine months to April 2014, group revenue remained stable at RM826.3 million as compared to RM833.4 million in the previous corresponding period.

Due to higher gross margin, higher foreign exchange gain and interest income, the group registered a substantial growth in earnings with net profit rising to RM31.91 million, from RM11.92 million.

Hiap Teck said its board of directors “is cautiously optimistic on the performance of the Group for the remaining of the financial year”.

Econpile Holdings Bhd, which made its debut trading on the local stock exchange today, closed with a gain of 16.5 sen or 30.6% over its IPO price of 54 sen per share.

Econpile was the most actively traded stock today, after opening at 66 sen, a 12 sen or 22% premium to its initial public offering (IPO) price of 54 sen. Total trades done today was 212.5 million shares.

In a statement today, the company said it recently secured contracts worth nearly RM 60 million for property development projects nationwide.

The company’s CEO & Executive Director Raymond Pang said the contracts worth RM60 million boosted its order book to nearly RM480 million as at 20 June 2014, to be delivered within six to 18 months.

Pang added that the company had established a dividend policy of distributing a minimum of 20% of annual net profits to shareholders, with effect from the financial year ending 30 June 2014 (FY2014).

RHB Capital Bhd said it has canceled its plan to buy a stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Mestika Dharma after failing to win approval from Indonesian authorities, Reuters reported.

RHB Capital said it still had not received approval from Indonesia's Financial Services Authority and thus failed to fulfill conditions for the sale and purchase agreement expiring on June 30.

The bank had proposed buying 40 percent of Bank Mestika for 651.1 million ringgit ($202.87 million). It initially planned to acquire 80 percent of Bank Mestika for 1.1 billion ringgit, but reduced the stake after Indonesia's central bank capped single-party ownership of domestic banks in 2012.  ($1 = 3.2095 Malaysian ringgit)

EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB), a tier-1 automotive systems and components manufacturer, has secured a contract to supply automotive components to Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd (HMSB).

EPMB has invested up to RM27 million in new plant and equipment.

In a statement today, executive chairman Hamidon Abdullah said: "This new contract is a testament to EPMB’s capability as a tier-1 automotive component supplier.”

Rex Industry Bhd, a manufacturer and exporter of canned food, is eyeing  15 per cent growth in turnover this year, supported by the healthy expansion of its drinks division.

Group director Lee Hee Hong said that the company would focus on the drinks division to support the growth rate and keep up the increase in sales.

He said that the group has allocated about RM2.5 million as capital expenditure in 2014 and for expansion purposes.

"Factory space expansion and an addition of new production lines are in the plans to prepare for the push towards this direction," he told reporters, after the group's annual general meeting here today.

He added that contribution from the group's overseas market via PT Rex Indonesia and Rex Food China, will boost the overall turnover.

George Kent (Malaysia) Bhd today proposed a one-for-three bonus issue, saying this is to reward shareholders after it posted a strong financial year ended January 2014.

In the last financial year, the company earned a net profit of RM35.99 million compared to RM25.56 million in the previous financial year.

The company said for the first quarter to April 2014, it reported a revenue of RM64.9 million, a decline compared to RM84.69 million in the corresponding quarter in the preceding financial year.

“However, due to higher profit margins from the group’s manufacturing & trading as well as its construction segments, the group delivered a 9.8% increase in its profit before tax to RM8.7 million compared to RM7.9 million in Q1FY2014.”

The stock closed down 17 sen or 9% after the noon announcement.