Business & Markets 2014
Written by Levina Lim of theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 07 August 2014 19:17
KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 7): Based on Bursa Malaysia announcements and news flow today, stocks, which may be in focus tomorrow (August 8) may include the following companies.
KNM Group Bhd rose five sen or 4.81% to close at RM1.09 on news that the process equipment maker was a selected subcontractor for a US$1.33 billion (RM4.26 billion) Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) project.
KNM's wholly-owned subsidiary KNM Process System Sdn Bhd is a selected subcontractor to Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co Ltd for the project, which involves engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning work for one package of an oil refining and petrochemical integrated engineering project.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has emerged as a major shareholder in Coastal Contracts Bhd after acquiring an additional 1.67 million shares in the latter.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, ship builder Coastal Contracts announced that subsequent to the acquisition, the EPF holds 27.3 million shares or 5.14% in firm.
Two of Scanwolf Corp Bhd's major shareholders, Datuk Loo Bin Keong and Datuk Tan Sin Keat, have pared their stakes in the loss-making furniture parts manufacturer via off-market transactions today.
Some 20 million shares or 26.56% in Scanwolf were crossed for 50 sen a share or a total of RM10 million.
According to Scanwolf's filings with Bursa Malaysia, Loo, who is Scanwolf's chief executive officer and single-largest shareholder, sold a block of 16 million shares, leaving him with 7.9 million shares or a 10.43% direct stake and 0.04% indirect portion.
Meanwhile, Tan, an executive director of Scanwolf, ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the company after selling four million shares, leaving him with 3.07 million shares or 4.08%.
Petronas Dagaagan Bhd's net profit fell 6% to RM185.65 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 from RM197.13 million a year earlier. Revenue, however, rose to RM8.37 billion from RM7.92 billion.
Cumulative first-half net profit declined to RM340.73 million from RM434.22 million a year earlier. Revenue was higher at RM16.66 billion compared to RM15.54 billion.
Petronas Dagaagan plans to pay a single-tier interim dividend of 14 sen a share for the quarter in review.
FBM KLCI-linked stocks with high foreign shareholding like Malayan Banking Bhd and Genting Bhd may be closely watched as political conflicts in the Russia-Ukraine and Middle East regions hurt global market sentiment.
Fund managers said this was in anticipation that prolonged uncertainties in these regions would negatively impact growth in major economies.
A fund manager told theedgemalaysia.com that Russia's move to ban food imports from the US and Europe in response to sanctions against Russia, might hurt economic growth in the US and Europe.