Written by Melody Song & Isabelle Francis
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 07:44
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia, which managed to stay somewhat resilient when compared with the bigger losses in key regional markets on Monday, April 19 after the fallout from the fraud suit against Goldman Sachs, could post a mild recovery on Tuesday following the overnight rebound on Wall Street.
US stocks rebounded on Monday after investors reassessed the potential fallout from the fraud charges against Goldman Sachs while the dollar rose on safe-haven demand spurred by delayed Greece debt talks, according to Reuters.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 63.56 points, or 0.58 percent, at 11,082.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 4.16 points, or 0.35 percent, at 1,196.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 4.22 points, or 0.17 percent, at 2,477.04.
On Bursa Malaysia, stocks to watch are Tenaga Nasional Bhd, VASTALUX ENERGY BHD [], AFFIN HOLDINGS BHD [] and Supermax Corp Bhd. Other stocks to watch include EON CAPITAL BHD [] and HONG LEONG BANK BHD [] (HLBB), GUOCOLAND (MALAYSIA) BHD [] and AEON CREDIT SERVICE (M) BHD [].
Tenaga is scheduled to release its second quarter results after market close and analysts expect it to post strong earnings, underpinned by the strong growth in power consumption, and also the stronger ringgit.
The power company also said it might expand its Janamanjung plant to meet future demand, given the high possibility that power supply from the Bakun hydro power plant may not come to Peninsular Malaysia by 2015.
Vastalux may extend its gains after it confirmed that it is in talks to buy up to 51% stake in Shapadu Energy and Engineering Sdn Bhd (SEEN).
The company, however, said no decision has been made to inject SEEN’s assets into the company to be satisfied via issuance of new shares. Vastalux closed 5 sen higher at 19 sen yesterday.
Over the weekend, Primus Pacific Partners Ltd, the single largest shareholder of EON a 20.2% said that it does not plan to sell its stake, despite two attempts by HLBB to buy over the banking group. Meanwhile, Affin said it is open to bid for a stake in EON if the opportunity arises, but this would hinge on Bank Negara’s approval.
Supermax’s earnings jumped 161% on-year in its first quarter ended March 31, 2010 at RM51.47 million on the back of higher revenue. Its 1Q10 results have exceeded analysts’ expectations, who predict global demand for rubber gloves will remain strong into 2Q10.
Meanwhile, Hong Leong Group affiliated company Guocoland (Malaysia) Bhd reported that net loss widen to RM5.65 million in 3Q10 from a net loss of RM3.37 million a year earlier.
Despite a 139.3% increase in revenue to RM42.42 million from RM17.73 million previously, the group’s financial results showed increasing finance costs contributed in part to poorer performance.
AEON Credit's net profit rose 5% to RM14.3 million in its fourth quarter ended Feb 20, 2010 (4QFY10) from RM13.6 million a year earlier in line with its revenue growth despite the government’s imposition of tax on credit cards.