Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 28 February 2013 20:58
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): Based on corporate results announced today, stocks that may stir on Friday (March 1) include Genting, MAS, MMC, OSK, Oriental Holdings, KPJ, Tradewinds, Media Chinese, Alam Maritim and NCB.
GENTING BHD [] said it posted a whopping 220% year-on-year jump in net profit to RM2.5 billion for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012, compared to RM772.9 million in the previous corresponding quarter.
As a result, earnings per share for the quarter tripled to 67.01 sen, from 20.94 sen previously.
The company attributed the high net profit for the quarter to the disposal of its Kuala Langat power plant for RM1.9 billion, which was completed on in October 2012.
The group’s fourth quarter, however, posted a lower revenue of RM4.5 billion compared to RM4.8 billion.
It only declared a 4.5 sen dividend for the quarter.
For the full year ended December 31, 2012, the gaming group also posted much higher net profit of RM4 billion, over RM2.9 billion recorded last year. Revenue was at RM17.3 billion compared to last year’s RM18.6 billion.
MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] (MAS) reported a net profit of RM51.37 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012 (4QFY12), against a net loss of RM1.28 billion a year earlier as higher revenue and foreign exchange (forex) gains lifted its bottom line.
The quarterly profit had also come on impairment write-back, lower provision for debt and inventory, besides higher interest income, MAS said in a statement.
The national carrier said revenue rose to RM3.87 billion in 4QFY12 from RM3.68 billion previously. Full-year net loss narrowed to RM432.59 million, from a net loss of RM2.52 billion in 2011, as revenue fell to RM13.76 billion from RM13.9 billion.
Looking ahead, MAS expects jet fuel prices to stay high as the company contends with more competition from global airlines. The firm said global economic uncertainty may hamper air travel demand.
MMC CORPORATION BHD [] posted a net profit of RM79.4 million for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012 (4QFY12), a sharp 58.5% fall from RM191 million in its previous corresponding quarter.
Its quarterly revenue also fell, recording RM1.71 billion -- down from 4QFY11’s RM2.41 billion.
For its full year, the company posted a net profit of RM921 million, up sharply from its RM332 million a year before. Its revenue has dropped to RM8.3 billion in FY12, from RM9.3 billion in FY11.
The company said the decrease in revenue was mainly due to the lower contribution from the Energy and Utilities sector, arising from the listing of Gas Malaysia Bhd.
OSK HOLDINGS BHD [] posted a net profit of RM870 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012, compared to its net loss of RM30.3 million a year earlier due to disposal of subsidiary companies and discontinued operations.
“The strong performance was mainly contributed by a gain on disposal of subsidiary companies for RM857.7 million,” said the group in a filing to Bursa. OSK also obtained a profit of RM85.2 million from discontinued operations.
The group declared dividend of 2.5 sen per share compared to previously not declaring any dividend.
ORIENTAL HOLDINGS BHD []’s final quarter net profit came to RM75.95 million, which was 16% lower than the previous corresponding period’s RM90.43 million as higher operating costs put pressure on its margins.
The group reported its revenue for its fourth quarter for financial year ended December 31, 2012 was RM723.69 million. Its revenue for 4QFY11 was RM695.32 million.
Oriental Holdings’ full-year net profit came to RM235.85 million, or 38.02 sen per share, on revenue of RM2.79 billion. In FY11, its net profit was RM270.16 million, or 43.55 sen per share, on revenue of RM3.11 billion.
“Overall, the group posted lower profit before tax across all major operating segments,” the group said.
The group is involved in automotive, PLANTATION [], manufacturing and hospitality businesses.
KPJ HEALTHCARE BHD [] reported a net profit of RM37.6 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2012 (4Q12), a 27% fall from the RM51.5 million posted in previous corresponding quarter.
It said the fall in profit was due to the “recognition of accumulated fair value adjustments” in relation to investment PROPERTIES [] of an associate. Total revenue rose marginally to RM526.5 million from RM524.3 million.
For its full year results, total profit came in at RM139.1 million, down from FY11’s RM143.7 million.
Looking ahead, KPJ said the healthcare industry is expected to enjoy continued growth in this current year mainly due to the nation’s growing middle income population.
Tradewinds Malaysia Bhd posted a sharp 65% fall in net profit to RM40.3 million for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012, from RM116.2 million in its corresponding quarter in 2011.
The company’s low fourth quarter net profit was on the back of a RM1.92 billion in revenue, against RM2.21 billion from its preceding quarter a year before.
The group said its revenue decline was due to a drop in revenue in all operating divisions, which includes rice, plantation, rubber, sugar and other investment holdings.
MEDIA CHINESE INTERNATIONAL LT []d's net profit in its third quarter fell 22.6% year-on-year due to the impact of rising operating expenses, despite a marginal rise in revenue.
The group reported net profit for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012 (3QFY13) at RM45.56 million, down 22.6% from the previous corresponding quarter.
Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter came to a flat RM376.31 million, compared to M375.51 million recorded in 3QFY12.
The group’s performance for the quarter was impacted by rising operating expenses and lower advertising. Revenue from its publishing and printing segment was flat.
Alam Maritim Bhd achieved net profit of RM21.05 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2012, as compared to the net loss of RM371,000 posted in similar quarter of previous year, while revenue rose 86.52% to RM166.94 million from RM89.5 million a year ago.
On a full year basis, net profit surged 341.73% to RM60.04 million, on the back of a 62.92% gain in revenue to RM502 million compared to the previous year.
A year ago, Alam Maritim only garnered net profit of RM13.59 million on revenue of RM308.12 million.
The company said that its revenue and net profits were boosted by its subsea services/offshore installation & CONSTRUCTION [] (OIC) segment which soared more than 100% as compared to a year ago.
NCB HOLDINGS BHD [] reported a 47% drop in net profit to RM23.48 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012 (4QFY12 ), from RM44.6 million a year earlier as the port operator handled less cargo during the period.
NCB said "lower container throughput handled by Northport for the quarter" had led to a slight decline in NCB's revenue to RM236.22 million.
NCB is paying a final dividend of 2.5 sen a share.
It said its port operations are expected to encounter challenges amid a competitive environment and uncertainties in global container trade.