Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 13 March 2013 19:55
KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 13): Based on news flow and corporate announcements, stocks that may attract attention could include IHH, Sapura Industrial, Sanichi, Pesona, Top Glove and TECHNOLOGY [] firms.
IHH Healthcare Bhd announced that GHK Hospital Ltd, a 60%-owned indirect subsidiary, has acquired a land grant and service deed from the Hong Kong government for RM675 million to build a private hospital there.
The major healthcare company said the project will involve a capital investment of HK$5 billion (RM2 billion), inclusive of land cost of HK$1.68 billion (RM675 million).
The hospital, projected to be fully developed and scheduled to commence operations in 2016, is expected to enhance the future earnings of IHH. But for the current financial year to end-December 2013, there will not be any impact.
SAPURA INDUSTRIAL BHD [] reported that its net profit for fourth quarter ended January 31, 2013 (4QFY13), plunged by 50% from a year earlier as it registered a lower turnover.
The automotive parts manufacturer said it made RM2.23 million in net profit for the quarter under review, down 50.47% from 4QFY12’s RM4.50 million. Revenue for 4QFY13 was RM66.13 million, versus RM74.35 million.
Sapura Industrial’s full-year financial performance also took a hit, with the company attributing the lower numbers to provision made for an arbitration claim and lower sales.
Its net profit for FY13 was lower at RM13.32 million on reduced revenue of RM265.24 million.
On prospects, Sapura Industrial said market conditions will continue to be challenging for the automotive sector in view of the uncertain global economic outlook. Its shares were down two sen at RM1.47 today.
SANICHI TECHNOLOGY BHD [], which has been suffering losses, expects a return to the black in the current financial year ending June 31, 2013, following the completion of its corporate restructuring exercises, Bernama reported.
The profit would be a result of debt waivers from creditors and an improvement in revenue and profit margins.
For the first half ended Dec 31, 2012, STB posted a pre-tax loss of RM4.6 million on revenue of RM2.25 million.
The net tangible asset value per share of STB, after the completion of its corporate restructuring, is estimated to be 16 sen. The company’s share was last traded at 11.5 sen.
Pesona Metro Holdings Bhd, which took over the listing status of MITHRIL BHD [] last October after a restructuring exercise, registered a surplus of RM340,000 from the latest revaluation for its investment property.
The CONSTRUCTION [] company said it has done a valuation for its one-and-a-half-storey terrace factory in Putrajaya, with the new value of the asset being RM1.56 million.
The revaluation has raised the company’s net asset per share by 0.07 sen per share. As at the end of last year, the company’s net asset per share stood at 13.69 sen per share. Pesona’s shares were traded flat at 21 sen a piece today.
Top Glove Corp Bhd, which is releasing its second quarter financial results on Thursday (March 14), is expected to post a lower second quarter net profit on higher manpower cost.
Affin Investment Bank said in its research report today while it expects Top Glove’s 1HFY13 results to be in line with its expectation, it believes the group’s 2QFY13 core net profit would be lower.
While it expects Top Glove to report a 27% to 30% year-on-year growth in the first-half core net profit on sales growth and cheaper raw material, the latter could post a quarterly contraction of 8% to 12% on higher manpower cost.
Technology Stocks could be affected by a report by US-based Semiconductor and Materials International (SEMI) that global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales had fallen 15% year-on-year in 2012 to US$36.93 billion.
SEMI said spending rates declined for all the regions, except for Korea and Taiwan.
It said the global wafer processing equipment market segment decreased 18%; the assembly and packaging segment decreased 8%; and the total test equipment sales decreased 6%. Other front end equipment sales grew by 4%.