Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 20 September 2013 20:33
KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 20): Amid scanty news flow and limited corporate announcements today, the stocks that may attract attention on Monday (Sept 23) could include UEM, Tan Chong, FFB, Wah Seong, Wong Engineering and Silk Holdings.
UEM SUNRISE BHD [], Malaysia’s second-biggest developer by market value, is betting the slide in ringgit and measures to curb property prices in Singapore will boost sales at its largest projects.
UEM may surpass its new sales target of 3 billion ringgit ($948 million) for the year, Chief Executive Officer Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim told Bloomberg.
UEM is the biggest landowner in the Iskandar Malaysia, an economic development zone in Johor that borders Singapore. Iskandar “is more attractive and so cheap in comparison to Singapore,” Abdullah said.
The ringgit has dropped 5.4% against the Singapore dollar over the past four months. Singapore has been implementing curbs to cool an overheated property market, prompting Singaporeans to look for cheaper property across the border.
Singaporeans account for 74% of overseas buyers, making them the largest foreign and second-largest group of purchasers of UEM’s PROPERTIES [] after Malaysians, Abdullah said.
TAN CHONG MOTOR HOLDINGS BHD [] (TCMH), through its Labuan-based subsidiary ETCM (MM) Pte Ltd, has received the green light to manufacture and market motor vehicles in Myanmar for the next 50 years.
In a filing on Bursa today, Tan Chong said the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) issued a permit to the company recently in respect of the approval for an investment proposal by ETCM in the manufacturing and marketing of motor vehicles at the industrial area of Bago Region in Myanmar.
TCM Myanmar will have an authorised capital of USD100 million (RM316.5 million).
“The MIC permit is for a period of 50 years, commencing from the date of the signing of a land lease agreement between TCM Myanmar and the Bago Region government, and extendable for further periods of two terms of 10 years each.
“The permit allows for certain tax exemptions and reliefs applicable upon implementation of the project as provided for under the Myanmar Foreign Investment Law,” said the company.
CONSTRUCTION [] of its plant at Bago will commence within one year from the date of the permit and expected to be completed in three years, it added.
FAVELLE FAVCO BHD [] (FFB) announced that it has secured RM120.7 million worth of purchase orders or Letter of Intent (contracts) from several customers via its wholly owned subsidiaries in Aug and Sept.
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, the crane specialist said the combined value of all the orders secured amount to RM120.7 million.
“The contracts are expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of our group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2013 and beyond,” said FFB.
WAH SEONG CORPORATION BHD [] (WSC) announced that, via its unit, it has been awarded a contract worth RM232.1 million by Petronas Carigali Snd Bhd.
In a filing to the stock exchange, WSC said its pipe coating business unit was awarded the contract for the provision of “Anti Corrosion Coating, Internal Flow Coating and Concrete Weight Coating for the EVA-NNM Gas Delivery System” project.
“The contract is expected to contribute positively to the earnings of the group over the contract period,” said WSC.
WONG ENGINEERING CORPORATION [] Bhd, responding to an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia, said it is currently in negotiations on the supply of mechanical and industrial products.
The company, however, clarified that it was not aware of any rumour or report concerning the business and affairs that could have caused a surge for the unusual trading activity of its shares on Bursa today.
“The board of directors of the company is currently in negotiation with a third party on the supply of mechanical and industrial products,” it said.
Shares of Wong Engineering rose as much as 27 sen, or 65%, to 68.5 sen on volume of some 34.88 million shares, before it was halted at 4.40pm today.
The company said its shares will resume trading at 9am on September 23, 2013 (Monday).
Wong Engineering posted a net loss of RM1.27 million for the second quarter of the financial year ended April 30, 2013. The company is involved in the manufacturing and sale of high precision metal sheet fabrication and assembly.
Silk Holdings Bhd said its pre-tax profit for the financial year ended July 31, 2013, advanced to RM26.4 million from RM17.3 million in the previous financial year, Bernama reported.
Revenue increased to RM383.3 million from RM341.1 million previously, the company said in a statement.
For the fourth quarter ended July 31, 2013, its pre-tax profit, however, declined to RM3.2 million from RM4.9 million previously, due mainly to increased finance costs and depreciation charges.
Its Chairman, Datuk Mohd Azlan Hashim, said the company continued to grow its business despite a fairly tight economy.
Azlan said the board was confident that traffic volume at the highway infrastructure division will continue to grow in line with increased development activities in the vicinity it serves.
Moving forward, he said the board expected the highway infrastructure division will continue to record accounting losses due to the existing high finance and amortisation costs.
"However, the board also expects the division to remain cash-flow positive on an operational basis as a result of the restructuring of the long-term debt," he said.