Business & Markets 2014
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Wednesday, 05 February 2014 19:50
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 5): Based on news flow and announcements as at 7.15 pm today, stocks that may attract attention tomorrow include the following:
TH Heavy Engineering Berhad (THHE) announced that its subsidiary, THHE Fabricators Sdn. Bhd, has received an award from PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd for the procurement, construction and commissioning (PCC) of KNPG-B Topside PH II, Kinabalu Non-Associated Gas (NAG) Development Project.
Under the contract, the company is to undertake the PCC for the topside for location at Kinabalu Deep & East PSC block, 55km west northwest of Labuan, offshore Sabah.
It is a one-off contract and the scheduled completion date for the contract is about 18 months, said THHE.
The contract is expected to contribute positively to the earnings of THHE for the financial years ending 31 December 2014 and 2015, it added.
THHE share fell 0.5 sen to end at 90.5 sen today.
TSR Capital Bhd announced that it is negotiating with the government regarding its proposal to relocate and redevelop the RMAF Butterworth (RMAFB) air base through a land swap.
The proposal will be carried out by a joint venture company (JVC) consisting of TSR Capital, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), and Pembinaan Bukit Timah Sdn Bhd, which will build a new air base on a land yet to be identified.
TSR Capital has a 51% stake in the JVC, while LTAT and Pembinaan Bukit Timah each has a stake of 30% and 19% respectively.
Under the proposal, the JVC will receive land from the government as payment, including the 1,007 acre land at Teluk Air Tawar, Penang, where the air base is currently located.
“The JVC will reap benefit in the capacity of master developer of the government land for redevelopment into a city of arts and leisure,” said TSR Capital.
Ahead of this announcement, TSR Cap rose 10 sen or 7.5% to close at RM1.43 today.
RHB Capital Bhd’s plan to raise up to RM5 billion from the proposed multi-currency medium term note (MCMTN) programme has been approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).
The banking and financial group said its wholly-owned subsidiary, RHB Bank, had today obtained approval and authorisation from the SC in a letter dated yesterday for the MCMTN programme.
“The proceeds raised from the MCMTN programme will be utilised for RHB Bank’s general working capital and other corporate purposes,” said the group.
RHB Cap’s share price rebounded 16 sen or 2% to RM7.78 today after a recent fall.
Public Bank Bhd reported a net profit of RM1.03 billion for its fourth quarter, up 4.4% from RM981.84 million posted in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
Revenue for the quarter also rose in tandem, up by 8% to RM3.919 billion from RM3.630 billion.
Public Bank announced a second interim dividend of 30 sen per share for the year ended Dec 31, 2013, which will go ex on Feb 18, 2014, and payable on Feb 28.
Cumulatively, the 2013 full year net profit increased to RM4.065 billion from RM3.827 billion in 2012, while revenue rose to RM15.264 billion from RM14.058 billion in 2012.
In a separate statement, chairman of Public Bank Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow said: “The group’s net profit attributable to shareholders (for 2013) grew by 6.2% to RM4.06 billion, exceeding the RM4 billion mark for the first time.”
On outlook, he said the group is “well-positioned to weather any uncertainties in 2014 and beyond. The group is expected to maintain its earnings momentum and record satisfactory performance in 2014.”
Public Bank’s share price rose 2 sen to close at RM19.06 after the news. Before the news, it was flat at RM19.04.
In its comment, Alliance Research stated it is “neutral” on Public Bank with a slightly lower target price of RM17.06, as “the group’s rich P/BV valuation has largely priced in such positives”.
CMSB, Naim, Dayang, which are Sarawak companies linked to the family of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, fell today after speculative news reports that this longest serving chief minister would retire soon.
National news agency and other newspapers came out with speculative reports, following a similar report by a leading Chinese newspaper yesterday.
At market close, CMSB fell 19 sen or 2.6% to end at RM7.24, Naim Holdings Bhd lost 2 sen or 0.6% to RM3.50 while Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd surrendered 7 sen or 2% to close at RM3.60.
All these counters, which had been the beneficiaries of state government contracts in the past, had seen their share prices doubled in 2013.
Dealers said some investors thought it might be better to unload these stocks now as they believed that after Taib stepped down, many contracts might not be given to the companies.
Scomi Engineering Bhd, the transport solutions arm of Scomi Group Bhd, said it has successfully launched the Mumbai Monorail project, India’s first monorail.
Phase One of the Mumbai Monorail was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra State, Shri. Prithviraj Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister, Shri. Ajit Pawar on Feb 1, 2014, Scomi said in a statement.
The Mumbai Monorail transported around 40,000 passengers during the first two days of its operation on Feb 2 and Feb 3.