Business & Markets 2014
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 09 May 2014 20:51
KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): Based on corporate announcements on Friday, the stocks that may be in focus on Monday include the following:
MISC Bhd reported a 62% rise in first quarter net profit from a year earlier on higher income from its liquified natural gas (LNG) and petroleum shipping operations.
Lower cost of sales, absence of impairment provision, and higher profit from joint ventures also supported MISC's bottom line even though revenue fell.
The shipping company said net profit rose to RM486.4 million from RM300.4 million. Revenue was, however, lower at RM2.29 billion versus RM2.38 billion.
MISC, controlled by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), said net profit climbed mainly on "improved freight rates and higher volume of lightering activities in the petroleum business".
Revenue fell mainly on lower income from the heavy engineering segment as existing projects neared completion. MISC said it also registered less income from its chemical shipping operations.
MPHB Capital Bhd today filed a civil suit against the Johor state government and Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), seeking the return of seven plots of land, compulsorily acquired for the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Johor.
MPHB Capital claimed that the state government and Petronas had "illegally acquired" the tracts.
MPHB Capital, which undertakes real estate operations, is also in the hotel and financial-services businesses.
Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB) reported net profit of RM35.5 million for its third quarter ended March 31, 2014, down 42% from RM61.1 million in the preceding year’s same quarter.
Revenue for the quarter declined 16% y-o-y to RM372.5 million, from RM442.5 million in the previous year.
For the nine months to the March 31, net profit fell to RM151.3 million from RM184.1 million, while revenue decreased to RM1.20 billion from RM1.26 billion.
Moving forward, the group expressed confidence it would be able to navigate through the challenging year to deliver an improved performance.
“While GAB expects the domestic beer business environment to remain challenging and competitive going forward, it has put in place an innovation strategy to refresh its brand portfolio,” it said.
Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd’s (SOP) net profit jumped 60% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM33.7 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2014, from RM21.1 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose by 28% y-o-y to RM546.6 million from RM427.1 million in the year before.
The group’s profit before tax in 1QFY14 also increased to RM49.0 million from RM29.3 million in 1QFY13, which was attributed to “higher realised prices and sales volume for palm products”.
KLCC Real Estate Investment Trust’s (REIT) net profit doubled to RM184 million in the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2014, from RM88 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose 9.3% year-on-year to RM340.9 million from RM311.9 million.
KLCC REIT declared a dividend of 8.65 sen per stapled security.
“The directors expect the overall group performance to further improve during this year with better performance from the retail segment, whilst the office rental will remain stable,” said KLCC REIT.
“The hotel segment, however, will continue to trade in a challenging environment,” it said.
IOI Properties Group Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, IOIP Capital Management Sdn Bhd, has raised funds via the proposed establishment of unrated Islamic medium term note programme of up to RM1.5 billion in nominal value.
The sukuk programme shall have tenure of up to 15 years from the date of first issuance of the sukuk murabahah.
“The proceeds raised from the sukuk programme of up to RM750 million shall be utilised to refinance an existing bridge loan facility,” said IOI Properties.
The remaining proceeds shall be utilised to finance land and development costs, investment and working capital requirements of the group.
Excel Force MSC Bhd has proposed a bonus issue of 103.4 million warrants on the basis of one warrant for every two existing shares held.
Excel Force, which offers information systems and services to banks and stock-broking firms, said it would fix the exercise price of the warrants at a later date.
"Assuming the full exercise of the warrants, the maximum proceeds to be raised by the company based on the indicative exercise price of RM0.70 per warrant is approximately RM72.37 million," Excel Force said.
Eco World Development Group Bhd announced that Eco World Development Sdn Bhd (EW Sdn Bhd) has offered to sell a Sydney property to the company at the same price and on same terms as that secured by EW Sdn Bhd from the vendor.
While the sale of the property is AUD28 million, fee for the “manager” is AUD15 million.
EW Sdn Bhd is controlled by some directors of Eco World Bhd, including Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin’s son Liew Tian Xiong.
The property, on a piece of land measuring 4,788 square metres or 1.18 acres, is envisaged to be redeveloped into a mixed residential and commercial development, said Eco World.
It is located on the southern fringe of the Parramatta CBD Retail Precinct close to the Westfield Shopping Precinct, railway station and bus interchange.
The offer letter sent to Eco World also stated that on May 9 the following agreements had been entered into in relation to the property:
(a) a contract of sale between Menara Parramatta Pty Limited (vendor) and Eco World Sydney Development Pty Ltd (EW Sydney), which is wholly-owned by EW Sdn Bhd, whereby EW Sydney has agreed to purchase the property for AUD28 million;
(b) a development deed between Menara Parramatta No. 2 Pty Ltd (Manager) and EW Sydney pursuant to which the Manager will apply to the relevant authority for approval to carry out a development on the property; and
(c) a guarantee and indemnity by EW Sdn Bhd in favour of the vendor and the manager to guarantee the performance by EW Sydney of its obligations under the contract of sale and development deed.
The manager is a company related to the vendor. If the development consent is obtained, EW Sydney is required to pay the manager a fee of AUD15 million.