Business & Markets 2014
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 02 June 2014 19:30
KUALA LUMPUR (June 2): Based on corporate announcements as at 7pm today, the following companies may be in focus tomorrow —
Astral Supreme Berhad informed the stock exchange that there is a deviation of 154% between its net loss stated in the unaudited 4th quarter results ended 31 December, 2013 and its audited financial statement.
“There is a deviation of about 154% between the group's loss after tax and minority interest as stated in the unaudited 4th quarter results ended 31 December 2013 (announced on 28 February 2014) and audited financial statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2013,” the company said in its filing with Bursa Malaysia.
The audited data show that the net loss for 2013 totalled RM25.484 million. On Feb 28, the company announced that its net loss for the year to end-December 2013 totalled RM10.081 million.
The major causes for the variances are due to "adjustments made on the exceptional items of possible irregularities pursuant to the Investigative Audit conducted by PKF Advisory Sdn Bhd, adjustments and reclassification of cost of sales and others items by External Auditor,” said the company.
YTL Power International Bhd said today that a consortium involving the company, SIPP Sdn Bhd and Tenaga Nasional Bhd has received a letter of award from the Energy Commission to develop a 1000 megawatt combined cycle power plant in Johor.
“YTL Power International is pleased to confirm that we have received a letter of award from the Energy Commission dated 27 May 2014 to SIPP-YTL-Tenaga consortium for the development of a 1000MW combined cycle power plant to be located in the State of Johor,” the statement said.
The statement did not state the contract's worth.
Tenaga Nasional Berhad, in a separate announcement, said it has received a letter from Suruhanjaya Tenaga in relation to the conditional award to develop a new 1000MW-1400MW combined cycle plant to be operational in June 2018.
“TNB has been given until 25 July, 2014 to respond to the offer. TNB is currently evaluating the offer as well as TNB’s role in the project,” said TNB.
Protasco Bhd announced an award of maintenance works from Jabatan Kerja Raya (Public Works Department) for RM21 million.
The company said it would undertake maintenance works on federal roads in Zone 2A, Sarawak.
The contract will include construction of overtaking lanes from Sibu to Bintulu and from Bintulu to Tatau.
“The works are expected to be completed within 12 months from the award and are expected to contribute positively to the results for the financial year ending 31 December 2014,” said the announcement.
Guocoland Malaysia Bhd, Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB), S P Setia Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd and YTL Corporation Bhd have submitted bids for the development of Kwasa Land’s "Project MX-1".
The gross development value of the project, expected to complete within 12 years, has been estimated at around RM4billion-RM6 billion.
Kwasa Land, a wholly owned unit of the Employees Provident Fund, is the master developer for a township development sited on 2,330 acres of prime land in the Klang Valley.
Project MX-1 is a parcel of mix developments under the provisional Master Layout Plan, that has been earmarked to be the town centre of the proposed Kwasa Damansara township.
Alam Maritim Resources Bhd is seeing strong revenue growth in the next financial year ending Dec 31, 2015, fuelled by the new diving support vessel (DSV) acquisition, Bernama reported.
The acquisition will be funded by proceeds from its proposed issuance and allotment of subscription shares at RM1.35 issue price per subscription share, which is expected to raise RM166.05 million.
Group managing director/CEO Azmi Ahmad told reporters after the group's extraordinary general meeting today that the company saw more revenue growth on the impact of the OSV acquisition by next year.
The company's current order book stood at RM1.2 billion while the tender book is at RM2 billion with 20 per cent success rate.
"As for this year, we expect the second and third quarters to pick up again as compared to slower (performance) in the first quarter," he said.
DRB-Hicom Bhd may come under scrutiny after CIMB Research said Proton’s weaker sales performance would continue to be a drag on DRB-Hicom’s bottomline.
In a note today, analyst Lucius Chong of CIMB Research said: “Switch to Tan Chong for our top pick. We believe there is no quick fix for Proton, which will continue to be a drag on DRB’s bottom line. We anticipate it will take years for Proton to return to profitability.”
He added that the influence and connections of Proton’s new chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would help the national carmaker, but maintained that the problem with the company was “structural”.
The Edge Weekly this week reported that Proton’s market share had shrunk in the past three years from 26% in 2011 to 21.2% in 2013.
Proton had incurred a loss of RM821 million for FY2013, but this was not reflected in the financials of its owner DRB-Hicom Bhd, the Edge Weekly revealed.
OKA Corporation Bhd proposed a first and final single-tier dividend of 3.0 sen per share in respect of the financial year ended 31 March, 2014.
The book closure date and payment dates will be announced later, it said in an announcement to the stock exchange today.
The company posted a net profit of RM13.42 million for the year to March 2014, up from RM5.68 million in the previous year.
Its revenue for the year to March 2014 also rose to RM145.42 million, from RM133.08 million in the previous year.