Business & Markets 2014
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 27 June 2014 19:36
KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Based on news flow and corporate announcements today, the stocks in focus on Monday (June 30) could include Westports, Subur Tiasa, IRCB, Pos Malaysia, MAHB, Alam Maritim, Mah Sing, Goldis and Yinson.
Westports Holdings Bhd said its unit Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd has received official approval for a 30-year extension of the current port concession.
The port operator said it had on 26 June 2014 received a notice from Port Klang Authority (PKA) “agreeing to the extension of concession of 30 years from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2054.”
It said the extension is subject to the terms and conditions as set out in the privatisation agreement dated 25 July 1994 and the supplemental agreements executed thereafter, between the Government of Malaysia, PKA and Westports.
Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd’s net profit soared over 350% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM10.1 million in the third quarter ended Apr 30, 2014, from RM2.2 million.
Revenue jumped 24.3% y-o-y to RM230.6 million from RM185.6 million.
The timber manufacturer said the quarter witnessed recovery in average selling prices across all segments of logs, timber products and crude palm oil price.
For the nine-month period to April 2014, net profit recorded RM27.4 million versus RM7.3 million in the corresponding period, while revenue stood at RM642.9 million from RM593 million a year ago.
Integrated Rubber Corporation Bhd (IRCB) said during the first quarter to April 2014, four new production lines of gloves were completed and production went online in March.
This had added 35 million pieces per month of nitrile glove to its production and help turned the company around.
As a result, it posted a net profit of RM286,000 for the quarter to end-April 2014, versus a net loss of RM10 million in similar quarter a year ago.
Revenue also rose to RM36.3 million, from RM29.9 million a year ago.
Pos Malaysia Bhd has recommended a final single tier dividend of 7.1 sen per share in respect of the financial year ended 31 March 2014.
The entitlement date and payment date in respect of the proposed final single tier dividend will be determined in due course, said its filing with Bursa Malaysia.
Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd (MAHB) said the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) handled a record 20.3 million passengers in the first five months of this year, an increase of 12% compared with 18.2 million passengers recorded over Jan-May last year.
MAHB managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said between January and May, the KLIA-Main Terminal Building (MTB) also registered passenger movement of 26.7 million, Bernama reported.
"This significant growth in traffic performance was due to the rising demand for air travel, expansion of routes and increased frequencies by both full service and low-cost carriers.
"We have long surpassed the original target growth in our business direction document which was to record 60 million passengers, annually, by the year 2014," he said in his speech at KLIA's 16th anniversary here today.
Badlisham said MAHB also revised the target to record over 100 million passengers by 2020 under its new five-year business direction.
Last year, MAHB recorded 79.6 million passengers at all its 39 airports in the country.
Alam Maritim Resources Bhd is bidding for contracts worth RM2 billion to increase its current order book by 20% from RM1.3 billion, Bernama reported.
Group managing director Datuk Azmi Ahmad said the integrated oil and gas (O&G) services provider was in the midst of tendering for projects and would announce them in the next quarter.
"The group is optimistic about its chances in the involvement of the third wave of offshore support vessel (OSV) contracts to be announced by early third quarter of this year," he told a media briefing after the company's annual general meeting here today.
The company was confident of securing 20% to 25% of the total bid value, he said.
Mah Sing Group Bhd’s managing director and CEO Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said today the second half of the year will see stronger buying momentum in the property sector ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation on Apr 1, 2015.
“We expect stronger buying momentum in the second half of the year, with potential buyers expected to buy ahead of the GST implementation next year,” Leong said in a statement after Mah Sing’s 22nd AGM.
He said fundamentals that drive the property market are still strong, adding Mah Sing is selectively optimistic on certain segments.
“Our market research and consumer feedback tells us that the focus of this year is to ensure affordability in strategic locations coupled with good concept,” he remarked.
Goldis Berhad, whose share price hit a seven-year high today due to market talk that the company will be taken private by its major shareholder, said it is unaware of such move.
“The company has not received any takeover notice and the company is not aware of any potential takeover offer as reported,” said the company in response to a query by Bursa Malaysia.
At market close today, the stock rose 20 sen or 9% to RM2.41 per share after hitting a high of RM2.42 earlier. This level was last seen in 2007.
The stock, which normally attracted little interest, fetched trades of some 1.85million shares today.
Yinson Holdings Bhd had doubled its net profit to RM30.3 million for its first quarter ended April 30, 2014, from RM15.4 million in the previous year’s same quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose 29% year-on-year to RM294.1 million from RM228.3 million.
The group attributed the increase in profit to contribution from a floating, production and storage and offloading (FPSO) of RM15.2 million and contribution of RM5.2 million from the joint venture of subsidiary acquired in December 2013.
The group said that its marine segment posted higher revenue for the quarter, while its transport, trading and other operations reported lower revenue for the quarter.
Going forward, the group said: “The group expects operational results for the current financial year to improve due to contribution from newly acquired business and contribution from joint venture in FPSO operations which come on-stream during the current financial year.”