Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Friday (Nov 2) may include: AirAsia X Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Atrium Real Estate Investment Trust, Hexza Corp, AWC Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Hume Industries Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd, M-Mode Bhd and TFP Solutions Bhd.

AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) has appointed Thai national Nadda Buranasiri, 56, as group CEO of the carrier.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, the group’s co-founders and co-group chief executive officers, were
re-designated to non-independent non-executive directors effective immediately.

KNM Group Bhd has won a 40 million yuan (RM24 million) contract from China National Chemical Engineering Co Ltd (CNCEC) to supply vessels for the construction of an integrated petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan.

Supermax Corp Bhd’s net profit rose 28.8% to RM35.94 million in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2018, from RM27.9 million a year ago, on higher sales from additional production output, improved operational efficiency and a gain of RM6.5 million from an insurance claim.

Quarterly revenue climbed 17.6% to RM367.05 million, from RM312.02 million a year ago, due to capacity expansion from the
group’s two newest plants and increase in global sales of its natural rubber and nitrile gloves.

Atrium Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) plans to buy and leaseback two pieces of land in Penang from Lumileds Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lumileds International
BV, for a combined RM180 million cash.

Hexza Corp Bhd said it has won a suit against a Singapore-registered firm over failure to pay rental for the lease of a power generation equipment in Myanmar.

Singapore’s High Court has ordered Tembusu Industries Pte Ltd to pay the group US$15.29 million (RM63.89 million), with
interest rate of 8% per annum from Oct 14 to the date of final payment, with costs of S$12,000.

Hexza will proceed to enforce the court order and work on the recoverability process, although it noted that the amount of
money recoverable is not known at this juncture.

AWC Bhd’s former client BUCG (M) Sdn Bhd has filed a counterclaim against the facility management and engineering group, seeking general and special damages of RM11.02 million and other reliefs.

AWC said that while the counterclaim against its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qudotech Sdn Bhd, is "not sustainable", the amount claimed is huge and if judged in BUCG's favour, will adversely and materially impact AWC's earnings and net asset per share.

"The company has sought its solicitor's advice on the necessary course of action to be taken," the group added.

A less favourable exchange rate and lower profit margins dragged Unisem (M) Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 down 13.1% to RM35.15 million from RM40.45 million a year ago.

Quarterly revenue also took a hit, falling 7.2% to RM354.71 million from RM382.32 million a year ago, due to the depreciation of the US dollar against the ringgit in the current quarter under review.

"The decline in net profit for the current quarter was further impacted by the lower profit margins arising from a change
in product mix, but was partly mitigated by the gain on foreign exchange as opposed to the foreign exchange losses incurred previously," Unisem said.

Hume Industries Bhd has announced the appointment of Andi Johnny Lapon as its group chief executive officer effective Nov 1.

Lapon, 45, hails from Belgium and has 22 years of working experience, including 15 years in the manufacturing industry, Hume said.

Axiata Group Bhd has appointed its interim chairman Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid as independent and non-executive chairman effective immediately.

Axiata said Ghazzali, 72, who has been on the telecommunications group's board since March 2008, assumed the role of interim
chairman in August, following the resignation of Axiata's former chairman Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.

Meanwhile, Ghazzali's role as senior independent director of the group will be replaced by David Lau Nai Pek, who also chairs the audit committee and risk management committee.

Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust's (Sunway REIT) net property income
(NPI) slipped 0.4% to RM110.51 million in its first financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 from RM110.99 million a year ago, on higher property operating expenses.

Net profit was also lower at RM73.01 million, down 7.9% from RM79.23 million a year ago, mainly due to higher finance costs
caused by higher principal loan drawn to finance investing activities and marginally higher average cost of debt.

Quarterly revenue, however, was up 1.8% at RM143.74 million, from RM141.17 million previously, on higher revenue contribution across all segments except the hotel segment.

Sunway REIT is proposing a first interim income distribution of 2.48 sen per unit, amounting to RM73.038 million, payable on
Dec 4.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), via its wholly-owned subsidiary TNB Global Ventures Capital Bhd, has issued Islamic bonds worth US$750 million (RM3.13 billion) under its US$2.5 billion sukuk programme.

Practice Note 17 (PN17) company China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd (CAP) said it was unable to issue its outstanding 2017 annual report, as well as its 2018 annual report, by Oct 31.

CAP said the group expects to issue the 2017 report by Dec 31, as the external auditors are in the midst of accessing the appropriate audit plan.  

Datuk Noordin Sulaiman has been appointed the independent and non-executive chairman of M-Mode Bhd.

Noordin, 61, was previously the state treasury officer for Selangor from 2012 to 2017 and has served in various Government Ministries for 36 years.

Meanwhile, loss-making TFP Solutions Bhd has appointed Abdul Latib Tokimin as its new chief executive officer and executive director, effective immediately.

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