KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies in focus on Wednesday (Nov 22) may include: Boustead Plantations Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, Hock Seng Lee Bhd, Gabungan AQRS Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, UOA Development Bhd, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd, Heineken Malaysia Bhd and Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd

Boustead Plantations Bhd's net profit leapt by more than 15 times to RM562.42 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017, from RM37.36 million a year ago, primarily due to gains realised on disposal of land amounting to RM554.87 million.

Quarterly revenue fell 8% to RM183.43 million from RM199.33 million in 3QFY16 on a lower share of results from associate.

The group declared a third interim dividend of 3 sen per share and a special dividend of 7 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017, payable on Dec 19.

For the cumulative nine months, net profit jumped to RM628.8 million from RM177.5 million a year ago, while revenue rose 6% to RM541.93 million from RM511.23 million in 9MFY16.

Trading of Sime Darby Bhd's shares will be suspended on Nov 27 to facilitate the distribution of shares under the group's demerger exercise.

The last day of trading of Sime Darby shares before the implementation of the distribution is this Friday (Nov 24).

It involves the creation of two additional listed companies — Sime Darby Plantation Bhd and Sime Darby Property Bhd, and the distribution of shares in the two new entities to existing Sime Darby shareholders.

Sime Darby shares will resume trading on the day of listing of the two new additional companies, which will tentatively take place on Nov 30.

IJM Corp Bhd is developing a RM500 million office tower at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) here.

This follows a share sale and purchase agreement signed today, which sees IJM acquiring Fairview Valley Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of TRX City Sdn Bhd that is building a 27-storey purpose-built commercial building at TRX.

Hock Seng Lee Bhd (HSL) has bagged a RM56.6 million contract from X-FAB Sarawak Sdn Bhd to undertake renovation and extension works to an existing three-storey X-FAB administration building with associated external works at Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone in Kuching, Sarawak.

HSL said it has received the letter of acceptance from X-FAB Sarawak for the building construction project, following an open tender exercise.

HSL expected to commence the project in December this year.

Gabungan AQRS Bhd wholly-owned subsidiary Gabungan Strategik Sdn Bhd has received a letter of intent from KotaSAS Sdn Bhd to build 1,004 landed homes in Kota Sultan Ahmad Shah (KotaSAS), Kuantan, Pahang. The project's value is RM189.22 million.

The project will be divided into four phases, with Phase 1 to commence in 2018 and be completed within two years. Phases 2, 3 and 4 will commence in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively and will also be completed within two years.

Dialog Group Bhd's net profit nearly doubled to RM160.93 million in the first financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 from RM81.34 million a year ago, on the back of a fair value gain of investment properties at RM65.6 million.

This follows the acquisition of the remaining 45% stake in a jointly controlled entity, Centralised Terminals Sdn Bhd, which has been renamed as Dialog Terminals Sdn Bhd, in the current quarter under review.

Quarterly revenue climbed 19.1% to RM778.66 million from RM653.55 million.

UOA Development Bhd's net profit for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 dropped 18.19% to RM90.36 million, from RM110.44 million a year ago, dragged by higher expenses incurred in the period.

Quarterly revenue rose 13.96% to RM261.63 million from RM229.57 million last year due to its ongoing projects and sale of completed residential and office units in Klang Valley.

Cumulative net profit for the first three quarters fell 9.48% to RM299.38 million from RM330.75 million in the previous corresponding period. This is despite cumulative revenue rising 21.61% to RM882.33 million from RM725.55 million previously.

Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd posted a 25.5% increase in net profit to RM154.38 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017, from RM123.04 million a year ago, mainly due to higher metal price and strengthening of the US dollar against the ringgit.

Quarterly revenue surged 22.4% to RM2.128 billion from RM1.739 billion a year ago.

For the cumulative nine months, net profit came in at RM452.6 million, up 24.5% from RM363.68 million a year ago while revenue jumped 30.1% to RM6.02 billion from RM4.63 billion in 9MFY16.

Brewer Heineken Malaysia Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017, came in at RM65.87 million, up 15.7% from RM56.92 million a year ago.

Quarterly revenue was at RM509.59 million, up 32.42% from RM384.82 million a year earlier.

The improved profitability was driven by volume growth as the market last year was recovering from volume impact as a result of price increase that occurred in July 2016, and a favourable brand mix.

In the first nine months of FY17, its net profit grew 4.6% to RM176.4 million, from RM168.6 million a year ago, while revenue inched up 1.1% to RM1.32 billion from RM1.3 billion.

Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017, rose 51% to RM68 million, from RM45 million, on strong activities from its operation and maintenance, and its engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning segments.

Quarterly revenue grew 28% year-on-year to RM653.3 million, from RM511.5 million in 3QFY16. Its board of directors declared a third-interim dividend of 1.5 sen per share in respect of FY17, to be paid on Dec 20.

For the first nine months of FY17, the group’s net profit jumped to RM229.5 million, from RM58.6 million, as revenue climbed to RM1.92 billion from RM663.5 million in 9MFY16.