Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 9): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus on Tuesday (March 10) could be the following: Brahim’s Holdings Bhd, Benalec Holdings Bhd, Daya Materials Bhd, YFG Bhd, Berjaya Auto Bhd, EITA Resources Bhd, LPI Capital Bhd, and Maxwell International Holdings Bhd.

Inflight caterer Brahim’s Holdings Bhd has confirmed that it is currently in talks to acquire a local food and beverage (F&B) company but stopped short of naming it.

The Edge Weekly, in its latest issue, had reported sources as saying that Brahim’s was in talks to acquire TCRS Restaurants Sdn Bhd in a bid to reduce its depency on the catering business.

Brahim's (fundamental: 0.35; valuation: 1.2) said at this juncture, terms and conditions of the proposed acquisition have yet to be agreed upon.

It went on to emphasise that the acquisition “may or may not” materialise.

Brahim’s shares were last traded at 86 sen, before trading was suspended last Friday. Its market capitalisation stood at RM203.21 million.

Benalec Holdings Bhd’s subsidiaries today entered into three separate sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) with Arena Progresif Sdn Bhd, to dispose nine parcels of reclaimed leasehold land for a total consideration of RM128.91 million.

The consideration is planned to be satisfied entirely in cash, and these lands measure about 70.46 acres.

Benalec said the disposal provides an avenue for it to raise funds to repay its debt and finance on-going and future reclamation projects.

The marine construction group added that the disposal will allow it to immediately crystallise the value of its landbank, which will improve the operating cash flow of the company in the future.

Oil and gas (O&G) offshore support service provider Daya Materials Bhd’s wholly-owned unit, Meridian Orbit Sdn Bhd has signed a memorandum of understanding with Glotel Sdn Bhd to jointly study, evaluate and tender for subsea installation projects in Southeast Asia.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Daya Materials (fundamental: 0.55; valuation: 1.2) said Glotel is involved in information technology, communications solutions, medical equipment and consultancy services.

Daya Materials shares closed 0.5 sen or 3.57% lower at 13.5 sen, translating to a market capitalisation of RM231.25 million.

Electrical and mechanical engineering services provider YFG Bhd has appointed Dr Roslan A. Ghaffar as its chairman and independent non-executive director, replacing Datuk Abdul Rashid Ahmad who has resigned due to personal reasons.

Roslan was previously deputy chief executive officer of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and is currently chairman of Kuala Lumpur Sentral Sdn Bhd and the rating committee of Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd.

YFG also announced the appointment of a new executive director (ED) Soo Hon Chong to its board, with existing ED Geh Yean Chang giving notice on March 5 last week of his intention to resign from his current position.

Geh’s tenure will end on April 30 next month, upon his retirement from office.

YFG shares closed unchanged at 7 sen today, with a market capitalisation of RM42.63 million.

Mazda vehicle distributor Berjaya Auto Bhd (BAuto) saw its net profit rise 52% to RM46.52 million for the third financial quarter ended Jan 31, 2015 (3QFY15), from RM30.57 million a year ago.

The group attributed the increase in net profit to higher revenue, better gross profit margin and lower operating expenses.

The group also proposed a 3.35 sen dividend for the quarter, bringing its full year dividend to 8.6 sen.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, BAuto (fundamental: 2.35; valuation: 0.30) said revenue totalled RM388.76 million for 3QFY15, up 13.3% from RM343.03 million a year ago. Earnings per share (EPS) grew to 5.74 sen against 3.88 sen a year earlier.

Cumulatively, BAuto’s nine months financial period (9MFY15) net profit expanded to RM160.15 million, a 90% increase from RM84.26 million in 9MFY14; revenue grew 34.3% to RM1.41 billion for 9MFY15 from RM1.05 billion in 9MFY14. EPS rose to 19.81 sen per share compared with 11.35 sen per share.

BAuto shares dropped 2 sen to RM3.64 today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM2.976 billion.

EITA Resources Bhd's subsidiary, EITA Elevator (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has secured subcontract works worth RM19.39 million for the supply, delivery, installation, testing and commissioning of lift services for two commercial property projects.

EITA (fundamental: 1.7; valuation: 1.2) also announced that its subsidiary EITA-Schneider (Mfg) Sdn Bhd has entered into a joint-venture (JV) with Shanghai STEP Electric Corp to provide elevator control systems.

The JV company will be known as SIGRINER Automation (Mfg) Sdn Bhd, equally own by EITA and Shanghai STEP, core activities will be to design and manufacture elevator control systems and related accessories, and energy efficient elevator equipment.

EITA is principally engage in design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of elevator systems including parts.

EITA shares closed unchanged at RM1.25 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM162.5 million.

General insurer LPI Capital Bhd does not foresee any slowdown in premium growth despite the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) come April.

At the group’s annual general meeting today, LPI's (fundamental: 2.10; valuation: 1.95) chief executive officer Tan Kok Guan said this is because general insurance is supported by the people’s needs.

Tan also mentioned LPI would increase agency force by 10% annually to cater for expanding insurance businesses.

LPI’s share price lowered by 12 sen or 0.54% to RM22.02 today, valuing the group at RM4.9 billion.

China-based sports footwear designer and maker Maxwell International Holdings Bhd expects to post better results for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 (FY15) on a recovering global economy which would help boost its sales to the US and Europe – its two major export markets.

Subsequent to the group's extraordinary general meeting today, Maxwell's (fundamental: 2.5; valuation: 1.2) chief executive officer Xie Zhenan said the group is expecting to a better performance in the third and fourth quarters of FY15 as the global economy improves in the second half of the year.

Maxwell shares fell 2.33% to close at 21 sen today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM85.54 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations. Go to www.theedgemarkets.com for more details on a company's financial dashboard.)
 

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