KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Tuesday (Oct 31) may include: Ekovest, IWCity, Kelington, Boustead Plantation, Dutaland, Country View, UEM Sunrise, Boustead Heavy Industries, Bintai Kinden, Heitech Padu, OSK Holdings, Vizione, Pestech, AirAsia, EcoFirst, Perstima and Homeritz.

Construction, infrastructure concessionaire and property developer Ekovest Bhd and Johor-based property developer Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity) both obtained Bursa Malaysia’s approval to suspend their shares from trading from 9am today until 5pm tomorrow, pending a material announcement.

Integrated engineering solutions provider Kelington Group Bhd has bagged an RMB102.62 million (RM65.4 million) contract — its single largest contract this year — from China's Chengdu Construction Engineering Corp.

Kelington said its wholly-owned subsidiary Kelington Engineering (Shanghai) Pte Ltd had on Friday secured a contract from Chengdu Construction Engineering Corp to supply and install bulk gas system and distribution piping for GEXIN (Chengdu) Integrated Circuit Manufacturing, a joint venture company between GlobalFoundries and Chengdu Municipal Government.

Works will commence immediately and are expected to be completed by April next year, and will be funded through internal funds and bank borrowings, it added.

Boustead Plantations Bhd has signed an agreement with Dutaland Bhd for the acquisition of 42 parcels of leasehold plantation lands in the Labuk and Sugut districts in Sabah for RM750 million.

Boustead Plantations said the land plots — currently cultivated with oil palm — have a combined size of 11,579.31 hectares, and houses all the buildings, agricultural equipment, machineries, vehicles and other amenities on the properties.

Another Johor-based property developer, Country View Bhd, has proposed to acquire a piece of vacant freehold land measuring 163.92 acres in Johor from UEM Sunrise Bhd, for future mixed property development projects worth RM1.26 billion.

The projects, to be developed over a seven-year period, will comprise resort-linked villas, shop-offices and commercial plots of land.

However, Country View told Bursa Malaysia that it is too preliminary to ascertain the total development cost, the expected commencement and completion dates, number of units in respect of each type of development, as well as the expected profits to be derived from the proposed development plan.

Defence-related engineering services provider Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) has won a RM19.5 million contract from the Ministry of Defence to supply and deliver a communication suite for Squadron 23rd Frigate of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

BHIC said the contract, valid for the next two years, was awarded to its wholly-owned unit, BHIC Defence Techservices Sdn Bhd (BDTS). A formal contract between the government of Malaysia and BDTS will be signed at a later date.

Construction and engineering services provider Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd has bagged a contract worth RM18.54 million from electric utility company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) to undertake works at its electrical sub-station here.

Bintai Kinden said its wholly-owned subsidiary Kejuruteraan Bintai Kindenko Sdn Bhd has accepted the letter of award from TNB as the contractor for the design, supply, erecting, testing and commissioning for Mainhead 'A': PMU 132/33kV Vision City Kuala Lumpur.

The job, Bintai Kinden said, is expected to be completed within 480 days from the commencement date.

Heitech Padu Bhd has bagged an RM42.43 million contract from the Immigration Department for an application maintenance service project.

The information technology systems and technology services provider said the contract for the MyIMMS Application System Maintenance Service project was awarded on Oct 26.

The duration of the contract is three years ending on Aug 17, 2020, Heitech Padu said.

The proposal by diversified group OSK Holdings Bhd to provide financial assistance of up to A$250 million to its Australian associate Yarra Park City Pty Ltd is fair and reasonable, says independent adviser Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd.

Yarra Park, 38.25%-owned by OSK, is developing a property project in Melbourne.

Kenanga said the proposal is not detrimental to the minority shareholders of OSK, while recommending to approve it at the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting.

In a circular to the shareholders filed by OSK with Bursa Malaysia today, Kenanga said it is common in the property development industry for a holding company such as OSK to provide cash advances to its subsidiaries or associates to secure funds for the development of their respective property development projects.

Property developer Vizione Holdings Bhd (formerly known as Astral Supreme Bhd) has bagged an RM401 million contract to build four blocks of office suites on Jalan Sunway, Semenyih, Ulu Langat, Selangor.

Vizione said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Wira Syukur (M) Sdn Bhd has accepted a letter of award from Paragon Hemisphere Sdn Bhd for the proposed project.

Power transmission infrastructure builder Pestech International Bhd said its subsidiary is acquiring a railway contractor, Colas Rail System Engineering Sdn Bhd (CRSE), for some RM10.38 million to stimulate growth in its utility and railway business.

The group said its wholly-owned subsidiary Pestech Technology Sdn Bhd (PTech) had entered into sale and purchase agreements with Colas Rail Asia Sdn Bhd/Colas Rail and Vital Bid Sdn Bhd last week, to acquire 100% of CRSE’s issued share capital.

AirAsia Bhd has formalised a joint venture partnership with Singapore’s aviation gateway services and food solutions provider SATS Ltd on ground handling businesses.

The partnership resulted a 50:50 ownership between the two parties in Ground Team Red Holdings Sdn Bhd (GTRH), which will become the holding company of two ground handling companies originally wholly-owned by the low cost carrier and SATS.

AirAsia said a series of share swap deals between both groups’ subsidiaries will be undertaken and a cash consideration amounting S$119.3 million (RM372.2 million) will be paid to AirAsia as GTRH was also originally wholly-owned by the group.

Property developer EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd’s first quarter ended Aug 31, 2017 (1QFY18) saw net profit rise 170.96% to RM3.6 million, from RM1.33 million a year ago, thanks to higher sales in its development project ‘Upper East’ in Ipoh.

Earnings per share (EPS) rose to 0.45 sen in the quarter, from 0.17 sen in 1QFY17.

EcoFirst’s quarterly revenue rose 155.36% to RM44.79 million, from RM17.54 million in the same quarter last year.

Despite the encouraging first quarter, EcoFirst expects moderating sales moving forward.

Tinplate manufacturer Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia Bhd’s (Perstima) second quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (2QFY18) net profit shrank 73.48% to RM3.51 million or 3.54 sen per share, from RM13.25 million or 13.34 sen per share a year ago, on lower sales volume and margin.

Revenue, meanwhile, rose 17.55% to RM234.34 million, from RM199.36 million, driven by higher selling price, despite the lower volume sold.

Cumulative half-year net profit plunged 74.64% to RM6.35 million, from RM25.04 million in the same period of the previous year. Revenue however increased 25.6% to RM471.84 million, from RM375.65 million.

On current year prospects, Perstima expects the operating environment to remain challenging and competitive, due to greater presence of imports from overseas, in addition to the volatility of the ringgit against the US dollar.

Homeritz Corp Bhd’s fourth quarter ended Aug 31, 2017 (4QFY17) net profit jumped 52.74% to RM7.01 million or 2.34 sen per share, from RM4.59 million or 1.53 sen per share a year ago, thanks to higher revenue and a stronger US dollar against the ringgit.

The furniture maker has proposed a final dividend of 2.2 sen per share, bringing total payout for the financial year to 4.2 sen per share.

Homeritz’ revenue in the quarter rose 16.91% to RM39.66 million, from RM33.92 million previously

For its full-FY17, Homeritz saw net profit increase 10.21% on-year to RM30.89 million, while revenue rose 7.23% to RM168.96 million.

On prospects, the furniture maker said the group will continue to remain focused in its core business of design, manufacture, and sale of upholstered home furniture which includes upholstered sofas, upholstered dining chairs and upholstered bed frames.