Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus on Monday (Jan 19) could be the following: Integrax Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Damansara Realty Bhd, Uzma Bhd, Gadang Holdings Bhd, TAS Offshore Bhd, MMC Corp Bhd, Amalgamated Industrial Steel Bhd (AISB), IFCA MSC Bhd, Destini Bhd and Kejuruteraan Samudra Timur Bhd (KSTB).

Port operator Integrax Bhd (fundamental: 1.65; valuation: 0.6)’s co-founder and major shareholder Amin Halim Rasip has declined Tenaga Nasional Bhd (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 1.0)’s conditional voluntary takeover offer at RM2.75 per share.

In a statement today, Amin Halim, who owns a 22.81% stake in Integrax, said the offer was not fair nor reasonable, due to the strong potential of the group’s Lekir Bulk Terminal in Perak. He also urged minority shareholders “to hold out for much higher price, and derive significant value and more shareholder benefits for the long term”.

Damansara Realty Bhd (fundamental:0.95) has established a joint venture (JV) with Papua New Guinea (PNG) based Pacific Asia (PNG) Ltd (PAL), to conduct hospital management and consultancy services there.

The JV entity is known as Healthcare Technical Services (PNG) Ltd, which PAL owns 55%, whilst Damansara Realty owns the remaining 45%.

Uzma Bhd (fundamental: 1.7; valuation: 1.8) has bagged a RM50 million contract from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd to provide through tubing downhole tools and services. The contract spans two years until Dec 31, 2016, with one-year extension option.

Nevertheless, Uzma also acknowledged the risks attached to the deal, namely the low oil prices, saying the project could become “sub-economic” if prices dipped below the range of US$25 to US$30 per barrel.

Builder cum property developer Gadang Holdings Bhd (fundamental: 2.5, valuation: 3) saw its net profit risen by a marginal 2.9% to RM8.51 million (3.93 sen per share) in the second quarter ended Nov 30, 2014 (2QFY15), despite an 18.74% drop in revenue to RM114.6 million.

Cumulatively, the group’s net profit rose 17.2% to RM18.05 million or 8.34 sen a share in the first six months (1HFY15) period, while revenue fell 2.56% to RM247.95 million.

The group attributed the increase in profit to better margins from construction and property activities.

TAS Offshore Bhd (fundamental: 2.1; valuation: 3) saw its net profit for the second quarter ended Nov 30, 2014 (2QFY15) drop 42.92% to RM4.15 million or 2.36 sen a share, while revenue rose 4.57% to RM51.28 million.

For the cumulative period (1HFY15), the shipbuilder’s net profit fell 39.2% to RM9.6 million or 5.46 sen a share, despite revenue having grown 62.2% to RM127.6 million. This indicates a severe squeeze in margins.

TAS Offshore foresees a challenging demand scenario for vessels used in the oil and gas industry in the short term.

Nonetheless, the group said it remains optimistic on the demand for offshore support vessels that come with higher technical specifications and are suitable for deep sea operation.

Diversified group MMC Corp Bhd (fundamental 0.85, valuation 2.40) said its energy unit Malakoff Corp Bhd has obtained the "Shariah-compliant" classification from the Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission.

In a filing to the exchange today, MMC said the Shariah-Compliant Classification was given, based on the latest audited financial statements of Malakoff for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2013, and remain valid until next review, which will base on financial data a year later.

MMC is in the process of preparing for Malakoff’s initial public offering on the local bourse.

Steel pipe manufacturer Amalgamated Industrial Steel Bhd (AISB) (fundamental: 0.35; valuation: 1.2) will enter into property development business to diversify its revenue stream.

Its filing with local bourse revealed the plan is to undertake development and construction of industrial buildings in Shah Alam. AISB said the gross development cost and value are about RM146 million and RM161 million respectively. The plan is subjected to shareholders’ approval.

Integrated software provider IFCA MSC Bhd (fundamental: 3; valuation: 1.5) has received an unusual market activity query from Bursa, for the recent sharp surge in its share price. This month alone, IFCA’s share price had surged 37.7% from 69 sen on Jan 6, to close at 95 sen today.

In its response to the market regulator, IFCA said it was not aware of any factor that drove up its share price.

Merrill Lynch International has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Destini Bhd (fundamental 1.4; valuation 1.8).

According to a filing to Bursa, Merrill Lynch had on Jan 8 (last Thursday), acquired 40.24 million shares or a 5.03% stake in Destini. The next day, the investment bank bought another 523,000 shares, bringing its stake to 5.1% or a total of 40.76 million shares.

Practice Note 17 (PN17) listed company Kejuruteraan Samudra Timur Bhd (KSTB) announced it was awarded a two-year tubular inspection and maintenance services contract from PrimeSourcing International Sdn Bhd (PSI), at the end of December last year.

KSTB told Bursa this evening, that the contract period commence on Jan 1, and will expire on Dec 31, 2016. Upon expire, PSI has the option to extend another two-year term, on mutually-agreed rates.

However, KSTB (fundamental: 2.4; valuation: 1.2) did not specify the value of the contract, as it stated the value of such kind of services very much depends on the demand and activity levels of PSI during the contracted period.

(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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