KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 15): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Friday (Nov 16) may include Mah Sing, Petron Malaysia, Utusan, Unisem, Tomei, Parkson Holdings, Tune Protect, Suria Capital and EcoFirst.

Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd's net profit fell 19.4% to RM85.54 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18) from RM106.07 million a year ago, on lower refining margins.

This resulted in lower earnings per share of 31.7 sen for 3QFY18 compared with 39.3 sen for 3QFY17. Quarterly revenue, however, rose 28.9% to RM3.3 billion from RM2.56 billion in 3QFY17 on higher oil prices and modest growth in sales volume.

The weaker quarterly earnings dragged the group's net profit for the cumulative nine months (9MFY18) down 18.2% to RM250.09 million from RM305.61 million a year ago, although revenue grew 21.5% to RM9.15 billion from RM7.53 billion in 9MFY17.

Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd, which is formulating a regularisation plan to address its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status, said today the proposed exercise will not result in a significant change in the business direction or policy of the group.

The Umno-controlled media group, which publishes the Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo! newspapers, has been making losses since financial year ended Dec 31, 2012 (FY12).

Separately, Utusan said it is planning to sell a leasehold industrial plot located on Jalan Tiga off Jalan Chan Sow Lin here for RM18 million to raise working capital for the group. The proposed disposal is expected to bring in a net gain of about RM16.9 million for the group.

The land, which has 60 years left to its lease, measures 4,715 sq metres and has a market value of RM17.8 million as at March 19 this year.

All the pre-conditions for the proposed conditional voluntary takeover offer of Unisem (M) Bhd have been met, and the board will soon appoint an independent adviser to advise the directors and shareholders on the fairness and reasonableness of the offer.

Unisem said it received notice from Maybank Investment Bank Bhd on behalf of the offerors that the pre-conditions including relevant approvals from overseas regulatory authorities had been obtained.

Tomei Consolidated Bhd has decided to sell off its skincare and cosmetic products distribution business to focus on its principal activities in the gold and jewellery trade.

The group said its wholly-owned subsidiary Flawless Skin Care Sdn Bhd is disposing of the "The history of Whoo" and "belif" skincare and cosmetics business as a going concern for RM8.97 million.

Parkson Holdings Bhd's Cambodian unit has initiated arbitration proceedings against Hassan (Cambodia) Development Co Ltd (HCDC) for prolonged delays in handing over new store premises in Phnom Penh.

Parkson's 67.96%-owned subsidiary, Parkson Retail Asia Ltd (PRA), which is listed in Singapore, issued a notice of arbitration to HCDC via its wholly-owned Cambodian unit, Parkson (Cambodia) Co Ltd (PCCO), today.

Tune Protect Group Bhd's net profit fell 28.3% to RM9.13 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18) from RM12.73 million a year ago, on lower net earned premiums of RM9.2 million, increased management expenses of RM7.6 million mainly due to higher employee, marketing and other administrative costs, and a decrease in net claims incurred of RM10.1 million.

As a result, earnings per share came in lower at 1.22 sen for 3QFY18 compared with 1.69 sen for 3QFY17. Quarterly operating revenue rose slightly to RM141.49 million from RM140.12 million in 3QFY17.

For the cumulative nine months (9MFY18), the group's net profit rose by a marginal 2.2% to RM38.52 million from RM37.68 million a year ago, while operating revenue increased 5.4% to RM425.7 million from RM404.08 million in 9MFY17.

Mah Sing Group Bhd has raised RM145 million via the issuance of unrated senior perpetual securities under the group's RM1 billion unrated senior perpetual securities programme that was established in March last year.

It plans to use proceeds from this issuance for investments like landbanking and joint ventures, capital expenditure and working capital to accelerate construction of projects that have good take-ups, Mah Sing said in a stock exchange filing.

"At this juncture, the group is conducting various stages of exploration and negotiations with land owners/vendors, as such initiative is in line with the group's plan to increase its Greater Kuala Lumpur portfolio within the next two to three years," Mah Sing said.

Suria Capital Holdings Bhd's net profit surged 4.6 times to RM15.5 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18) from RM3.39 million a year ago, mainly due to lower other expenses for the current quarter under review.

Quarterly revenue rose 5.5% to RM91.54 million from RM86.75 million in 3QFY17, mainly contributed by construction services revenue from its port operations segment.

The group declared an interim dividend of 3.5 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), payable on Nov 22.

For the cumulative nine months (9MFY18), the group's net profit rose 44% to RM44.99 million from RM31.25 million a year ago, while revenue grew 44.5% to RM315 million from RM217.95 million in 9MFY17.

Property developer EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd said it does not expect any financial and operational impact from the Inland Revenue Board's (IRB) tax claims, amounting to RM1.34 million.

Yesterday, Sawitani Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EcoFirst, received a winding-up petition from the IRB for the tax claims. The claims were derived from an outstanding sum of RM963,849.31 plus interest at the rate of 8% per year and cost of RM2,000.

The group chief executive officer Datuk Tiong Kwing Hee said the claims have been fully accounted for in financial statements and do not expect any loss to arise from this.