Friday 29 Mar 2024
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GEORGE TOWN (Aug 6): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that might be in focus on Friday (Aug 7) include the following: RHBCap, Westports, MBSB, Hibiscus, Instacom, IHH Healthcare, PetDag, Malayan Flour Mills, BHIC, Tanah Makmur, AirAsia and MAHB.

RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) has teamed up with Singapore-listed Silverlake Axis Ltd, a unit linked to Malaysian technology billionaire Goh Peng Ooi, to collaborate and leverage on each other’s strength and areas of expertise in the area of software development.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, RHBCap said its wholly-owned unit RHB Finexasia.Com Sdn Bhd (RHB Finex) has entered into a subscription agreement with Silverlake International Capital Market Solution Ltd (Silverlake Capital), to subscribe for redeemable convertible preference shares of US$1 each (RCPS) at par in Digital Financial Lab Limited.

Under the agreement, RHB Finex and Silverlake Capital will each subscribe for 50% of RCPS in Digital Financial for RM10 million each. The proposed subscription by RHB Finex will be financed by the latter’s internally-generated funds.

“The RCPS shall rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of US$1 each in Digital Financial in respect with the rights attached to the (existing) ordinary shares and shall be convertible at any time into ordinary shares at no extra cost,” RHBCap said.

Digital Financial, incorporated in Bermuda as a private company limited, has an issued and paid up capital of US$10, comprising 10 ordinary shares of US$1 each as at Aug 6.

The company was set up with the intention to own and specialise in the development, licensing and maintenance of trading system software for the capital markets.

Silverlake Capital, on the other hand, principally in the marketing of computer equipment and software, and provision of system development and maintenance services, is part of Silverlake Japan Ltd's global network of companies.

Silverlake is a wholly-owned unit of Silverlake Axis, in which Goh owns a 66.39% stake as at Sept 22, 2014.

Westports Holdings Bhd said today that the Transport Ministry has approved its 15% container tariff hike that will take effect on Sept 1.

Also approved was its second phase tariff hike of another 15% that will take place on Sept 1, 2018.

The revised tariff covers container terminal handling charges for import, export, transhipment, shifting and restow, storage charge for container and handling charge for heavy lift or uncontainerised cargo, said Westports in its filing on Bursa Malaysia today.

Westports said the container tariff revision has been approved and was gazetted on June 12 and Aug 3 this year.
 
Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) saw its net profit for the second financial quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) plunge 63% to RM85.55 million or 3.41 sen per share, due to higher allowances for impairment losses on loans, advances and financing.

In the same period last year, its net profit was at RM232.86 million or 8.85 sen per share in.
The higher impairment losses recorded is in line with the continuation of the impairment programme initiated by the group in the fourth quarter of the previous year, its filing with Bursa Malaysia today showed.

Its latest quarterly revenue, meanwhile, was up 13.9% to RM765.78 million from RM672.08 million in the 2QFY14, due to higher income from investments of liquid assets and higher financing income from the corporate segment.

For the first half ended June 30, 2015 (1HFY15) MBSB’s net profit dropped 51% to RM209.87 million or 7.67 sen per share, from RM429.59 million or 17.22 sen per share in 1HFY14, due to the initiation of the impairment programme.

Its 1HFY15 revenue grew 9% to RM1.46 billion from RM1.34 billion previously, and its cost to income ratio has also remained relatively consistent with the previous year corresponding period to stand at below 24%.
 
Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd is acquiring a 50% stake in Shell UK Ltd, Shell EP Offshore Ventures Ltd (Shell) and Esso Exploration and Production UK Ltd (Esso) in the Anasuria Cluster of oil and gas (O&G) fields for US$52.5 million or RM199.1 million.

It has jointly entered into conditional sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) with Ping Petroleum Ltd, who will acquire the remainder 50% interest in the same, to effect the acquisitions, effective Jan 1, 2015.

Ping is an independent upstream company that focuses on shallow water offshore production and development opportunities in Southeast Asia.

According to a joint statement from Hibiscus and Ping today, the Anasuria Cluster is located approximately 175km east of Aberdeen in the UK Central North Sea and comprises a 100% interest in three producing fields in the cluster, namely Teal, Teal South, Guillemot A, and a 38.65% stake in Cook, together with their related field facilities.

The assets have a proven and producing resource base which provides a platform for further development, the statement read.

Instacom Group Bhd has proposed to acquire 5.3 million shares, representing a 43.6% equity interest in Neata Aluminium (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, an aluminium structure design and fabrication company, for RM73.58 million.

It also proposed a bonus issue of up to 657.1 million new shares on the basis of one bonus share for every three shares held to reward its shareholders.

In its filing with the exchange, Instacom (fundamental: 1.25; valuation: 0.9) said it has entered a share sale agreement with Golden Oasis Resources Sdn Bhd for the acquisition.

Instacom said the purchase will be funded via the issuance of new Instacom shares and cash of RM13 million from the proceeds of the rights issue exercise completed last month.

Under the agreement, Golden Oasis has agreed to guarantee that the cumulative aggregate profit after tax of Neata for the financial years ending Dec 31, 2015(FY15), and FY16, will not be less than RM34 million.
 
IHH Healthcare Bhd clarified today it was in talks with “certain shareholders” of the India-based Ravidranath GE Medical Associates Private Ltd — the holding company of Global Hospitals Group — for a potential acquisition.

As such, it has yet to enter into any share purchase agreement or such definitive agreements with any of the shareholders in that regard, said IHH Healthcare in its filing on Bursa Malaysia today.

“Further, IHH is unable to comment, or provide guidance, at this stage, whether such acquisition will be completed, or not,” it said in response to news reports alleging that it has acquired the Global Hospitals Group in India.

According to the report that first appeared in an Indian business daily The Economic Times, IHH Healthcare was said to have acquired a 74% stake in Hyderabad-based Global Hospitals Private Ltd for an equity value of 1,800 crore Indian rupees (RM1.09 billion).

The report, quoting two sources with direct knowledge of the development, said IHH Healthcare had bought over the shareholdings of private equity investor Everstone Capital, Anand Rathi Capital Advisor Pvt Ltd and some individual investors of the unlisted chain specialising in liver transplants.
 
Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag)’s net profit jumped 47% on-year in its second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) to RM273.21 million or 27.5 sen per share, from RM185.65 million or 18.7 sen per share, on lower operating expenditure.

The group also declared an interim dividend of 14 sen per share for the quarter, to be paid on Sep 22, its filing with Bursa Malaysia today showed.

PetDag said the lower operating expenditure was mainly due to lower bonus provision for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 (FY15) resulting in lower manpower expenses for the current quarter.

Lower advertising and promotions expenses, together with other cost reduction efforts, also contributed to the lower operating expenditure.

However, PetDag’s latest quarterly revenue dropped 22% to RM6.49 billion from RM8.37 billion in 2QFY14, as average selling price fell 17%, coupled with a 6% decline in sales volume.

For its cumulative six months (1HFY15), PetDag’s net profit rose 41% on-year to RM478.98 million from RM340.73 million, due also to the reduction in operating expenditure.

Revenue for 1HFY15, however, fell 24% to RM12.59 billion from RM16.66 billion previously as a result of a 20% decrease in average selling price, coupled with a 6% drop in sales volume.
 
Malayan Flour Mills Bhd (MFM)’s net profit slipped 6% to RM12.70 million or 2.36 sen per share for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) from RM13.57 million or 2.52 sen per share a year ago, on higher net interest expenses and higher share of loss on equity accounted joint venture.

“The loss incurred in the joint venture was attributed by the unfavourable product margins and weakening of the Indonesian rupiah against the US dollar in 2QFY15 which resulted in unrealised losses on foreign exchange on its US dollar borrowings,” said MFM (fundamental: 0.8; valuation: 2) in its filing with the exchange today.

Meanwhile, its latest quarterly revenue was down 5% at RM535.56 million from RM563.80 million a year earlier, on lower sales in its poultry integration segment.

MFM declared an interim single tier dividend of 2 sen per share for the period, payable on Sept 4. Its shares will trade ex-dividend on Aug 19.

For the six months to June 30 (1HFY15), MFM’s net profit halved to RM18.10 million from RM36.70 million in 1HFY14 — due to lower margins from both flour and trading in grains and poultry integration segments, coupled with higher net interest expenses and higher share of loss on equity accounted joint venture in 2015. 

Revenue was down 4% to RM1.09 billion from RM1.14 billion in 1HFY14.

Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC)’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) fell 18% to RM9.16 million, from RM11.17 million a year ago, mainly due to higher operating cost and higher losses posted by associates.

Its latest quarterly revenue, however, gained 13% to RM75.15 million, from RM66.47 million in 2QFY14, due to higher revenue from defence-related maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities, as well as Belum Topside oil and gas project.

In its cumulative six months (1HFY15), its net profit jumped 47% to RM17.58 million, from RM11.95 million a year ago, mainly due to higher percentage of completion for the Belum Topside project and higher share of profit from joint venture companies.

Revenue for the period also increased 6% to RM138.55 million, from RM130.68 million in 6MFY14.

BHIC (fundamental: 0.45; valuation: 0.30) noted the heavy engineering segment contributed positively to the group’s revenue in 1HFY15, with the progress of Belum Satellite (BE-SA) Topside Facilities for Murphy’s Sarawak SK309/311 gas development project, and higher revenue from defence-related MRO activities.
 
Tanah Makmur Bhd’s unit, Sri Jelutung Palm Oil Mill Sdn Bhd (SJPOM), has inked three separate agreements today to build a biogas plant in Pahang for an estimated RM11 million.

The three agreements are shareholders agreement; a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) biogas plant agreement; and a land lease agreement, according to Tanah Makmur’s statement today.

Tanah Makmur said the agreements were entered into in relation to the expansion of SJPOM’s palm oil mill processing capacity from 30 tonnes per hour (tph) to 45 tph. This was after the new regulation imposed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Mill Board, which requires any upgrading of an existing palm oil mill to obtain a biogas plant, to mitigate the greenhouse gases effect. 

Under the shareholders’ agreement between SJPOM and Biopower Climate Care Holding Sdn Bhd (BPCCH) & Metro Havana Sdn Bhd (MH), SJPOM will acquire a 30% stake in MH, a special purpose vehicle to undertake the designing, engineering, financing, construction, commissioning, ownership, operations and maintenance of the biogas plant. 

BPCCH will hold the remainder 70% stake in MH. BPCCH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cenergi SEA, which in turn is a wholly-owned unit of Khazanah Nasional Bhd. 

The project’s capital expenditure will be funded through internally-generated funds and external borrowings, while the working capital for the plant will be injected by SJPOM and BPCCH, based on their respective stake, as and when required. 

Under the BOOT agreement, MH will process palm oil mill effluent supplied by SJPOM to extract methane gas to generate and sell 1.5MW of electricity to TNB from January 2017.
 
The plant will be transferred to SJPOM at a minimal consideration 16 years after its commercial operation date.
 
Lastly, under the land lease agreement, Tanah Makmur shall grant MH a lease over the demised premise, as well as easement and the exclusive licence to use its lagoon, subject to certain terms and conditions.

AirAsia Bhd said it has yet to hear from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), following its demand for RM409 million in compensation for losses and damages arising from the budget airline’s operations at klia2.

“We haven’t heard anything from MAHB as yet, so we’ll just have to see how it goes. We are quite firm with our standing, because this is not something we have thought of overnight. We have been working on this for the longest time, for more than a year or so,” said AirAsia's chief executive officer Aireen Omar.

She added that issues related to its operation in klia2 have been brought up since AirAsia (fundamental: 0.2; valuation: 1.4) first moved to the new airport.

Citing the recent aircraft rollback incident on July 17, which led to the aircraft having to be grounded for 8 hours during peak period, she said such incidents have been happening too frequently. 

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