KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Wednesday (June 21) may include: Selangor Dredging, BToto, Malakoff, Sapura Resources, Destini, Axiata, Lay Hong, Astro, Scientex, CCM Duopharma, Top Glove, Puncak Niaga and Ire-Tex.
Selangor Dredging Bhd is selling Wisma Selangor Dredging along with the land on Jalan Ampang for RM480 million cash to Golden Eagle Realty Sdn Bhd, for which it is expected to gain RM146.8 million at the group level.
The property developer said the disposal would allow it unlock its investment and generate immediate cash flow, which can be used to repay bank borrowings.
Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (Btoto) reported a 30% drop in its net profit to RM72.49 million for the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2017 (4QFY17), from RM104.71 million a year earlier, dragged mainly by its gaming operations in both Malaysia and the Philippines.
Quarterly revenue slipped to RM1.47 billion from RM1.48 billion last year.
The company declared a fourth interim dividend payment of three sen per share for the financial year ended April 30, 2017 (FY17).
Malakoff Corp Bhd saw changes to its top executives, with chairman Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail and managing director Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid resigning due to other professional commitments and personal reasons respectively.
Datuk Hasni Harun was appointed as the power firm’s new independent and non-executive chairman while executive vice president of operations Habib Husin was redesignated as acting CEO.
Sapura Resources Bhd is partnering Destini Bhd to strengthen its aviation business by expanding its customer base to include government and regional markets.
The two companies will take up equal ownership in joint venture company Urban Fleet Sdn Bhd.
The JVCo will take part in the sale of rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft, supply and provisioning of maintenance, repair and overhaul services in relation to aircraft and helicopters, and the provision of programmes like wet leasing and dry leasing of aircraft.
Axiata Group Bhd is buying a Pakistani tower company for US$90 million (RM385.51 million) through its wholly-owned subsidiary, edotco Pakistan Pvt Ltd.
The acquisition of Tanzanite Tower Pvt Ltd, which is wholly-owned by Tower Share Pvt Ltd, is expected to expand edotco’s presence in Pakistan with a sizeable portfolio of about 700 towers, Axiata said.
Bursa Malaysia publicly reprimanded Lay Hong Bhd and fined eight of its directors a total of RM750,000 for breaching regulations regarding the company's response to unusual market activity (UMA) queries on Nov 2, 2015 and Jan 19, 2016.
Lay Hong had announced a corporate exercise involving a proposed bonus issue, share split and issuance of free warrants two weeks after denying that there were any corporate developments in response to the queries.
The regulator said Lay Hong’s announcements had not been accurate, balanced, and fair, and failed to contain sufficient information to enable investors to make informed decisions.
Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd launched its digital marketing arm Blaze Digital, which will offer integrated digital solutions for marketers across Astro's 21 digital brands as well as 11 independent digital publications.
According to data from Google Analytics, Blaze Digital has a cumulative average of 20 million users and a reach of over 100 million people on Facebook monthly, putting it in a strong position to help marketers connect directly with a growing socially-connected and tech-savvy population, Astro said.
Scientex Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended April 30, 2017 rose 8.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM66.5 million from RM61.26 million, driven mainly by stronger exports in the group's manufacturing segment and higher progress billings for ongoing property development projects.
Revenue for the quarter rose 17% y-o-y to RM636.15 million from RM543.9 million.
It also declared an interim dividend of six sen per share in respect of FY17, with ex-date on July 5 and payment date on July 21.
CCM Duopharma Biotech Bhd expects its gearing to increase to 0.87 times from 0.25 times following its uptake of RM280 million Islamic financing facilities with Ambank Islamic Bhd.
The facilities had been entered into and executed to be used as used as capital expenditure for its new plants and machinery, and to support its project and business operations, CCM said.
According to its first financial quarter ended March 31, 2017 (1QFY17), short- and long-term borrowings stood at RM126.9 million.
Top Glove Corp Bhd intends to expand into the condom-manufacturing business by next year as the condom business is considered to be related to the rubber glove business.
“Many of our customers look to buy gloves and condoms together, so the market is already there. The technology is also already available," Top Glove's chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai said today.
The group’s initial investment for the diversification was revealed to be around RM30 million for 10 to 20 production lines, with one billion pieces targeted for production in the first year.
Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd's 98.65%-owned subsidiary in China, Sino Water Pte Ltd, is disposing of its loss-making unit Xinnuo Water (Binzhou) Co Ltd for 350,000 renminbi or RM220,500.
The sale to Binzhou Haifu Water Co Ltd would limit the group’s losses from the investment as the group plans to exit its businesses in China, Puncak Niaga said.
Ire-Tex Corp Bhd says it has failed to meet a deadline to pay the interest payment on its irredeemable convertible unsecured loan stocks that were issued in 2014, which may constitute an event of default.
It was supposed to pay the annual interest for the ICULS, which would expire in 2019, by June 10, but has failed to do so due to “operational issues which have landed the company in a difficult situation”.
According to the trust deed governing the ICULS, failure in paying the interest in the first place may constitute an event of default, and so Ire-Tex is seeking the trustee's advice on the matter.
It also plans to make the payment on July 10.
Meanwhile, it has also applied to the Companies Commission of Malaysia for more time — up till Aug 27 — to hold its annual general meeting (AGM) for 2017, which it was supposed to hold by June 30.
It said it would miss the AGM deadline because the company had been served with a special notice to remove its board of directors.