KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus for Thursday (Nov 22) may include the following: Sime Darby Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Paramount Corp Bhd, Media Prima Bhd, Pos Malaysia Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, Sunway Bhd and Sumatec Resources Bhd.

Sime Darby Bhd said today first quarter net profit from continuing operations fell 9.3% to RM225 million from RM248 million a year earlier as the group's heavy equipment and automotive dealership businesses reported lower profits.

Sime Darby said revenue from continuing operations rose to RM8.85 billion in the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (1QFY19) from RM8.14 billion.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) net profit doubled to RM168.49 million or 9.28 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18), from RM80.93 million or four sen per share last year due to higher passenger growth.

Its quarterly revenue grew 1.46% to RM1.23 billion, from RM1.21 billion in 3QFY17, the airports operator said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

For its cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2018, its net profit tripled to RM699.21 million or 39.55 sen per share, from RM207.47 million or 9.95 sen per share last year, while revenue was up 5.72% to RM3.6 billion against RM3.41 billion a year ago.

Sapura Energy Bhd's units have secured several contracts in Malaysia and Mexico with a combined value of approximately RM1.75 billion.

Sapura Energy said that in Malaysia, Sapura Subsea Services Sdn Bhd has been awarded a five-year contract for the provision of pan-Malaysia underwater services for petroleum arrangement contractors (PACs).

It said the scope of work consists of underwater services which include the utilisation of vessels, air and saturation diving, remotely-operated vehicles.

Meanwhile, it said its Mexico unit has been awarded a contract from Hokchi Energy S.A. de C.V. to undertake engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and installation works in the Hokchi Field Development in the Gulf of Mexico.

Further, Sapura Energy said its unit in Mexico has been awarded a contract from ENI Mexico S. de. R.L de. C.V to undertake engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and installation works in Offshore Block Area 1 in the Gulf of Mexico.

MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd reported an increase of 52.4% year-on-year in its net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18) to RM15.88 million from RM10.42 million attributed to lower raw material costs and favourable foreign exchange rate.

Quarterly revenue, however, declined by 15.7% to RM562.05 million from RM667.11 million in 3QFY17.

For the nine months ended Sept 30 (9MFY18), MSM recorded a net profit of RM46.01 million compared with a net loss of RM45.66 million in 9MFY17 while revenue dropped 16% to RM1.684 billion from RM2.006 billion.

Paramount Corp Bhd reported an 81% drop in its net profit to RM15.62 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18) from RM82.82 million a year earlier, amid the absence of a gain on disposal which was recorded in the previous year.

Revenue for the quarter rose 12% to RM210.53 million, compared with RM187.84 million in the preceding year.

For the nine months ended Sept 30 (9MFY18), net profit declined 41% to RM64.88 million from RM109.56 million a year earlier, while revenue increased 24% to RM651.14 million from RM524.35 million.

Media Prima Bhd’s losses significantly narrowed in the nine months ended Sept 30 in FY18 to RM22.1 million from RM285 million in the same period last year, amid an 80% growth in digital and commercial revenues.

The media company said revenue from digital (RM64 million) and commercial (RM152 million) increased to RM216 million from RM120 million previously.

It attributed the revenue improvements to the implementation of digital advertising acceleration strategies with global partners such as Youtube and Mashable Southeast Asia. In addition, it said it had concentrated its resources in pragmatic advertising, and its home shopping segment CJ WOW SHOP which has 1.04 million customers in Malaysia.

The accelerated reduction in mail volumes pushed Pos Malaysia Bhd to a net loss of RM16.58 million or 2.12 sen per share in the second quarter ended Sept, its first quarterly loss in nearly 10 years.

In the corresponding period last year, the company had posted a net profit of RM18.83 million or 2.41 sen per share.

Revenue for the quarter was flat at RM588.73 million.

For the cumulative six months, Pos Malaysia made a net loss of RM11.6 million or 1.48 sen per share, against a net profit of RM54.75 million or 6.99 sen per share last year. Cumulative revenue slipped slightly to RM1.18 billion from RM1.2 billion.

AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) was hit by an RM138.2 million impairment on an amount due from a joint venture in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2018 (3QFY18), which caused its net loss to widen to RM197.47 million from RM43.2 million in the same period last year.

Also contributing to the decline was higher average fuel price in the quarter under review at US$91/bbl, against US$65/bbl recorded in 3QFY17.

Quarterly revenue slid 4% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.08 billion from RM1.12 billion, on the back of decreased scheduled flight revenue, following a 5% drop in average base fare to RM473 per passenger, due to the introduction of new routes and capacity building on established ones.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30 (9MFY18), AAX fell into the red with a net loss of RM213.43 million versus a net profit of RM14.47 million a year ago, despite higher revenue — up 2% to RM3.4 billion from RM3.34 billion.

Sunway Bhd’s third quarter net profit grew by a marginal 0.21% to RM145.31 million from RM145.01 million a year earlier, due to higher contributions from the property development and construction segments.

Sunway said quarterly revenue was up 12.6% to RM1.44 billion from RM1.28 billion previously.

For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2018, Sunway saw its net profit rise 4.18% to RM466.67 million or 9.57 sen per share from RM447.95 million or 9.36 sen per share a year ago.

Revenue for the period rose 11.85% to RM4.04 billion from RM3.61 billion.

Sumatec Resources Bhd has lodged a police report against a former director for acting without board approval on several occasions and a possible breach of trust.

Sumatec accused the director of signing a "parental company guarantee agreement" on May 2, 2016 to the Continental Industrial Supply and Services Limited Liability Company Partnership (CISS).

The agreement required Sumatec to pay approximately US$6 million in arbitration proceedings concerning payment of the CaspiOil Gas LLP contract.
 
The director had also witnessed the placement of the company’s seal on an agreement without the board’s resolution, resulting in Sumatec acknowledging it would undertake a settlement of around RM80 million of a collateralised loan obligation debt (CLO debt), although the liability had been waived.

Additionally, Sumatec believes the director was negligent in handling the financing of vessels under SISB and another subsidiary Semado Shipping Sdn Bhd.