KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Wednesday, Jan 21) could include the following: Tenaga Nasional Bhd, construction players, tourism-related stocks, Iris Corporation Bhd, REDtone International Bhd, Brahim's Holdings Bhd, Axis REIT, CLIQ Energy Bhd, Media Chinese International Ltd, CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust and Gunung Capital Bhd.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 1), construction and tourism players are expected to be in focus following the government’s decision to not increase electricity tariff this year, while at the same time keeping the country’s major infrastructure projects on schedule, as well as boosting the tourism sector with various measures, including waiver of visa fees for tourists from China.

Meanwhile, Iris Corporation Bhd (fundamental: 0.55; valuation: 0.6) said it is forming a joint-venture (JV) with Technology Park Malaysia Corporation Sdn Bhd (TPM), to jointly develop a residential project on a piece of land in Phase 3 TPM Bukit Jalil.

In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia today, the company said it will invest an initial sum of RM130 million for the implementation of the first phase of the project. The fund will be sourced internationally, as well as from bank borrowings.

REDtone International Bhd (fundamental: 2.3; valuation: 0.3) saw its net profit for the second financial quarter ended Nov 30, 2014 (2QFY15) fall by 12.4% to RM5.29 million, mainly due to the absence of a gain on disposal of its 35% shareholding in REDtone Mobile Sdn Bhd, which was recognised in 2QFY14. Revenue for 2QFY15 rose 47.1% to RM44.8 million, due to higher data project revenue.

For the six months ended Nov 30, 2014 (1HFY15), REDtone’s net profit increased by a marginal 0.3% to RM9.72 million, while revenue jumped 18.4% to RM78.98 million.

Brahim's Holdings Bhd (fundamental: 0.8; valuation: 1.8) is confident on continuing its 25-year in-flight catering concession with Malaysia Airline Bhd (MAB), the new entity that has been established to replace Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS).  

"The [negotiation] process is still on-going. I think we will be able to conclude it soon," Brahim's executive chairman Datuk Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi told newsmen today.

When asked what other measures are the group taking to be less reliant on the national carrier — other than the group's recent acquisition of the Burger King franchise in Malaysia and Singapore — Ibrahim said the group is in discussions to provide catering services to British Airways Plc, Emirates Lounge, and two other airlines, to expand its customer base.

Axis REIT’s (fundamental score: 1.3; valuation score: 0.5) assets under management has surpassed the RM2 billion mark for the first time, and the group is now targeting RM3 billion.

According to the chief executive officer of Axis-REIT Managers Bhd, Datuk Stewart LaBrooy, the RM3 billion target was to be achieved via acquisitions within the next three years.

“We see value deals coming into the market, so, we think there is going to be lots of opportunities to buy this year, in the second half,” said Labrooy, adding that the REIT is capable of raising up to RM450 million through private placements of new shares, to finance more property purchases.

CLIQ Energy Bhd’s independent non-executive director, Julian Suresh Candiah, has increased his direct interest in the oil and gas special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to 3.24%, from 3.06% previously.

According to a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Julian bought an additional 1.12 million shares or a 0.18% stake in CLIQ, from the open market on Jan 15, 2014, at 63.9 sen apiece. This raised his total interests to 20.42 million shares or a 3.24% stake.

Julian has been seen accumulating CLIQ shares in recent months. Bursa Filings revealed he had purchased 6.92 million shares in CLIQ in November 2014, all from open market transactions.

Property developer LBS Bina Group Bhd has tightened its grip in ML Global Bhd, after acquiring a total of 561,800 shares in the latter, via four open market transactions last week.

Filings with Bursa Malaysia today showed LBS Bina (fundamental score: 1; valuation score: 1.2) had acquired 210,100 shares in ML Global (fundamental: 0; valuation: 0.3) at 41.3 sen last Tuesday, and 145,300 shares at 41.6 sen last Wednesday.

Last Thursday, LBS Bina bought an additional 90,000 shares at 41.5 sen, and another 116,400 shares in the company at 41.9 sen last Friday.

After the transactions, LBS Bina holds 20.46 million shares or a 22.82% direct interest in ML Global, which manufactures roof tiles steel trusses and provides roof designs and re-roofing works.

Media Chinese International Ltd (MCIL) (fundamental: 2, valuation: 1.2), the country’s largest Chinese-language media group, has denied rumours it will undergo a drastic consolidation plan involving its four daily newspaper titles in Malaysia, namely Sin Chew Daily, China Press, Nanyang Siang Pau and Guang Ming Daily.

“The management would like to reiterate that in an attempt to improve and innovate further, the basic structure and operational set-up of the [MCIL’s] Malaysian businesses remain unchanged,” MCIL said in a statement issued to theedgemarkets.com today evening.

The management’s clarification came after recent media news, which highlighted there will be a major shakeup of four Chinese-language newspapers under its stable in West Malaysia.

To recap, Malaysiakini’s Chinese edition had reported on Jan 16 (last Friday), citing sources, that Nanyang Siang Pau may become a business newspaper published three times a week, while China Press is expected to focus on the evening market.

Malaysiakini also reported the regional bureaus of Guang Ming Daily are expected to be closed for it to concentrate on the northern region, making Sin Chew Daily the sole national morning Chinese newspaper.

Responding to the news article, MCIL management has stressed the publishing of the four newspapers titles will remain status quo, but employee re-allocation is still in the works.

CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust (CMMT) has announced a distribution per unit (DPU) of 2.26 sen for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4Q2014), which is 0.9% higher than the DPU of 2.24 sen for the previous corresponding quarter.

For 4Q2014, CMMT (fundamental: 1.8; valuation: 1) posted a net property income of RM54.6 million. The steady performance was mainly due to contribution from East Coast Mall, which had completed a two-phase asset enhancement programme, said the manager of the property trust in a statement.

For the full financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY2014), CMMT recorded a stable DPU of 8.91 sen – 0.7% higher than the DPU of 8.85 sen for FY2013. The FY2014 DPU translates to an annualised distribution yield of 6.2%, based on CMMT’s closing price of RM1.43 per unit on Jan 19, 2015.

Meanwhile, Gunung Capital Bhd saw its share price fell 6 sen or 7.14% today to close at 78 sen, following the government’s announcement that the 2015 National Service Training Programme will be stopped this year to save RM400 million.

The company had secured a RM164.95 million contract from the Ministry of Defence to provide bus transport services for the National Service Training Programme. The tenure of the service-contract awarded is from Dec 26, 2014 to Dec 25, 2017.