KUALA LUMPUR (June 19): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies in focus on Monday (June 22) could include Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd, Salcon Bhd, Harvest Court Industries Bhd, MMC Corp Bhd, NCB Holdings Bhd, Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd and Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) said today it has received an invitation from the Energy Commission (EC) to submit a proposal on the acquisition of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)'s 70% stake in Project 3B in Jimah, Negeri Sembilan.

In a statement with Bursa Malaysia, TNB (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 1.8) said the EC and the government have accepted its participation as the lead developer for the 2x1,000-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in collaboration with Japan's Mitsui Co Ltd.

TNB said its participation in Project 3B would be via a 70% stake in Jimah East Power Sdn Bhd, which had been tasked to build the power plant.

The EC's request for proposal comes with several conditions including tariff for electricity generated by Project 3B will not exceed 26.67 sen per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

TNB said it is also expected to achieve financial closure for Project 3B by Oct 15.

Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd has secured three contracts worth a combined RM60.3 million from Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd, BASF Petronas Chemicals Sdn Bhd and Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) respectively.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Muhibbah Engineering (fundamental: 1.1; valuation: 0.8) said the contract awarded by Westports entails the construction of Container Terminal 7's 14-lane exit gate at Port Klang, with delivery expected by the first quarter of 2016.

BASF Petronas job involves civil and structure works for its 2-Ethylhexanoic Acid Plant project in Kuantan, Pahang, slated for completion by the second quarter of 2016.

The award by MRT Corp, meanwhile, is to supply emergency walkway steel material. The contract is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2016.

The (three) contracts are expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of Muhibbah Engineering for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015, and beyond, said the group.

Salcon Bhd’s 60%-owned indirect subsidiary Envitech Sdn Bhd has bagged a RM24.35 million contract to build a sewage treatment plant and a pumping station.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Salcon (fundamental: 1.2; valuation: 1.65) said Envitech had accepted a letter of award dated June 15, 2015 from Perunding Majucipta Sdn Bhd for the proposed project.

Envitech is a 60%-owned subsidiary of Salcon Engineering Bhd, which in turn is a wholly-owned unit of Salcon.

The project, which is expected to run for up to 65 weeks, involves the conversion of an existing aerated lagoon to a sewage treatment plant and an existing sewage treatment plant to a pumping station and related works for Orient Housing Development Sdn Bhd, Infinite Accomplishment Sdn Bhd, Desaria Home Sdn Bhd, C&G Maxim Sdn Bhd, Meridian Maxim Sdn Bhd and BKSC Properties Sdn Bhd.

Salcon said the project is expected to contribute positively towards the earnings and net assets of the group for the financial years ending Dec 31, 2015 and 2016.

Harvest Court Industries Bhd has appointed MCA central committee member Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker as its independent and non-executive director.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Harvest Court (fundamental: 1.2; valuation: 0.3) said Ti, 52, is currently chairman of MCA Kuantan division since 2004. He was Pahang state assemblyman from 1995 to 2008.

Ti is also a senior partner of Messrs Wong, Law & Ti and sits on the board of IKIP International College and Kuantan Port Authority.

MMC Corp Bhd has upped its shareholding in NCB Holdings Bhd to 21.05% after buying Port Klang Authority's (PKA) 25 million shares in the port operator, bringing the total number of NCB shares held by MMC to 99 million shares.

NCB (fundamental: 2.05; valuation: 0.8) said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today that PKA has ceased to be a major shareholder in the group following the off-market trade.

NCB said MMC (fundamental: 0.4; valuation: 1.4) had acquired the shares from PKA last Tuesday (June 16).

MMC had in November 2014 emerged as a major shareholder in NCB after buying 73.99 million shares or 15.73% in the group from MISC Bhd (fundamental: 1.2; valuation: 0.8) via an off-market trade.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has bought 1.7 million shares in Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak) since the beginning of this month, raising its equity stake to 7.091% as at June 17.

According to filings with Bursa Malaysia, the provident fund is now the third largest shareholder of Litrak (fundamental: 2; valuation: 1.5), after Gamuda Bhd which holds a 44.5% stake and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) with 7.1%.

Litrak is the concessionaire of Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong.

Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) has defended its proposed acquisition of a non-controlling stake in Indonesia’s PT Eagle High Plantations Tbk, saying it is cheaper than the acquisitions made for New Britain Oil Palm Ltd (NBPOL) by Sime Darby Bhd and Unico-Desa Plantations Bhd by IOI Corp Bhd.

In a statement today, FGV (fundamental: 1.15; valuation: 2) said the proposed implied equity value per hectare (EV/ha) for the planted hectarage of controlling shareholder Rajawali Corp is approximately US$17,400 per ha — lower than the recent transactions involving NBPOL (EV/ha of US$25,900) and Unico Plantations (EV/ha of US$23,500).

“In comparing with recent Indonesian transactions, hectarages involved are small in nature, of less than 70,000 hectares,” the group hit back in response to news reports highlighting criticisms from a Malaysian lawmaker and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

The plantation group has drawn flak following its proposal last Friday to buy a 37% stake in Eagle High from Rajawali Corp for about US$680 million (RM2.55 billion).

The purchase consideration will be settled by US$632 million cash plus the issue of 95 million new FGV shares.

Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd announced in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today that it has appointed Mah Sing Group's former executive director Datuk Lim Kiu Hock as its new executive director.

Lim’s position as executive director of Mah Sing was held from 2006 to May 2015.

Matrix Concepts said Lim brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the property development sector.

In a separate filing, Matrix Concepts (fundamental: 2.6; valuation: 1.8) also announced the appointment of Datuk Hon Choon Kim as its independent and non-executive director. Hon will also sit on the group’s nomination and audit committee.

Hon started his career in the government’s statistical department in 1977. He was later elected as state assemblyman and was appointed as a state executive councillor of Negeri Sembilan. In 1995, he was elected into the Parliament, and then appointed as Deputy Education Minister from 1999 to 2008.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)