GEORGE TOWN (Aug 3): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug 4) could include: UEM Sunrise Bhd, RHB Capital, AMMB Holdings, Yong Tai Bhd, JAKS Resources Bhd, EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd, SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, TPC Plus Bhd and Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis REIT).
Property developer UEM Sunrise Bhd has acquired a 21-storey office tower in Melbourne, Australia, for A$58 million (RM161 million), which it plans to convert into a luxurious residential development.
In a statement today, UEM Sunrise said the purchase of the office tower, located on 412 St Kilda Road, is the company’s third property acquisition in the city, following its purchase of two central business district (CBD) sites on LaTrobe Street and Mackenzie Street in October 2013.
The 16,000 sq m office tower is located at a strategic corner site of St Kilda Road — one of the main routes into the Melbourne CBD. It is currently occupied by the Victorian Police and will be vacated after mid-2016.
“The intention of this acquisition is to develop ‘an unprecedented ultra-luxurious residential development’, potentially with a mix of ground floor retail and serviced apartment components. The company will continue to evaluate the market condition, in order for the development to meet future market demands,” said UEM Sunrise.
Its managing director cum chief executive officer, Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajid, said: “The decision to acquire the 412 St Kilda Road site is part of our strategy to ensure steady flow of overseas projects. The property is in a different location from the two core CBD sites [that] we currently own. Being in the city fringe, it promises a different lifestyle and thus, will appeal to a different market segment.”
Meanwhile, RHB Capital Bhd (RHBCap) said there is currently no plan to enter into merger discussions with AMMB Holdings Bhd.
The fourth largest lender in the country was responding to a New Straits Times report today that it may revisit earlier plans to merge with AmBank Group — the nation’s fifth largest lender by asset.
"It is business as usual at RHB and we will continue to focus on improving our fundamentals," RHBCap said in a statement today.
DigitalEdge Weekly had reported in its latest issue, citing sources, that the potential merger between RHBCap and AMMB has been put on hold, due to the current political headwinds.
A source familiar with the matter told the Weekly that the initial plan was to merge the two groups in a share swap, valued at about US$10 billion (RM38.25 billion), under which RHBCap would be the acquirer.
AMMB Holdings has long been viewed as a potential merger and acquisition (M&A) candidate, because of the possibility that its two largest shareholders, apart from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), may eventually exit.
The two largest shareholders in AmBank Group are Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) with a 23.78% stake, and founder cum chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim with a 12.97% stake held through AmCorp Group Bhd. EPF owns a 16.4% stake.
The retirement fund, meanwhile, is the single largest shareholder in RHBCap with a 41.49% stake, followed by Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments PJS (21.2%) and OSK Group’s Tan Sri Ong Leong Huat (9.97%).
Yong Tai Bhd has entered into five separate memorandums of understanding (MoUs) today for a host of proposed business and land acquisitions that can provide it five potential property development projects in Melaka, Klang Valley and Johor, with a combined gross development value (GDV) of about RM7 billion, spread over the next eight years.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the garment maker turned property developer’s executive director, Ng Jet Heong, said the MoUs and the contemplated proposals are in line with Yong Tai Group’s expansion plans to grow its property development business segment by acquiring more lands with good prospects for future property development activities.
“The MoUs entered with the respective parties will allow us to negotiate with the parties involved and work together in executing definitive agreements for the proposed acquisitions and proposed joint venture,” he added.
It inked the MoUs with: PTS Impression Sdn Bhd (PTS Impression), Yuten Development Sdn Bhd (Yuten), Terrawest Resources Sdn Bhd (Terrawest), Land & Build Sdn Bhd (Land & Build) and Admiral City Sdn Bhd.
Jaks Resources Bhd’s wholly-owned unit, Golden Keen Holdings Ltd, has been awarded a engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth US$454.7 million (RM1.75 billion) for the power plant project in Vietnam.
The new contract has boosted Jaks Resources’ outstanding construction order book to RM2.44 billion, according to the press statement today.
In the statement, Jaks Resources said the EPC contract to Golden Keen encompasses both civil engineering works, such as construction of the independent power producer (IPP)’s infrastructure and buildings, as well as mechanical and electrical (M&E) engineering works.
EcoFirst Consolidated Bhd's acquisition of a 62-acre (24.8ha) piece of land, worth RM145 million in Ulu Klang, Gombak, Selangor, has been further delayed due to technical issues on land alignment.
In a statement today, Ecofirst said the group and the landowner, Zurich Insurance Malaysia Bhd, have mutually agreed to extend the purchase completion for the piece of land for a further three months to Oct 31, 2015, due to the said reason. The land fronts the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Ecofirst said both parties had via exchange of letters dated July 31 and Aug 3, 2015, agreed in-principle for the extension for the group to pay the balance purchase consideration of RM130.5 million, with late payment interest at the rate of 6% per year, on or before Oct 31, 2015.
Ecofirst is also required to pay the interest to Zurich Insurance Malaysia for the months of May, June and July, on or before Aug 7.
SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd is establishing a joint venture (JV) to explore opportunities in Brunei Darussalam.
In its filing with Bursa Malaysia, SapuraKencana said its wholly-owned subsidiary SapuraKencana (B) Sdn Bhd (SapuraKencana Brunei) had entered into a shareholders agreement (SA) with Euthalia Energy Solutions Sdn Bhd and RSK Petroleum Sdn Bhd, which will be the JV company.
SapuraKencana said the purpose of RSK is to identify potential business opportunities, investments, JVs, business combinations or other transactions in Brunei, with respect to works and services in the oil and gas industry.
Under the SA, SapuraKencana Brunei will own a 70% stake in RSK, while the remaining 30% will own by Euthalia.
Main Market-listed TPC Plus Bhd has received Bursa Malaysia's approval for its regularisation plan to help lift it out of its Practice Note 17 (PN17) status.
The egg producer was classified as a PN17 company in February last year, after its auditors had expressed concern over TPC, which posted a net loss of RM4.1 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2013 (FY13). Bursa's decision had also taken into account that TPC's shareholders' equity as at Dec 31, 2013 was less than 50% of the latter's issued capital.
In a statement today, TPC said Bursa had vide its letter dated July 31, 2015, approved its revised proposed regularisation plan, which entails a proposed share premium reduction, proposed par value reduction, a proposed rights issue with warrants, proposed capitalisation of amount owing to its holding company, Huat Lai Resources Bhd; as well as proposed amendments to its memorandum of association and articles of association.
Based on its approval obtained from Bursa, TPC said the regulator has also approved the listing and quotation of up to 180 million new TPC shares, under its proposed rights issue with warrants and proposed capitalisation.
Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)’s realised net income for the period came in at RM23.57 million, up 13.5% on-year from RM20.76 million.
The REIT also proposed a distribution per unit (DPU) of 4.30 sen, down one sen or 18.87% from 5.3 sen in the previous corresponding period, according to its filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Axis REIT said the DPU represents approximately 99.1% of its 2QFY15’s total income available for distribution. The DPU is to be paid on Sept 11.
The REIT also reported a net profit of RM31.9 million — up 45.73% from RM21.89 million in 2QFY14; while revenue was at RM41.34 million — up 17.8% from RM35.09 million in the same quarter a year ago.