Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 31): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be focus tomorrow (Nov 1) could include: AirAsia, AirAsia X, MAHB, Coastal Contracts, Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor, Ekovest, Sasbadi and Caring.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) has revised the rates for passenger service charges (PSC) at Malaysian airports, effective Jan 1, 2017, which may impact the operations of AirAsia Bhd, its long-haul affiliate AirAsia X Bhd, and airports operator Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd.

With the revision, PSC for domestic flights have been fixed higher at RM11 for all airports, from previous rates of RM6 for klia2 and RM9 for KLIA and other airports; PSC for Asean destinations are now RM35, compared to RM65 for KLIA, RM32 for klia2 and RM65 or RM26 previously for other airports.

Meanwhile, rates for international destinations, excluding Asean countries, will be raised to RM73 for KLIA and other airports, while PSC for klia2 will be RM50. Currently, the rates for KLIA, klia2 and other airports are RM65, RM32 and RM65 respectively.

Later in the day, AirAsia and AirAsia X released a joint statement saying the facilities that are provided in KLIA and klia2 are not at par with each other, so before charges can be equalised, facilities at the two airports should be made equal.

"The customers at KLIA enjoy far superior services whereas the services at klia2 are not entirely satisfactory which does not give rise to a level playing field," the statement read.

Additionally, the airlines are concerned that international passengers, particularly those from China, would now have to pay double the PSC rate at their hub in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

"This may decrease the number of international tourists and eventually force us to put the capacity elsewhere," they said.

Coastal Contracts Bhd has aborted its plan to tap into Indonesia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply chain after its proposed joint venture with an Indonesian firm fell through.

This came after the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it inked in August with PT Jaya Samudra Karunia Gas Internasional and Yudha Kurniawan Tanos in relation to the purchase of a 49% stake in PT Jaya Samudra Karunia Gas (JSK Gas) — a Jakarta-based coal transporter — lapsed last Friday.

It was supposed to fork out US$6.55 million (RM26.44 million) for the stake.

Under the deal, JSK Gas was to issue 1,500 new ordinary shares at an issue price of US$9,465 per share, which amounts to US$14.19 million in total, to Coastal Contracts, subject to adjustment on completion.

Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd has today received its shareholders' approval for the proposed acquisition of an approximately 71.44% stake in Century Bond Bhd, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Perangsang Packaging Sdn Bhd, for RM150.03 million.

In a statement, it said Century Bond is involved in the manufacturing of cement bags and holds a 60% market share in Malaysia, as well as having a presence in Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

"Backed by the mandate from our shareholders, we are excited to complete our third acquisition of the year, as Century Bond meets all desired investment criteria we have identified as part of our business strategy," shared Perangsang Selangor chief executive officer Ahmad Fariz Hassan.

"Based on the positive outlook that we have on this investment, we are optimistic that Century Bond will be able to contribute more than 25% to the total net profits of the Perangsang Selangor Group in the coming financial years," Fariz added.

Ekovest Bhd has obtained the development order for its EkoGateway @ KL River City project, which has a gross development value of RM2.6 billion.

The project includes the construction of 300 units of 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing (PPA1M), which will be priced between RM150,000 and RM240,000, Ekovest said in a press release today.

"Additionally, after the completion of this project, the government will allocate a total of RM130 million facilitation fund to Ekovest," the company said.

The fund is intended to aid the private sector with respect to investments that have strategic impact and huge economic spill over.

Sasbadi Holdings Bhd's net profit jumped 94.17% to RM4.34 million or 1.55 sen per share in the fourth quarter ended Aug 31, 2016 (4QFY16) from RM2.23 million or 0.88 sen a year ago, on higher other operating income.

Revenue, however, dropped 23% to RM15.9 million from RM20.65 million, according to its bourse filing today.

For the full year (FY16), Sasbadi's net profit rose 9.92% to RM16.85 million or 6.25 sen per share from RM15.33 million or 6.04 sen per share in FY15. Revenue grew 5.97% to RM93.2 million from RM87.95 million.

Caring Pharmacy Group Bhd's net profit fell 29.2% to RM721,000 in the first financial quarter ended Aug 31, 2016 (1QFY17), from RM1.02 million a year ago, as cost of sales went up.

Its consolidated statement of profit or loss for the quarter, filed on Bursa Malaysia today, also showed higher selling and distribution expenses.

Earnings per share came in at 0.33 sen versus the previous year's 0.47 sen, which it said was mainly due to higher incentive granted to subsidiary companies to drive sales.

Revenue, meanwhile, grew 19.9% to RM110.94 million from RM92.55 million due mostly to higher sales generated from existing outlets.

 

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