Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 6): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Dec 7) could include: Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood), Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOPB), MKH Bhd, Omesti Bhd, Asia Media Group Bhd, Stone Master Corp Bhd and Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS). 

Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood)’s net profit for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2016 fell 18.8% to RM5.03 million or 1.34 sen per share, from RM6.2 million or 1.65 sen a year earlier.

The group attributed this to losses incurred by Kenny Rogers Roasters operations in Malaysia, caused by weak consumer sentiment.

Revenue rose 10.1% to RM149.1 million, from RM135.4 million, on higher sales recorded by existing cafes and additional cafes operating in the quarter.

BFood recommended a second interim single-tier dividend of one sen for the current financial year ending April 30, 2017 (FY17), payable on Jan 26, 2017.
 
For the first six months of FY17, net profit dropped 18.5% to RM10.04 million or 2.66 sen a share, from RM12.3 million or 3.28 sen a share for the previous corresponding period. Revenue increased 8.5% to RM290.5 million, from RM267.8 million.

BFood said with the weakening of the ringgit impacting gross profit margin and other economic factors, it would be operating in a very challenging environment for the remaining period of FY17.

Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd’s (SOPB) renounceable rights issue saw a 17.6% over-subscription at the close of acceptance and payment of the rights issue on Nov 30.

SOPB said it received a total of 148.9 million acceptances and excess applications, of which 22.3 million were over subscribed.

It fixed the issue price for the two-for-seven renounceable rights issue at RM2.80 per share, which could raise up to RM357.72 million for the company.

The rights shares are expected to be listed and quoted on the Main Market of Bursa Securities on Dec 15, said SOPB.

On July 4, SOPB had announced a rights issuance of up to 127.7 million shares to part finance its acquisition of Shin Yang Oil Palm (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd for RM873 million.

MKH Bhd has proposed a one-for-10 rights issue to raise about RM80 million to fund the group’s property development activities. Along with the rights issue will be a two-for-one bonus issue.

MKH said it intends to use the funds raised from the exercise to finance infrastructure related to its property development, as well as for payment of landowners’ entitlement, construction of a KTM commuter station in Kajang, and as working capital.

The renounceable rights issue comprises 45.4 million new shares of RM1 each at an issue price to be announced later. The bonus issue, meanwhile, would consist of 90.81 million new shares.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, and subject to all required approvals being obtained, the [exercise] is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017,” it said.

Omesti Bhd has been awarded a RM17 million project by Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) to develop a financial reporting platform for SSM.

The project, secured by the group's company Formis Network Services Sdn Bhd, forms part of a comprehensive reengineering of the SSM online infrastructure to enable companies to file annual returns and audited accounts electronically.

The platform will also allow business information to be exchangeable among regulators, including tax and financial authorities, central banks and governments.
The project begins immediately and is to be completed by December 2017.

Asia Media Group Bhd has been issued a formal query on unusual market activity (UMA) from Bursa Malaysia, after its share price plunged 35.29% to 16.5 sen, from 26 sen today.

The regulator drew attention to the “sharp fall in price and volume" of the company's shares recently.

In the 45 minutes between 2.35pm and 3.10pm, Asia Media’s shares registered a fall from 25 sen to 16.5 sen. The counter closed at 16.5 sen, after some 14.24 million shares were traded, against its 200-day average trading volume of just 6.18 million shares.

Stone Master Corp Bhd has been classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) issuer, after its shareholders’ equity dropped below 50% of its issued and paid-up capital.
According to its accounts as at Sept 30, 2015, its total paid up share capital stood at RM22.48 million, while shareholder’s equity stood at RM3.44 million, falling well below the 50% threshold.

This was largely due to the company’s accumulated losses which grew to RM23.71 million, causing its total liabilities to jump to RM14.85 million.

Stone Master said it has 12 months to submit a regularisation plan to the authorities, or it risks being suspended from trading and delisted from the stock exchange.
 
A week before the close of its offer for Century Bond Bhd, Selangor government-linked firm Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) said it has obtained control of more than 90% of the company's listed shares and as such, it does not intend to maintain the listing status of Century Bond.

The trading of Century Bond's shares will be suspended upon the expiry of five market days from the close of the offer period on Dec 13, said KPS in a bourse filing.

In the meantime, KPS said its cash offer of RM1.75 per Century Bond share shall remain open for acceptances until 5pm on Dec 13, unless otherwise extended or revised.

As at today, KPS holds 108.96 million Century Bond shares, which represent 90.8% in Century Bond.

It had said then that it believed the acquisition would fit into its business strategy in the long term and create value for its stakeholders.

Aside from being a leader in the cement packaging market, it also viewed Century Bond as a profitable and cash-generating integrated packaging solutions provider with growth opportunities in nearby markets.

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