Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies in focus tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept 25) may include: CIMB, Bina Puri, Heng Huat, Bintai Kinden, Mynews, MLabs, Yinson, Berjaya Media and Parkson Holdings.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd said Datuk Seri Nazir Razak will step down from his position as the group's chairman and all other positions within the entity by Dec 31, 2018.

The group said its board of directors will now activate its succession plan to decide on the next chairman and the exact date of handover.

Until then, CIMB said Nazir's priorities will be to complete CIMB's four-year transformation programme, T18, to finalise CIMB's new strategic blueprint and ensure a smooth handover to his successor.

Bina Puri Holdings Bhd said it is cautious on the performance of its core construction business for the remaining months of its financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), following the slew of changes to projects after the 14th general election.

"After GE14, there [have] been a lot of cancellations of mega projects, and delays over [calls for] tender. There is a possibility [for our construction to remain in the red for the remainder of the year], if no new projects come on board," group executive director Datuk Matthew Tee Kai Woon told reporters after the group's extraordinary general meeting.

However, he said the group remains hopeful for an improving business environment hereafter, and will actively tender for projects, even after recent unsuccessful bids for Affin Bank's new headquarters and the Lendlease project at Tun Razak Exchange.

Heng Huat Resources Group Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary Heng Huat Industries Holdings Sdn Bhd plans to dispose of its entire stake in HK Palm Fibre Manufacturer Sdn Bhd (HKPF) for RM2.7 million.

Heng Huat said the sale to Arah Kawasan Sdn Bhd is expected to improve the group's performance as it will no longer need to absorb the losses of HKPF.

Further, production efficiency will also improve as a result of higher utilisation of the remaining production capacity of the group to cater for orders from customers currently served by HKPF, it said.

Heng Huat said the disposal will see a one-off loss on disposal of RM2.62 million and it expected this to dilute its earnings per share and net assets per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018.

Bintai Kinden Corporation Bhd has bagged a RM14.03 million contract from Tenaga Nasional Bhd to set up a 132kV gas insulated switchgear switching station at Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur.

The group's wholly-owned subsidiary Kejuruteraan Bintai Kindenko Sdn Bhd accepted the award, Bintai Kinden said.

It said the contract is non-renewable and estimated to be completed within 710 days from the commencement date.

Convenience store operator Mynews Holdings Bhd reported a 17.7% increase in its third quarter net profit in tandem with its continuous nationwide expansion.

The group turned in a net profit of RM7.27 million for the quarter ended July 31, 2018, compared with RM6.18 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue grew 19.8% to RM97.88 million from RM81.71 million.

For the nine-month period ended July, Mynews said net profit came in 9.1% higher at RM20.44 million, compared with RM18.74 million registered for the same period previously. Cumulative revenue, meanwhile, increased 19% to RM282.19 million from RM237.2 million.

Loss-making MLabs Systems Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary Next Gen Biosciences Sdn Bhd is buying a condominium apartment in Kuala Lumpur for RM7 million.

MLabs said its unit had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Venus Assets Sdn Bhd.

The subdued high-end property market has provided a good opportunity for the group to acquire the property with good value, said MLabs.

The property is strategically located at KL City Centre and carries the "Four Seasons" brand, and has strong prospect for capital appreciation and will be able to generate rental income for the group.

Yinson Holdings Bhd's net profit declined nearly 12% to RM73.67 million for the second financial quarter ended July 31, 2018, from RM83.6 million a year ago.

However, quarterly revenue grew 13.5% to RM246.54 million from RM217.23 million, mainly due to the bareboat chartering contribution from its floating production storage and offloading vessel John Agyekum Kufuor.

Yinson has declared an interim single-tier dividend of four sen per share, payable on Dec 21.

For the first half of its financial year, Yinson saw a 6.8% decline in net profit to RM134.1 million from RM143.88 million in same period of the previous year, while revenue grew 23.6% to RM481.72 million from RM389.64 million.

Berjaya Media Bhd, the publisher of The Sun newspaper, has reported a bigger loss in its latest quarterly financial results mainly due to a decrease in revenue.

The Practice Note 17 company said net loss for the first quarter ended July 31, 2018 widened to RM2.75 million, from RM1.49 million a year ago.

Quarterly revenue fell 27.22% to RM7.37 million from RM10.12 million a year ago, mainly due to lower advertising income reported by subsidiary Sun Media Corporation Sdn Bhd.

Berjaya Media said it will continue to focus on containing its cost and improving advertising revenue.

Parkson Holdings Bhd said the sale of a 70% stake in Parkson Credit Sdn Bhd to its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary Parkson Retail Group Ltd will result in a smaller share of future contribution from the credit service business.

Parkson Holdings explained that the divestment will dilute its effective shareholding in Parkson Credit to 68.48%, from 100%, "resulting in a lower future earnings contribution from Parkson Credit to the Parkson Holdings Group".

On Sept 13, Parkson Holdings announced that it is selling a 70% stake in Parkson Credit, which the group owns through wholly-owned Parkson Credit Holdings Sdn Bhd.

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