KUALA LUMPUR: Based on announcements and news flow last Friday, companies that may be in focus today include: Wong Engineering Corp Bhd, Prestariang Bhd, Takaso Resources Bhd, Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd, and WCT Holdings Bhd.
Wong Engineering Corp Bhd (WECB) has proposed an 80:20 joint venture with Widad Builders Sdn Bhd (WBSB) to participate in the facility management contract for the JB Sentral building in Johor Baru, the company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia. To undertake the contract, WECB (fundamental: 0.95; valuation: 0.6) would pay WBSB a participation fee of RM20 million, a refundable performance deposit of RM100,000, and meet the working capital needs of the JB Sentral contract for up to RM12 million within a period of 12 months.
To fund the contract, WECB has proposed a special issue of 27.5 million new shares, renounceable rights issue of up to 59.59 million new shares — one-for-two, at 60 sen each. This would raise a total of RM52.25 million.
Prestariang Bhd’s wholly-owned unit, Prestariang Systems Sdn Bhd (PSSB), had on Jan 21 received the letter of award from the finance minister to provide Microsoft software under the “Master Licensing greement 2.0’ to all government agencies in Malaysia. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Prestariang (fundamental: 1.95; valuation: 0.9) said the contract is over the course of three years, effective from Feb 1, 2015 until Jan 31, 2018. The group did not provide any details on the value of the contract.
Private property developer OCR Land Holdings Sdn Bhd acquired last Friday 15 million shares or a 7.6% stake in Takaso Resources Bhd. Takaso (fundamental: 1.25; valuation: 0.3) announced OCR had acquired the shares via a direct business transaction, and raised its direct interest in Takaso to 13.88% or 27.5 million shares. A separate filing showed Ong Kah Hoe is a substantial shareholder of OCR Land, and is a deemed interested party in the transaction.
Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) has renewed the manufacturing and distribution contracts with Swiss food giant Société des Produits Nestlé SA for several dairy product brands. “Consequently, F&N will continue to manufacture and distribute Carnation, Bear Brand, Bear Brand Gold, Ideal Milk and Milkmaid in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei and Laos, until 2037,” said F&N in a statement last Friday. F&N (fundamental:2.1; valuation: 0.9) has entered into agreements with Nestlé and Nestec SA, that extend the terms of its initial licences granted by both companies.
WCT Holdings Bhd’s plans to set up its first real estate investment trust (REIT) will likely take another year to realise, said its executive director Wong Yik Kae. “Depending on market conditions, we have to find the right timing in order to launch the REIT,” he told reporters, after a signing ceremony to mark the appointment of New World Hotels & Resorts, to manage its soon-to-be-completed hotel dubbed “New World Hotel Petaling Jaya” last Friday. The hotel is part of WCT’s (fundamental: 0.8; valuation: 1.8) RM1.8 billion Paradigm integrated commercial development in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
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. Go to www.theedgemarkets.com for more details on a company’s financial dashboard.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 26, 2015.