Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR: Based on corporate announcements and news flow on Friday, the companies that may be in focus today could include: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Integrax Bhd, Shell Refining Co (Federation of Malaya) Bhd, SMRT Holdings Bhd, Masterskill Education Group Bhd, Poh Kong Holdings Bhd, SYF Resources Bhd and Sumatec Resources Bhd.

TNB, which is the largest shareholder of Integrax Bhd with a 22.12% stake, has made a conditional voluntary takeover offer for the terminal operator at RM2.75 per share or RM644.22 million, a 19% premium to Friday’s closing price of RM2.31 per share. Integrax owns Lumut Maritime Terminal and Lekir Bulk Terminal in Perak. TNB said it does not intend to keep Integrax’s listing status on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

Shell Refining Co said it is proactively investigating long-term options for the company, which include the potential sale of assets or conversion of operations to a storage terminal, as it expects refining margins to remain depressed.

“These will include, but are not limited to, the potential sale of the assets, or conversion of operations to a storage terminal and/or other viable options,” it said in a filing with Bursa. The company said its board has completed the review of the company’s resilience in the current poor margin environment, as announced in September 2014.

ACE Market-listed SMRT Holdings Bhd has aborted its plan to transfer to the Main Market. The company’s securities will be suspended from trading today pending a material announcement related to its proposed acquisition of a 32.9% stake in Masterskill Education Group Bhd from the latter’s major shareholder and executive director Siva Kumar Jeyapalan. Masterskill’s shares will also be suspended today.

Poh Kong Holdings Bhd has targeted revenue growth of 10% for the financial year ending July 31, 2015 (FY15), despite the upcoming imposition of the goods and services tax (GST) on April 1. Executive director Ermin Siow said the GST will have a minor, temporary impact on consumer sentiment. Poh Kong executive chairman and group managing director Datuk Eddie Choon said international gold prices will range between US$1,200 to US$1,300 per ounce this year. He added that Poh Kong plans to expand into Sabah and Sarawak in the next one to two years.

Furniture maker SYF Resources Bhd expects better profit for the financial year ending July 31, 2015 (FY15), due to lower raw material prices and the weakening ringgit against the US dollar. Executive director Datuk Seri Chee Hong Leong said the results for furniture exporters would be good, as raw material prices have been at record lows in the past five years, stemming from low rubber prices which led to “a lot of replanting and timber cut”. Rubberwood is one of the main raw materials used by SYF Resources to manufacture furniture.

The weakening ringgit against the US dollar would also translate into better profit margins, but the company has yet to enjoy the full impact of the lower ringgit, Chee said.

Sumatec Resources Bhd, of which Tan Sri Halim Saad is a major shareholder, has trimmed the acquisition price for the 100% stake in Borneo Energy Oil and Gas Ltd to US$290 million (RM1.03 billion), from US$350 million previously, due to the sharp drop in global oil prices.

Sumatec told Bursa it has entered into a supplemental agreement with Borneo Energy’s vendors, Abu Talib Abdul Rahman and Dr Murat Safin, to reduce the purchase price, of which cash payment will be at US$210 million, while the balance US$80 million is to be settled via the issuance of 1.22 billion new shares in Sumatec at an issue price of 23 sen per share.

Sumatec has also proposed to vary its proposed rights issue to six rights shares for every five existing shares held — together with one rights warrant for every two rights shares subscribed — at an issue price of 20 sen each. It plans to raise between RM835.85 million and RM1.1 billion from the exercise.

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 12, 2015.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share