KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 22): Based on corporate announcements and news flows today, companies that may be in focus on Tuesday (Jan 26) could include the following: E&O, Astino, SapuraKencana, Global Oriental, MRCB-Quill REIT, Lay Hong, Seacera, KBES, TMC Life Sciences, Bintai Kinden, Barakah Offshore, Instacom and Shell Refining.
Lifestyle property developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) has formally signed a RM1.078 billion contract with China Communications Construction Co (M) Sdn Bhd (CCCC (M)) for the latter to undertake reclamation works for the Seri Tanjung Pinang Phase 2 (STP2) project in Penang.
Following this, mobilisation of works for STP2 is targeted to commence at the end of January, said E&O.
In a statement on Friday, E&O said its subsidiary Tanjung Pinang Development Sdn Bhd (TPD) had today signed a reclamation contract with CCCC (M) for the proposed project. The reclamation contract sets out the terms and conditions, to be adhered to by the signatory parties, with regard to the reclamation process of STP2.
Roofing product maker Astino Bhd expects revenue to drop between 8% and 10% this financial year ending July 31, 2016 (FY16) from a year ago due to weak demand.
Its executive chairman and chief executive officer Ng Back Teng said the Penang-based group saw international and local orders slump by 10% for the November–January quarter and expects demand to continue to fall through the remaining quarters.
"We are preparing for bad times… The drop in sales orders is expected to translate to an 8% to 10% decrease in revenue in FY16, but we hope to maintain the same profit margin as FY15," he told reporters after the group's annual general meeting today.
Astino's net profit fell 10.9% to RM5.08 million for the first financial quarter ended Oct 31, 2015 (1QFY16) from RM5.7 million a year ago, on the back of a 4.7% drop in revenue to RM115.41 million from RM121.06 million in 1QFY15. The weak 1QFY16 performance was attributed to a decrease in overseas market demand.
SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd has aborted plans to buy Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas)'s interest in three blocks offshore south Vietnam for a combined US$400 million.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, SapuraKencana said the conditional sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) on the proposed transaction have been terminated by the parties by mutual agreement. It did not provide any reason for its decision.
SapuraKencana had in November 2014 inked the SPA to acquire the entire interest of Petronas in the three blocks after an international bidding process. The three shallow water upstream assets are Blocks 01/97 & 02/97, Blocks 10 & 11.1 and Block 46-Cai Nuoc.
Under the agreement, SapuraKencana was to acquire Petronas' interests of 50% of Blocks 01/97 & 02/97 (Cuu Long Basin), 40% of Blocks 10 & 11.1 (Nam Con Son Basin) and 36.85% of Block 46-Cai Nuoc (Malay-Tho Chu Basin).
Global Oriental Bhd has teamed up with Menteri Besar Incorporated (Perak) (MB Inc) to develop a mixed development in Manjung, Perak, which will have a gross development value of RM900 million.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Global Oriental said its wholly owned subsidiary Johan Awana Sdn Bhd and MB Inc have signed a development rights agreement (DRA) to undertake the development of a parcel of land that measures 147.84 acres and is owned by MB Inc into a mixed development of commercial and residential components.
"The DRA provides an opportunity for MB Inc and Global Oriental Group to combine their resources and expertise to enhance the value of the development. The DRA is expected to contribute to the medium- and long-term profitability of Global Oriental Group," it added.
MRCB-Quill REIT's (MQReit) realised net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 (4QFY15) grew 92.5% to RM16.4 million, from RM8.5 million a year ago, due to higher income contribution from Platinum Sentral here, higher net property income, and higher interest income.
Net property income for 4QFY15 surged 99.7% to RM26.79 million from RM13.41 million in the previous year.
Revenue for the quarter also came in higher at RM32.58 million, a 79.2% jump from RM18.18 million in 4QFY14.
It also declared a final distribution per unit (DPU) of 4.37 sen for FY15, payable on Feb 29. This brings total DPU for the year to 8.47 sen, from 8.38 sen in FY14.
For full-year 2015 (FY15), the real estate investment trust saw its realised net income increase 58% to RM54 million or earnings per unit (EPU) of 9.06 sen, compared with RM34.2 million or EPU of 8.76 sen recorded in FY14.
For FY15, MQReit's net property income rose 69.3% to RM90.27 million from RM53.33 million a year ago.
Revenue for FY15 rose 63.9% to RM115.17 million, from RM70.25 million in FY14.
Lay Hong Bhd confirmed that its major shareholder NH Foods Ltd (NHF) had acquired 8 million Lay Hong shares valued at RM40 million or RM5 per share yesterday.
Lay Hong replied to the bourse's query today that its Japan-listed partner NHF had on Jan 21 conducted a direct business transaction for the acquisition of 8 million Lay Hong shares at a crossing price of RM5 apiece.
Lay Hong was responding to a report in the Star Biz, which had said a big block of Lay Hong shares were transacted at a steep discount to its market price.
Seacera Group Bhd's group managing director Zulkarnin Ariffin has increased his direct and indirect stakes in the company to 21.07% and 4.94%, respectively.
In a statement on Friday, the company said Zulkarnin raised his shareholdings after he acquired 358,400 shares that represent a 0.19% interest in the company on Jan 22 at RM1.03 per share.
Express bus operator KBES Bhd saw some 22.42 million of its shares, which represented a 17.79% stake in the company, trade off-market today for RM11.21 million.
According to Bloomberg data, the KBES shares were moved in a direct business transaction block at 50 sen per share, 11.5 sen higher than its last-traded price of 38.5 sen today.
However, it is not immediately known who the parties involved in the transactions were.
According to the company's filing dated Jan 6, KBES's largest shareholder, Sani Zaleha Sdn Bhd, was left with a 17.79% stake in KBES, after disposing of 509,700 shares on the open market on Dec 31, 2015.
Lau Chan Seng has an indirect interest of 17.89% in the company, through Sani Zeleha Sdn Bhd while Datuk Che Azizuddin Che Ismail has a 5.96% stake.
TMC Life Sciences Bhd saw its net profit rise 44.7% in its second quarter ended Nov 30, 2015 (2QFY16) to RM3.3 million from RM2.3 million a year ago, as revenue grew with higher patient load and interest income.
Its bourse filing showed that revenue for 2QFY16 came in 25% higher at RM31.3 million compared with RM25.1 million in 2QFY15.
"The higher revenue was contributed by higher patient load supported by expanded bed capacity and additional consultants recruited," it said.
For the cumulative half-year period (1HFY16), TMC Life's profit more than doubled to RM6.2 million from RM3 million a year ago, while revenue grew 27% to RM61.4 million from RM48.3 million in 1HFY15.
Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd said its 69.82%-owned subsidiary, Bintai Kindenko (Vietnam) Co Ltd, has secured a contract for the provision of air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation (ACMV) system for the Saigon Centre project in Saigon, Vietnam.
According to its bourse filing, the VN$167 billion (RM32.06 million) contract was awarded by Hoa Binh Construction & Real Estate Corp.
The job comprises the manufacturing, fabrication, supply, delivery, installation, testing, commissioning, warranty and maintenance of the ACMV system for Phase 2 and 3 of the Saigon Centre project.
The job will also include tower development works from the interlink building to the existing building and is estimated to be completed by Nov 2017.
Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd's president and chief executive officer Tuan Syed Abdul Rahim Syed Jaafar, 57, will step down from his positions by Mar 31, after the expiry of his employment contract.
In a bourse filing, Barakah said Syed Abdul Rahim's employment contract is not going to be renewed and that the responsibilities of the roles will be assumed by Nik Hamdan Daud, the founder and deputy executive chairman of the group.
Nik Hamdan owns a 48.68% stake in Barakah.
Instacom Group Bhd has changed its name to Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd, and its securities will be traded and quoted under the new name next Wednesday (Jan 27).
The stock short name of its securities will be changed accordingly: Instaco to Vivocom, Instaco-WB to Vivocom-WB, Instaco-WC to Vivocom-WC, and Instaco-WD to Vivocom-WD.
However, the stock number remains unchanged.
Shell Refining Company (Federation of Malaya) Bhd has clarified earlier reports over a share acquisition by Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical Co Ltd (SHP), saying that its major shareholder Shell Overseas Holdings Ltd (SOHL) is in discussions with SHP.
In a filing with Bursa today, Shell Refining said that upon enquiry, the board was informed that whilst SOHL is considering a sale of its shares in the company, no agreement for the sale of its shares has been reached with SHP or any other party.
"The board would like to state that any sale of shares is a matter for SOHL, and confirms that the board has not received any offers for the company's shares or received any notice on the potential investment mentioned in the newspaper articles," it said.
(Note: 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.)