KUALA LUMPUR: Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus on Wednesday (Sept 19) may include the following: FGV Holdings Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Ideal Jacobs (M) Corp Bhd, Berjaya Food Bhd, Vizione Holdings Bhd, WCT Bhd, Damansara Realty Bhd, YFG Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Superlon Holdings Bhd, MMAG Holdings Bhd and PanPages Bhd.

FGV Holdings Bhd said today its group president and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Zakaria Arshad has resigned after being sent on compulsory leave on Sept 13.

FGV said with the resignation of Zakaria, 58, the suspension has ended.

However, the forensic investigation into several past investments and acquisitions will continue, FGV said, adding that the probe is expected to be concluded by year end.

"FGV will continue its business as usual. As announced earlier the Special Board Committee 2 comprising four FGV directors, namely its chairman Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid, Datuk Dr Salmiah Ahmad, Dr Mohamed Nazeeb P. Alithambi and Datin Hoi Lai Ping, will continue to perform the functions of the group president and CEO of FGV," it added.

Zakaria has also resigned as non-independent and non-executive director of MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd.

Ideal Jacobs (M) Corp Bhd has won an RM71 million contract to build 301 single-storey link houses in Sabah under the 1Malaysia Civil Servants Housing Programme (PP1AM).

Its wholly-owned unit Widad Builders Sdn Bhd has accepted the letter of award from developer Pemajuan Ilham Enterprise Sdn Bhd to be the project’s main contractor.

Widad, which is involved in construction and integrated facilities management activities, will undertake the project in Kampung Melinsung, Beringgis, Papar, Kota Kinabalu for 24 months from the date of possession of the site.

Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood), which operates the Starbucks Coffee chain in Malaysia and Brunei, the Kenny Rogers Roasters (KRR) chain in Malaysia and Jollibean in Singapore, saw its net profit rise 16.9% to RM6.24 million in the first financial quarter ended July 31, 2018 (1QFY19) from RM5.34 million a year ago, on higher profit contributions from Starbucks' operations in tandem with the higher revenue achieved.

BFood also attributed the improved quarterly earnings to it ceasing consolidation of the losses from its KRR operations in Indonesia following its disposal in the previous financial year ended April 30, 2018 (FY18).

This resulted in higher earnings per share of 1.66 sen for 1QFY19 compared with 1.43 sen for 1QFY18.

Quarterly revenue also came in 4.5% higher at RM161.38 million from RM154.39 million in 1QFY18, mainly due to same-store sales growth recorded by Starbucks, as well as additional Starbucks cafes operating in Malaysia compared with the previous year's corresponding quarter.

BFood has recommended a first interim dividend of one sen per share for FY19, payable on Oct 26.

Vizione Holdings Bhd has bagged an RM89.9 million contract from PBA Holdings Bhd to build submarine pipelines from Butterworth to the Macallum area on Penang Island.

Vizione said the new contract is part of the group's objective to tender for new projects and to expand its current customer base.

"This will mark the first direct letter of award (LoA) from the Penang State government after the 2018 general election. It further enlarges the group's order book and is expected to provide a steady stream of revenue for the group over the next two financial years," it added.

Vizione said its wholly-owned subsidiary Wira Syukur (M) Sdn Bhd has accepted the LoA from PBA's wholly-owned unit Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) to undertake the works, which fall under Package 3.

The duration of the contract is 21 months, it added.

WCT Holdings Bhd, via its wholly-owned subsidiary WCT Bhd, has secured a RM1.77 billion contract to build the proposed Pavilion Damansara Heights commercial development here.

WCT said WCT Bhd had on Friday (Sept 14) accepted the letter of award from Impian Ekspresi Sdn Bhd.

The work scope for the project along Jalan Damanlela encompasses completion of nine blocks of office towers and three blocks of service apartments on a podium block.

The project is expected to commence this month, with completion within 38 months.

Damansara Realty Bhd (DBhd) is exiting the car park management business in Singapore, as part of the group’s strategy to focus on expanding markets in order to strengthen its integrated facilities management business segment and maximise the group's value generation.

DBhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary Metro Parking (M) Sdn Bhd (MPM) has entered into a shares sale agreement with Indian businessman Selvakumar Baalu for the disposal of 140,000 shares or a 70% stake in loss-making Metro Parking (Singapore) Pte Ltd (MPS) for S$100,000 (RM302,400).

MPS is principally involved in the provision of car park management and operation services, as well as the operation of car park systems.

YFG Bhd has bagged a RM30 million contract to construct apartments and terraced houses in Butterworth.

The contract, awarded by Atta Global Group Bhd, involves 112 units of a 14-storey apartment building and eight units of three-storey terrace houses.

The project is expected to commence on Oct 1 and be completed within 24 months, YFG said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is opening up its unifi 100Mbps plan to new unifi home customers.

Priced at RM129 per month, the plan provides unlimited usage, access to unifi PlayTV packages for everywhere, anytime entertainment, as well as free 600 minutes of voice calls.

This follows its move on July 12 to upgrade its existing unifi home customers to higher broadband speeds, TM executive vice-president of unifi Imri Mokhtar said.

Thermal insulation material maker, Superlon Holdings Bhd, expects its top-line growth for the financial year ending April 30, 2019 (FY19) to rise at a faster rate of 10%, mainly driven by growing production capacity at its new factory in Vietnam, and increasing sales volume.

"Last year, our top line and bottom line were affected by currency exchanges. We hope to see a 10% growth in top line [in FY19] in US dollar terms," its executive director Liu Han Chao told a press conference after the group’s annual general meeting today.

For the full FY18, its net profit fell 48.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM12.2 million, due mainly to an unfavourable foreign exchange rate and higher raw material prices, although revenue rose 2.9% y-o-y to RM109.38 million from RM106.27 million.

MMAG Holdings Bhd has acquired a 26.37% stake in listed software solutions provider PanPages Bhd for RM10.25 million or an average price of 14.6 sen per PanPages share.

MMAG said with the acquisition, the group, through its subsidiary Line Clear Express & Logistics Sdn Bhd, can leverage on PanPages' business search platform or database and to tap into the customers database by offering its courier and logistics services to all its existing customers.

The consideration of 14.6 sen per PanPages share represents a 35% discount from the closing price of 22.5 sen on Sept 14, and a 44% discount from the average one-year closing price of PanPages of 26 sen.