KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that will be in focus on Friday (June 28) may include: Gamuda Bhd, Glomac Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Sapura Energy Bhd, Berjaya Corp Bhd, Icon Offshore Bhd, Eco World Development Group Bhd and Eco World International Bhd.

Gamuda Bhd said its board of directors is in favour of accepting the Federal Government's offer to take over all four toll concessionaires linked to the group for a combined RM6.2 billion at enterprise value.

They are Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Holdings Sdn Bhd (Sprint), Kesas Sdn Bhd and Projek SMART Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, it said its net profit for the third quarter ended April 30, 2019 fell 15% year-on-year to RM175.99 million as the group stopped recognising its share of Splash profits following the sale of Splash at the end of last year.

Revenue during the quarter fell 16% to RM1.04 billion compared with RM1.24 billion a year ago.

For the cumulative nine months, net profit fell 18% to RM521.17 million compared with RM633.82 million previously while revenue was slightly up by 2% to RM3.07 billion from RM3 billion.

Glomac Bhd's net profit for the fourth quarter ended April 30 plunged 57.6% to RM10.01 million from RM23.83 million in the previous corresponding quarter because of a high base effect last year.

Glomac explained the higher base in the corresponding period last year was from allowance for foreseeable losses on property development and a write-back of accrued construction cost that was no longer required.

Revenue was down 13.5% to RM80.94 million from RM93.6 million previously.

For the full year, Glomac's net profit fell 56.3% to RM13.6 million from RM31.13 million last year while revenue declined by 32.1% to RM273.34 million from RM402.41 million.

United Arab Emirates-based Aabar Investments PJS has ceased to be a substantial shareholder of RHB Bank Bhd after disposing of 231 million shares, the bank said.

Previously the group’s third largest shareholder with a 9.99% stake, back-of-the-envelope calculations indicate that Aabar would be left with a less than 5% stake post disposal, based on RHB’s issued share capital of 4.01 billion, according to its 2018 annual report.

Following Aabar’s paring of its stake in RHB, the indirect interest held by International Petroleum Investment Company PJSC and Mubadala Investment Company PJSC are also no longer deemed substantial.

Sapura Energy Bhd has narrowed its net loss in the first quarter ended April 30, 2019 to RM109.1 million from RM135.73 million a year ago, as it benefited from savings in finance costs after it repaid borrowings following the completion of certain corporate exercises it undertook — as well as higher revenue.

Quarterly revenue shot up 93% to RM1.63 billion from RM845.17 million previously, supported by strong growth in its Engineering & Construction (E&C) and Drilling segments.

Going forward, the group said it has secured various contract wins which are expected to increase its asset utilisation and further contribute to improving its financial performance. Its order book for the current quarter is at RM17.3 billion, with cumulative new contract wins to-date of approximately RM2.3 billion.

Berjaya Corp Bhd booked a net profit of RM97.1 million in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2019, from a net loss of RM95.19 million a year earlier, thanks to higher profit from operations and a gain on disposal of a joint venture amounting to RM191.99 million.

Revenue climbed 5.1% to RM2.22 billion from RM2.11 billion previously, thanks to higher revenue reported by the marketing of consumer products and services segment, as well as the hotels and resorts segment.

For the full year, BCorp narrowed its losses to RM1.78 million, from RM370.23 million in the previous year. Though revenue declined 3.49% to RM8.36 billion, from RM8.67 billion.

Icon Offshore Bhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary Icon Ship Management Sdn Bhd (ISM) has been slapped with a lawsuit for breach of contract in relation to the construction of a platform supply vessel (PSV).

Icon said  Labuan Shipyard & Engineering Sdn Bhd is seeking general damages, RM13.94 million in outstanding claims consisting of costs allegedly incurred between Oct 1, 2014 and March 9, 2015 for the maintenance of the vessel, and claims that ISM had allegedly not made prompt and punctual payments of all milestone payments.

Eco World Development Group Bhd's net profit for the second quarter ended April 30, 2019 dipped 4.5% to RM41.17 million from RM43.13 million a year ago, due to higher administrative, and selling and marketing expenses.

EcoWorld said revenue for the quarter slipped 1.18% to RM543.18 million from RM549.71 million, on the back of its Malaysian joint ventures, namely Eco Grandeur, Eco Horizon, Eco Ardence and Bukit Bintang City Centre.

For the six-month period, net profit rose 35% to RM71.49 million from RM52.9 million a year ago. Revenue, however, was lower at RM1.03 billion compared with RM1.07 billion previously.

Meanwhile, its unit Eco World International Bhd's (EWI) net loss for the second quarter narrowed to RM11.98 million from  RM26.46 million a year earlier.

For the cumulative six months, EWI posted net profit of RM10.78 million compared to a net loss of RM36.63 million a year earlier.

EWI said the 2Q net loss was due to the completion method of earnings recognition adopted in the UK, and that the firm was on track to record substantially higher profit in the second half of the year compared with the first half.

For the cumulative six months ended April 30, EWI posted a net profit of RM10.78 million against a net loss of RM36.63 million a year earlier.