Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 13): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Fri, Aug 14) could include the following: Genting, Gas Malaysia, Bina Darulaman, Bumi Armada, Dayang Enterprise, Media Prima, Takaso, Tropicana and Ewein.
 
Singapore-listed Genting Singapore PLC (GENS; 52%-owned by Genting Bhd) suffered a net loss of S$16.93 million or 0.14 Singapore cents loss per share for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15), due to the Asian gaming industry downturn.

It posted a net profit of S$102.29 million or 0.84 Singapore cents earnings per share last year.

In a filing with the Singapore Stock Exchange today, GENS (fundamental: 2.55; valuation: 0.8) said earnings for 2QFY15 was affected by fair value loss from its portfolio investments relating to unfavourable market conditions in the gaming industry.

Revenue for 2QFY15 fell 23% to S$578.15 million from S$751 million in 2QFY14 with Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) contributing S$577.8 million, a 23% year-on-year drop.

For the cumulative six months (6MFY15), GENS saw its net profit contract by 86% to S$45.74 million or 0.38 Singapore cents per share from S$330.78 million or 2.7 Singapore cents per share in 6MFY14.

Revenue was down 23% to S$1.22 billion in 6MFY15 compared with S$1.58 billion in 6MFY14.

Gas Malaysia Bhd saw its net profit fall 31.1% to RM33.68 million or 2.62 sen a share for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) from RM48.91 million or 3.81 sen a share a year ago, because tariff revisions in May and Nov 2014 lowered its gross profit.

However, revenue for 2QFY15 rose 17.3% to RM795.01 million from RM677.99 million in 2QFY14, thanks to higher volume of gas sold and the upward revision of natural gas tariff. 

Gas Malaysia (fundamental: 2.1; valuation: 1.1) declared a first interim dividend of 3.5 sen per share amounting to RM44.94 million for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 (FY15), payable on Sept 15.

The weak 2QFY15 earnings dragged net profit for the six months period ended June 30 (1HFY15) lower to RM62.17 million or 4.84 sen a share, down 31.3% from RM90.51 million or 7.05 sen a share in 1HFY14.  

Revenue rose 23.7% to RM1.56 billion from RM1.26 billion a year ago.

In a Bursa statement today, Gas Malaysia said it sees revenue growth for FY15 to be primarily driven by the increase in volume of gas sold, number of customers, and revisions in gas tariff.

Bina Darulaman Bhd’s outstanding orderbook has been lifted to RM438 million, due to its road building, quarry and construction businesses, said group managing director Datuk Izham Yusoff.

“The group's construction and quarry unit BDB Infra Sdn Bhd currently has an order book of RM238 million, while BDB Synergy Sdn Bhd has RM200 million as at August 2015,” Izham told reporters after the group's signing ceremony with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and OCBC Al-Amin Bank Bhd for term loan deals worth RM320 million today.

Izham said this year, Bina Darulaman (fundamental: 1.2; valuation: 2.6) will be looking into property development projects in Perak and the Klang Valley to expand beyond the northern state.

Earlier, Bina Darulaman's property development arm BDB Land Sdn Bhd signed a RM280 million financing deal with Maybank to redevelop Bandar Darulaman (Darulaman 2.0) in Kedah which carries a RM858 million gross development value.

BDB Infra also signed a RM40.4 million agreement with OCBC Al-Amin for an Islamic financing facility for its new premix plant and quarry facilities at Sungai Ular, Kulim, and for the state road maintenance project in six districts in Kedah.

Half of the financing facility from OCBC Al-Amin will be used for the expansion of BDB Infra's quarry business towards southern Kedah, Penang and northern Perak.

Bumi Armada Bhd (Bumi Armada)’s wholly-owned subsidiary Bumi Armada Caspian LLC (BAC) has settled its dispute with SEA Srl over a service contract, for €3.2 million or approximately RM14 million.

In a Bursa filing today, Bumi Armada (fundamental 1.05; valuation: 1.4) said SEA originally claimed for approximately €28.5 million or about RM127 million in a notice of arbitration against BAC under the service contract signed between BAC and SEA on Sept 28, 2012.

The service contract was for post-trenching and backfilling services for the “Filanosky Field Development Project in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea”.  

Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd’s mandatory general offer (MGO) for the shares it does not own in Perdana Petroleum Bhd has closed, with Dayang gaining acceptances for a further 45.16% stake in Perdana.

At the closing of the offer today at 5pm, Dayang (fundamental: 2.7; valuation: 2.4) received acceptances for some 338.04 million shares, representing a 45.16% equity stake in Perdana (fundamental: 1.15; valuation: 0.8).

Perdana’s filing on Bursa said this brings Dayang’s total stake in Perdana to 709.57 million shares, equal to a 94.8% interest.

As for Perdana’s warrants, Dayang received acceptances for 15.13 million shares, representing 49.39% of the total warrant base, bringing its total holdings to 27.90 million warrants or 91.11% of the outstanding warrants.

Media Prima Bhd today announced the resignation of its chairman Tan Sri Johan Jaffar, effective Aug 31.

However, no specific reason was given for the resignation of the veteran newsman, who will be replaced by the current deputy chairman Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor - currently the group managing director and chief executive officer of Glomac Bhd - who will be redesignated to fill the post on Sept 1.

The media group also announced the appointment of Datuk Raja Datuk Zaharaton Raja Zainal Abidin, 66, as an independent and non-executive director.

Meanwhile, Media Prima’s (fundamental: 1.95; valuation: 2) net profit rose 22.6% for its second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) to RM43.94 million from RM35.83 million a year ago, on lower operating expenses and finance costs.

Consequently, earnings per share rose to 3.96 sen from 3.24 sen in 2QFY14, according to its filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

Its latest quarterly revenue, however, dipped 5.9% to RM365.82 million from RM388.58 million.

The media group also declared a first interim single-tier dividend of 3 sen per share, payable on Sept 30. The stock will trade ex-dividend on Sept 9.

For its cumulative six months (1HFY15), Media Prima’s net profit was largely flat at RM62.83 million compared with RM62.85 million in 1HFY14.

1HFY15 revenue, however, declined 6.4% to RM695.21 million from RM742.68 million previously, due to sluggish advertising spending and laclustre macroeconomic sentiment.

Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd, a joint venture (JV) between Ewein Land Sdn Bhd and Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG), is teaming up with CZBUCG which owns 40% of Ewein Zenith shares, to develop the Wellness City of Dreams at Bandar Tanjong Pinang, Penang with a gross development value (GDV) of RM15 billion.

Ewein Land Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned unit of Ewein Bhd holds the remaining 60% in Ewein Zenith.

Wellness City of Dreams spans over 50 acres of land at Bandar Tanjong Pinang and will feature a resort-styled development comprising a wellness mall for healthcare, recuperation, retirement homes, and alternative medical care.

The Wellness City of Dreams project is part of a land swap deal given to CZBUCG by the Penang state government for constructing the Penang undersea tunnel and three major roads bypasses worth RM6.3 billion.

Forming part of the Wellness City of Dreams development will be Ewein Zenith’s RM800 million GDV City of Dreams serviced apartments, which features two blocks of 38-storey towers. 

Ewein managing director Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng said it has received overwhelming responses so far to the project.

Takaso Resources Bhd, a company in the rubber and baby products industry which has recently ventured into the construction sector, has acquired a 37,264.66 sq ft piece of leasehold land in Taman Melaka Raya, Melaka for RM9.32 million cash. 

The tenure of the land expires on Oct 4, 2082.

In a statement today, Takaso said its unit Tristar City Sdn Bhd has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Mega Irama Enigma Sdn Bhd for the land acquisition.

Although the land was initially approved to be developed into a seven-storey budget hotel with 174 rooms, Takaso said it plans to turn the land into a mixed development with a gross development value of RM134.15 million.

Tropicana Corp Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015 (2QFY15) fall 74% on-year to RM23.2 million from RM89.5 million, mainly because 2QFY14 had recognised gains from the disposal of properties and a joint venture unit.

Thus, earnings per share dropped to 1.6 sen a share from 6.45 sen a share previously, its filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.

Revenue for the quarter, however, improved a marginal 3.6% to RM312.3 million from RM301.5 million last year, underpinned by higher revenue recognition across key projects and proceeds from land sales.

For the six months ended June 30, 2015 (1HFY15), the property developer’s net profit halved to RM42.4 million or 2.97 sen a share from RM97.3 million or 7.52 a share previously, for the same reason that caused it to record a fall in its latest quarterly revenue.

Revenue for the period rose 26.9% to RM703.3 million versus RM554.2 million in 1HFY14.

In a press statement, Tropicana said despite cautious industry sentiments, its performance proved resilient, as its total sales for the first half of 2015 stood at RM787.4 million, while its unbilled sales are at a record high of RM3 billion.

(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.)

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