Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Based on corporate news flow and announcements today, stocks that could be in focus on Friday (Aug 21) are: Guocoland (M) Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd,  Pharmaniaga Bhd, Pos Malaysia Bhd, Sunway Construction Group Bhd, and Thong Guan Industries Bhd.

Guocoland (M) Bhd booked its ninth consecutive quarterly loss that widened — both on-quarter and on-year — to RM19.38 million in the quarter ended June 30 (4QFY20), due to fair value loss of RM20 million on its investment in DC Mall and provision of tax amounting to RM21.8 million.

The one-off items more than offset the 42.58% y-o-y increase in revenue to RM186.22 million from RM130.62 million, contributed by its ongoing Emerald 9 development project in Cheras and a land disposal in Melaka.

Full-FY20 net loss widened to RM54.36 million from a loss of RM32.78 million in FY19, while revenue inched up 2.13% to RM422.79 million from RM413.95 million.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd net profit rose 658% to RM368.7 million in its third quarter ended June 30, 2020 (3QFY20) from RM48.62 million, largely due to forex gains in the quarter, and in absence of a sizeable impairment booked in 3QFY19.

Revenue for the quarter was slightly higher at RM3.71 billion from RM3.7 billion in the previous year, it said.

For the nine months to June 30, KLK’s net profit rose 27.4% to RM563.79 million from RM442.49 million in the previous year, while revenue contracted 1.2% to RM11.59 billion from RM11.73 billion.

The performance also translated to Batu Kawan Bhd’s 318.4% increase in net profit to RM212.65 million in 3QFY20, from RM50.86 million. Revenue for the quarter was flat at RM3.82 billion, it said. Batu Kawan owns a 47% stake in KLK.

For 9MFY20, Batu Kawan net profit jumped 24.5% to RM332.11 million from RM266.8 million in the previous year’s preceding period, while revenue fell 1.3% to RM11.96 billion from RM12.12 billion.

MBM Resources Bhd slipped into a net loss of RM5.18 million in the quarter ended June 30 (2QFY20) following operations halt during the Movement Control Order, which also took a toll on auto sales through the quarter.

The only other time MBM booked a loss was in 4QFY17. The latest quarterly revenue stood at RM258.6 million — down 54% on-year and 31% on-quarter. MBM booked a net profit of RM27.22 million in 1QFY20.

For the six-month period ended June 30, the group's net profit came in at RM25.9 million compared with RM139.7 million a year ago. Its cumulative revenue shrank to RM632 million against RM1.077 billion the year before.

MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd posted a lower net loss in the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 to RM21.55 million from RM67.33 million last year, as it booked higher margins and lower costs.

Quarterly revenue fell to RM448.74 million from RM474.22 million a year earlier, due to the decrease in sugar quantity sold by its wholesale segment.

For the first half of FY20, MSM said cumulative net loss narrowed to RM56.26 million from RM74.39 million a year earlier while revenue dropped marginally to RM959.58 million from RM959.84 million.

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PChem) net profit in the quarter ended June 30, 2020 (2QFY20) fell 63% on-quarter to RM186 million from RM506 million on lower sales following deferred shipment in the period.

Revenue, it said, was lower at RM3.18 billion versus RM3.89 billion in the preceding quarter. The group had achieved a higher plant utilisation rate of 94%, from 89% in 1QFY20. On dividend, it declared a dividend of 5 sen per share.

For the six months ended June 30, PetChem’s net profit more than halved to RM692 million from RM1.92 billion a year ago, as revenue fell 16.53% to RM7.07 billion from RM8.47 billion previously.

Petronas Gas Bhd’s (PetGas) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 rose 8.8% on-year to RM547.1 million from RM502.9 million, thanks to higher gross profit and forex gains.

Revenue for the quarter increased 1.4% to RM1.4 billion from RM1.38 billion a year earlier, due to higher revenue contribution from the regasification segment. It announced a second interim dividend of 16 sen per share.

For the six-month period ended June 30, PetGas said its net profit fell 10.1% to RM915.22 million from RM1.02 billion, while revenue increased 1.8% to RM2.8 billion from RM2.75 billion.

Pharmaniaga Bhd’s net profit increased to RM9.98 million for the second quarter ended June 30, up 7.52% from RM9.28 million a year earlier, boosted by higher sales of personal protective equipment (PPE) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quarterly revenue grew 7.31% to RM646 million from RM602 million a year ago driven by increased demand in the non-concession business. It declared an unchanged second interim dividend of 2.5 sen per share to be paid on Oct 6.

For the six-month period ended June 30, 2020, Pharmaniaga booked a net profit of RM32.38 million, up 12.04% from RM28.9 million a year ago as revenue rose 5.76% to RM1.47 billion, from RM1.39 billion.

Pos Malaysia Bhd is selling 51% of its air cargo business in East Malaysia — Pos Asia Cargo Express — to Asia Cargo Network Sdn Bhd (ACN) for RM40 million cash.

The deal leaves Pos Malaysia with a 49% stake in the unit, which will be renamed  World Cargo Airlines (WCA). The outfit is not a core business, Pos Malaysia said.

Sunway Construction Group Bhd’s unit, Sunway Construction Sdn Bhd has signed an agreement with MRCB George Kent (MRCBGK) for Package GS07-08 of the Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) project from Bandar Utama to Johan Setia at a revised contract price of RM1.295 billion.

This follows the switch from project delivery partnership model to turnkey model for the LRT3 project. The revised completion date for the project will be Nov 30, 2023.

Thong Guan Industries Bhd, which plans to undertake a one-for-one bonus issue to reward shareholders, saw net profit jump 48.6% on-year to RM20.46 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 from RM13.77 million, due to more premium product mix in its plastic packaging products, favourable exchange rates and lower raw material prices.

Revenue for the quarter, however, slipped slightly to RM228.03 million from RM229.71 million due to lower average selling price. It declared a second interim dividend of 2 sen.

For the cumulative six months, Thong Guan’s profit rose 42% to RM37.92 million from RM26.7 million a year earlier, while revenue grew 5.6% to RM472.06 million from RM446.9 million.

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