Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Based on news flow and corporate announcements today, companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Nov 26) could include: Malayan United Industries Bhd, EITA Resources Bhd, Time dotCom Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, Protasco Bhd, Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, and Notion Vtec Bhd.

Malayan United Industries Bhd (MUI) told Bursa Malaysia that it is in "serious discussions" with a potential party to explore the possibilities of disposing certain substantial assets to realise their value.

The group, which has its shares suspended from trading for three days and will resume trading tomorrow, said it will make full disclosure of the transaction once discussions are completed and an agreement is entered into. 

"The company wishes to remind its shareholders that there is no certainty as to the outcome of the discussions," MUI said.

For its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014 (3QFY14), MUI reported a net loss of RM2.31 million versus a net profit of RM15.9 million in 3QFY13, while revenue for the quarter fell 7.5% to RM150.76 million from RM163 million.

Gains on disposal of a leasehold property and other investments recorded in 3QFY13 had helped to boost its bottom-line then. MUI was last traded at 23 sen before its shares were suspended.

EITA Resources Bhd has secured a contract worth RM79 million for the supply, procurement, installation, testing and commissioning of escalator and travelator system for all underground stations for the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, EITA said its wholly owned subsidiary EITA Elevator (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd received the letter of acceptance (LOA) from Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd today (Nov 25).

"The contract will have positive effect on the revenue or earnings of EITA group for the financial year ending Sept 30, 2015 (FY15) and is expected to contribute positively to the future earnings and net assets of EITA group," it said.

For the full year ended Sept 30, 2014 (FY14), EITA's net profit and revenue stood at RM12.72 million and RM198.91 million, respectively. It has recommended a final single-tier dividend of 2 sen per share for FY14, which amounts to RM2.6 million.

EITA closed up 3 sen or 2.17% at RM1.41 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM183.3 million.

Time dotCom Bhd's (TDC) net profit leaped 77% to RM50 million in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014 from RM28.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue climbed 14% to RM150.6 million from RM131.9 million in the previous year.

In its statement to the exchange, the group attributed the earnings improvement to higher data revenue from global bandwidth sales and income from non-recurring contracts during the quarter.

Besides that, it said a one-off reversal of an RM11 million provision and a higher dividend income of RM8.8 million from quoted securities held, had also boosted its quarterly profit.

Time dotCom closed 19 sen or 3.75% higher at RM5.25, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.01 billion.

KPJ Healthcare Bhd's net profit jumped 50% to RM29.1 million in its third financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2014, from RM19.4 million in the previous year's corresponding quarter, while revenue rose 16% to RM657.1 million from RM565.2 million.

"The increase is due to the improved performance from existing hospitals and newly opened hospitals in the group which are currently in the middle of their gestation period, which are KPJ Bandar Baru Klang and PT Khasanah Putera Jakarta Medica," said the company in a statement today.

KPJ said its Malaysian segment, Indonesian segment and its aged care facility segment had all posted higher revenue for the cumulative period.

KPJ closed down 5 sen or 1.28% at RM3.85, translating to a market capitalisation of RM3.9 billion.

Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014 (3Q14) rose 166.1% to RM28.4 million or 4.58 sen per share, from RM10.7 million or 2.20 sen per share in the previous corresponding quarter (3Q13), on higher revenue achieved.

Revenue for the quarter came in 193% higher at RM256 million, almost triple the RM87.1 million recorded in 3QFY13, the group's filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.

On prospects, Barakah Offshore said it is confident that the results for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014 (FY14) will remain positive, noting that it has an order book of approximately RM2.23 billion (as at Sept 30 this year) for secured contracts over the next 3-5 years.

Barakah Offshore closed down 3 sen or 2.27% today at RM1.29, giving it a market capitalisation of RM981.99 million.

Protasco Bhd, which is currently embroiled in shareholders tussle, dipped into the red with net loss of RM69.2 million in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014 (3QFY14), compared with a net profit of RM13 million in 3QFY13, due to a full provision for its investment in PT Anglo Slavic Indonesia (PT ASI). The investment in PT ASI is the root cause of the shareholder fight.

Revenue for the quarter rose 27% to RM319.0 million from RM251.0 million in the year before. Despite recording a loss, Protasco maintained an interim single tier dividend payout of 5 sen per share for the year ending Dec 31, 2014.

"With the matter now in court, any future impact on Protasco will be isolated and will not affect performance and ongoing operations," said Datuk Seri  Chong Ket Pen, executive vice chairman and group managing director of Protasco.

Protasco closed up 7 sen or 4.32% at RM1.69, giving it a market capitalisation of RM566.61 million.

Ta Ann Holdings Bhd's net profit jumped 31.1% to RM43.6 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014, from RM33.3 million in the previous corresponding quarter, on higher sales volume of crude palm oil (CPO) which surged 81% during the quarter under review. Revenue rose 31.3% to RM284.7 million from RM216.8 million a year ago.

Ta Ann declared a second interim single-tier dividend of 10 sen per share.

Ta Ann ended the day flat at RM3.80, translating to a market capitalisation of RM1.41 billion.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd saw a 32% drop in its net profit to RM28.5 million for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014, from RM42.3 million in the year before, due to lower sales and reduced margins as prices of dairy-based commodity rose during the quarter.

Revenue for the quarter fell 9% to RM240.5 million from RM263.8 million in the previous year, "due to lower sales volume in a competitive market environment and less robust consumer confidence".

Dutch Lady fell 64 sen or 1.38% to RM45.90, giving a market capitalisation of RM2.94 billion. 

Notion Vtec Bhd, a precision machine parts supplier, posted a net loss of RM9.52 million for the fourth quarter ended Sept 30, 2014 (4QFY14), from a net profit of RM296,000 a year ago, on an impairment loss of RM9.83 million in its associate company, Alcyone Resources Ltd.

Revenue in 4QFY14 dipped 8% to RM55.32 million from RM60.18 million.

For the full year ended Sept 30, 2014 (FY14), Notion Vtec recorded a net loss of RM25.64 million from a net profit of RM20.09 million a year ago, while revenue dipped 10% to RM199.42 million from RM222.32 million previously. 

Notion Vtec is hopeful that it will return to "sustainable profitability" in financial year 2015 (FY15) and will look for fresh opportunities in the new areas of investment. It closed unchanged at 48.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM130.11 million.

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