Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 9): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that could be in focus tomorrow could include: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas)-linked counters, Scicom (MSC) Bhd, Eduspec Holdings Bhd, palm oil stocks, DiGi.Com Bhd, Eversendai Corporation Bhd, Sunway Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, CSC Steel Holdings Bhd, mTouche Technology Bhd and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

Petronas-linked counters could attract interests, following the appointment of Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin as the new president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the national oil firm from April this year.

Wan Zulkiflee, currently chief operating officer of Petronas, will succeed Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas.

Wan Zulkiflee’s contract will run until March 31, 2018, while Shamsul's contract had expired on Monday, although his term of service will be extended to the end of March this year.

Scicom MSC Bhd saw its net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (2QFY14) surged 41% to RM7.69 million or 2.16 sen per share, on stronger performance from its operating divisions.

Revenue during the quarter climbed 9% to RM41.99 million, with the core outsourcing segment having registered revenue growth of 8% to 41.58 million in 2QFY14, from RM38.47 million previously.

Scicom (fundamental: 2.55; valuation: 2.10) declared a second interim dividend of 2 sen per share — amounting to RM7.11 million — to be paid on March 11.

For the cumulative six months ended Dec 31, 2014 (6MFY14), Scicom registered a 40% jump in net profit to RM14.94 million or 4.59 sen per share, from RM10.69 million or 3.01 sen per share in the previous corresponding period.

Revenue in 6MFY14 rose 13% to RM85.47 million, from RM75.53 million previously.

Taiwanese investor Chung Chih-Chieh has ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Eduspec Holdings Bhd, following the disposal of 20 million shares or a 2.61% stake in the open market on Jan 30.

Before the disposal, Chung had just on Jan 9 acquired some 5 million shares or a 0.65% stake in Eduspec (fundamental: 3; valuation: 1.2), bringing his total holdings to 7.52%.

Palm oil companies could see increased trading in their shares, as Malaysian palm oil futures stretched gains into a fifth day today, with investors taking more bullish positions after Indonesia approved a near-threefold rise in biodiesel subsidies, that will boost use of the tropical oil by its top producer.

The higher subsidies of 4,000 rupiah per litre, from 1,500 rupiah now, may be implemented as soon as March and will translate to more palm blended into biofuel, to feed the country's targeted 17.05 million kilolitres diesel consumption this year.

Market players are also watching for key industry data on Malaysia's January end-stocks, which the Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release on Tuesday.

DiGi.Com Bhd’s net profit grew 2.1% to RM560.1 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14), from RM548.52 million a year earlier; while revenue increased to RM1.8 billion, from RM1.73 billion.

Full-year net profit grew to RM2.03 billion, from RM1.71 billion in the previous corresponding period. Revenue rose to RM7.02 billion, compared to RM6.73 billion in the previous corresponding period.

DiGi proposed a dividend of 7.2 sen a share in 4QFY14, bringing full-year dividends to 26 sen a share.

Eversendai Corp Bhd has secured a RM120 million contract from PKT Logistics Group, to build the latter's warehouses in Batu Kawan, Penang.

Eversendai (fundamental: 0.75; valuation: 1.2) said the warehouses, known as "12 Waves", would be one part of the One Auto Hub across 28ha (70 acres) in Batu Kawan.

The contract is scheduled to begin in March 2015 and complete by April 2016. "12 Waves" is the first of three phases at One Auto Hub, which is valued at RM700 million.

Sunway Bhd has received the Securities Commission's (SC) approval to list its construction arm Sunway Construction Group Bhd (SCG) on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

According to Sunway (fundamental: 1.9; valuation: 2.4), the regulator has instructed SCG to demonstrate it has a positive net cash flow for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14), to appoint additional independent directors and ensure all trade debts are settled prior to the listing.

In addition, the SC has also requested Sunway to confirm and demonstrate that SCG is independent from Sunway and other corporations within the Sunway group, in terms of running its day-to-day operations, which include purchases and sales of goods, as well as determining management policies and finance.

Sunway will hold a substantial interest of at least 51% in SCG post-listing.

Dialog Group Bhd posted a 20% year-on-year increase in its second quarter net profit ended Dec 31, 2014 (2QFY15), at RM79.75 million or 1.62 sen a share.

This was achieved despite 2QFY15 revenue having come in 17.84% lower at RM570.29 million, as compared with RM694.16 million the previous year.

For the six months ended Dec 31, 2014, Dialog’s net profit came in 13.65% higher at RM129.65 million, while revenue dipped 12.43% to RM1.11 billion.

The group expects the demand for storage facilities to increase, while further development of the Pengerang Deepwater Terminal will provide opportunities for its engineering and construction services.

Dialog noted it is now working towards securing new potential partners for the subsequent phases of Pengerang Deepwater Terminal, which include the development of more petroleum, petrochemical and LNG storage terminals.

CSC Steel Holdings Bhd reported a net loss of RM9.01 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14), from a net profit of RM1.06 million a year ago, marking a fourth consecutive quarterly loss, largely due to a provision for doubtful debts recognised, amounting to RM12.9 million, owing by an associate company.

Revenue for 4QFY14 fell by 7.63% to RM261.51 million, mainly due to significant decreases in selling prices of its steel products and sales volume.

As a result, the Malacca-based steel maker swung to a net loss of RM21.27 million for its full year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14), compared with a net profit of RM29.05 million in FY13.

mTouche Technology Bhd has sealed an exclusive licensing and revenue sharing agreement for its proprietary application “One Krypto”, with Jakarta-listed PT Inovisi Infracom Tbk.

The agreement stated Inovisi will be granted global marketing rights and revenue sharing that include subscription fees, recurring revenue and on app purchases on “One Krypto”, as well as white label products, as long as average monthly licensing fees surpass USD150,000 (RM540,000).

MTouche, a multimedia messaging platforms and applications developer, said the agreement would grant Inovisi the exclusive rights to distribute, market and commercialise the application in the Republic of Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Greater China, which includes the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

In March 2014, MTouche launched ONE KRYPTO SMS — an SMS communication app that works by encrypting text messages on the phone, to be sent securely to other ONE KRYPTO SMS users.

Following the signing of the agreement, which is renewable on a year-to-year basis, MTouche will provide technical assistance and training to Inovisi.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd announced it will be shutting down its offices in Sydney and Melbourne, following an announcement last Friday, whereby CIMB had stated it was looking to reduce its Asia Pacific investment banking and equities operating cost by 30% in 2015.

The decision will impact the majority of CIMB's 103 Australian staff, who will be offered redundancies, some redeployment opportunities and outplacement support.

CIMB will continue to support its clients who want access to the Australian market, through its current strategic alliance with Morgans Financials Ltd.

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