KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 5): Press Metal Bhd, a component stock of the FBM KLCI, is expected to be on the watch as the aluminium products manufacturer has been made to contribute more to Sarawak's state coffers.
The Sarawak state government announced yesterday that it will introduce a 1% state sales tax on aluminium products effective January 2020.
Press Metal's aluminium smelter in Sarawak, which takes advantage of the cheap energy generated from Bakun Dam, is subject to the new levy.
AmBank Research anticipates the new tax will cost Press Metal RM64 million in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2020 (FY20) and RM89 million in FY21. It also forecasted that Press Metal's profit margin will shrink by 6%-8% in the two years.
The company's share price is currently under some selling pressure, down 12 sen or 2.5%. However, trading volume is not large, only 453,300 shares changed hands so far at 10.45am, indicating that there is no panic selling at the moment.
Over at Mesiniaga Bhd, the sentiment is quite a contrast; its shareholders are expected to be grinning cheerfully as its share price continues to head north today.
The mild buying interest pushes Mesiniaga share price to RM1.32 this morning, up seven sen or 5.6%. The news on it bagging another contract in a week helps to fuel the upward trend.
Mesiniaga yesterday announced it secured a RM16.05 million contract from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for the supply of computer hardware, software, maintenance and IT related services
This is the second contract it was awarded in the span of a week, following the RM261.26 million job it accepted from the Finance Ministry to build new infrastructure for the Accountant General's Department of Malaysia. This is also the third contract it has secured this year, according to Bursa Malaysia filings.
Robotic learning service provider Eduspec Holdings Bhd secures the third spot on the top volume list in the morning trading session. The penny stock is trading at three sen, after hitting a high of 3.5 sen an hour after the morning bell.
The company's latest filing to Bursa shows that there were a total of 41.66 million redeemable convertible preference shares converted into ordinary shares and listed last Friday.
The company announced a net profit of RM1.07 million, or 0.1 sen per share, for the second quarter ended Aug 31, 2019. Revenue came in at RM9.72 million. There is no comparison figure because Eduspec has changed its financial year end to Feb 28 from Sept 30.
For the six months ended Aug 31, 2019, the company posted a cumulative profit of RM2.15 million or 0.2 sen per share.
To annualise the earnings figures, Eduspec shares are trading at price-earnings ratio of 7.5 times at share price of three sen and earnings per share of 0.4 sen.
Nonetheless, the fourth quarter of the calendar is usually the low earnings season for Educspec due to year-end school holidays.
China-based sports shoemaker Multi Sports Holdings Ltd remains on top of the trading volume list for the second consecutive day. This is another penny stock that is on the verge of being suspended from trading this week, besides Sumatec Resources Bhd, and yet shares are actively traded.
There are already 62.59 million shares changing hands in the first two trading hours. The trading volume is more than its share capital of 606 million shares. The stock is trading at 1.5 sen, up 0.5 sen.
Two weeks ago, Bursa Malaysia rejected Multi Sports' application to delay the issuance of the China-based shoe manufacturer's 2019 annual report from Oct 31, 2019 to Dec 31, 2019.
Consequently, the company is at risk of having its share trade suspended next month, or subsequently delisted, should the company fail to submit its 2019 annual report by Oct 31.
In the event the company fails to submit the annual report 2019 within five market days after the expiry of the relevant timeframe, which is this Thursday (Nov 7), the suspension of trading on the company's ordinary shares will be effected by Bursa on the next market day, which is at 9.00am this Friday (Nov 8), after the expiry of five market days from the relevant timeframe, in addition to any enforcement action that Bursa may take, said the regulator.
Multi Sports has yet to file the annual report as of now. However, the company has found an external auditor. In a filing to Bursa, Multi Sports' board announced that Foo Kon Tan LLP, which is currently carrying out new client acceptance procedures, is proposed by the board as the new auditors.
Sumatec Resources Bhd, however, slips to the 20th spot on the trading volume list today. It was among the top five on most of the trading days last week. Its share price is unchanged at 0.5 sen with 13.37 million shares traded.
Sentiment might get more cautious as the suspension date on Thursday draws closer.
Sumatec Resources Bhd has been categorised as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company since April last year. The company's shares will be suspended indefinitely coming Thursday until further notice.