KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): Based on news flow and corporate announcements today, stocks that may lure trading interest include TNB, Aeon Credit, Bursa, Ken, Formis, YTL Power, MAS and AirAisa.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd reported a 54% decline in second quarter profit as lower foreign exchange (forex) translation gains curbed the state-owned utility's bottom line.
Tenaga said net profit came to RM1.27 billion in the second quarter ended February 28, 2013 (2QFY13) against RM2.75 billion in previous corresponding quarter. But revenue rose 3% to RM8.85 billion from RM8.63 billion.
"The improvement (in revenue) was mainly from sales of electricity in the Peninsula and Sabah which recorded an increase of 5.0% and 8.6% respectively," Tenaga said.
The net profit a year earlier was significantly higher as it had included a RM2.16 billion compensation from the government and Petroliam Nasional Bhd.
During 2QFY13, Tenaga said its forex translation gains fell to RM388.6 million from RM628.4 million a year earlier.
Its cumulative first-half net profit grew 0.4% to RM2.69 billion from RM2.68 billion a year earlier while revenue was up 4% to RM17.98 billion from RM17.32 billion.
Looking ahead, Tenaga expects electricity demand growth to remain steady, driven by demand from commercial users. However, gas supply to generate power is a concern.
Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd posted a net profit of RM39 million for its fourth financial quarter ended Feb 20, 2013, up 40.7% from RM27.7 million in previous corresponding quarter.
Its revenue for the quarter stood at RM131.7 million, up 39.7% from RM94.3 million.
The company said: “The results achieved were due to continued growth in business, coupled with improved cost efficiency from sharp growth in receivables in the year and lower ratio of net impairment loss charge for the financial year.”
On the back of this strong set of results, the company announced a final single tier dividend of 19.50 sen per share (previous corresponding period – 16.80 sen), to be paid on July 16, 2013.
For the 12 months to Feb 2013, the company’s revenue rose 35.7% growth to RM467.1 million while its net profit soared 40% to RM134.1 million from RM95.6 million.
On prospects, the company expects “to be able to maintain its good performance in the current financial year based on current strong demand and positive market trend”.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd reported a 6% drop in first quarter profit from a year earlier as revenue growth came in almost flat on lower securities-trading income.
Higher staff cost, besides depreciation and amortisation, had also curbed the stock exchange operator's bottom line.
Bursa Malaysia said net profit came to RM38.2 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2013 compared to RM40.61 million previously while revenue grew 0.5% to RM110.44 million from RM109.86 million.
Looking ahead, Bursa Malaysia said it expects to see a "growing interest" in the securities market during the coming quarters. The firm said it is also positioning itself for more competition among regional stock exchanges.
Ken Holdings Bhd, which said it has a total order book value of RM 2 billion, is planning to launch the phase 5 of Rimba township, Johor Bahru project and Genting Highland project by the end of this year.
"We are aiming to build more sustainable houses in the future," said Datuk Kenny B.K. Tan after the company 29th AGM today.
"We think that we can perform better this year compared to last year," added Tan.
TNB, Formis Resources Bhd, YTL Power International Bhd are among the five groups which have been shortlisted to participate in the tender to bid for the development of a 2,000-MW coal-fired power plant.
The Energy Commission said on its official website that it has shortlisted five of the seven candidates to participate in the tender exercise for the 3B greenfield power plant, estimated to cost around RM8 billion to RM9 billion.
According to the website, groups that have been shortlisted are consortiums led by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Formis Resources Bhd, YTL Power International Bhd and Malakoff Corporation Bhd.
The five players will have until 30th September 2013 to submit their bids.
Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) and Air Asia Bhd will be the beneficiaries of lower crude oil price, which has fallen to US$99 per barrel now from US$110 recently.
According to a Credit Suisse research report, a US$10/bbl fall in oil price will result in 16-20% increase in AirAsia’s net profit forecast while MAS’s earnings could balloon 2-6 times.
Oil had earlier fallen to nine-month low amid a wider commodities rout triggered by data on Monday showing growth in China had slowed unexpectedly in the first three months of 2013, Reuters reported.
But today, there was some price recovery after recent sell-down. Brent crude futures for June delivery were up $1.41 at $99.10 per barrel at 0933 GMT today. The price had earlier slipped to $96.75, its weakest since July last year.