KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 2): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus on Monday (Oct 5) could include the following: Stone Master, Lay Hong, Takaso, Cycle & Carriage, Perwaja, Kinsteel, Hubline, Axiata and Lion Corp.
Stone Master Corp Bhd chief executive officer Professor Dr Wong Kong Yew@Leong Kong Yew has resigned from the loss-making marble and granite products manufacturer after completing his one-year assignment for the financial year of 2014/2015.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Stone Master also cited “to focus on his other business pursuits and commitments” as the reason for Wong’s resignation.
Wong, 41, stepped down from Stone Master’s board as an executive director on Sept 30, which was earlier announced to Bursa on Sept 25.
His resignation came after the company signed a slew of heads of agreement with China-based companies for the exclusive rights to distribute products under their brands in Malaysia and Singapore. The products range from wooden solid doors to environmentally friendly custom-made furniture and architectural aluminium doors.
Lay Hong Bhd, which has seen its shares surge about 65% to its closing price of RM5.40 today since Aug 17, said it is in talks in relation to a possible joint venture (JV) project to invest in an integrated livestock business overseas.
The JV has not been finalised at this juncture and both JV parties are finalising the principal terms before entering into any legal documentation, which has been targeted to be finalised in a month, Lay Hong revealed in its filing to Bursa today.
It was replying to an unusual market activity enquiry issued by the regulator earlier today.
Moreover, Lay Hong said it is in the midst of a discussion “relating to a few possible new foreign investors”, which is also yet to be finalised.
“The company had submitted a few proposals to the potential foreign investors and is currently waiting for their confirmation. The company expects to complete the negotiation within a month,” it said.
It also intends to acquire the Thai unit of Takaso Resources Bhd, Takaso SC (Thailand) Ltd, as part of its business expansion in chicken and food processing to export to regional countries, at an indicative price of RM9 million, cash.
It issued a letter of intent to Takaso on Sept 22, which has been accepted by Takaso today, with an announcement on the proposed transaction being made in an earlier filing on the same day.
Lay Hong said that it will make the necessary announcements for all transactions in due course, in compliance with its obligations under the Main Market listing requirements of Bursa.
The indicative consideration of RM9 million is approximately the total investment cost of Takaso since the acquisition of TSC on Nov 27, 2013, subject to the completion of the due diligence on TSC by Lay Hong.
Separately, Takaso said TSC is currently dormant and was intended for the distribution and marketing of rubber related products and manufacturing and marketing of food business.
The company, however, owns two factory buildings and a piece of land in Sadao District, Songkhla, Thailand. Takaso said the property was purchased for 25 million baht (RM3.02 million).
In another statement, Bursa Malaysia said Takaso’s securities will be traded and quoted under the O&C Resources Bhd name effective Oct 7, 2015, while its warrants will also be re-named to O&C Resources Bhd-Warrants 2011/2016.
Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the joint venture between Daimler AG and Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd, recorded year-to-date sales of more than 8,000 passenger cars, surpassing last year’s 6,932 units.
Year-on-year, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia sales and marketing vice president Mark Raine said the premium car maker had seen a sales growth of 40%.
“We have had a fantastic first half in 2015, and I believe that we have a great positioning for our products in the market,” Raine told theedgemarkets.com during the launch of the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 S model today.
Despite the current challenging economic climate, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia had achieved record-breaking monthly sales so far, according to Raine.
He said the record-breaking monthly sales were due to “the successful sales of all types of Mercedes-Benz models”.
Lonpac Insurance Bhd has filed a suit against Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd (PSSB), a subsidiary of Practice Note 17 company Perwaja Holdings Bhd, Kinsteel Bhd and its 51%-owned subsidiary Perfect Channel Sdn Bhd over RM2.72 million in outstanding insurance premium.
In a Bursa filing, Perwaja Holdings said the three companies were served with a writ of summons and statement of claims on Sept 18, 2015, filed by Lonpac Insurance.
Lonpac Insurance is claiming for its outstanding insurance premium for insurance coverage for the period between Jan 15, 2014 to May 25, 2014.
The claims include RM2.72 million in outstanding insurance premium, interest calculated on this sum at the rate of 8% per annum from Sept 30, 2014 to the date of full payment, cost of the action and other relief that the court deems fit.
The case has been fixed for case management at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Oct 12, 2015.
PSSB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of loss-making Perwaja Holdings, which, in turn, is a 31.25%-owned associate of Kinsteel Bhd.
Hub Shipping Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hubline Bhd, has been served with a winding-up petition by Textainer Equipment Management Ltd over claims amounting to US$3.73 million (RM16.47 million).
In a Bursa filing, the winding-up petitions against Hub Shipping were presented at the Shah Alam High Court on Sept 25 by Textainer and a copy was served to the company today.
Hubline alleged that Textainer is claiming an inflated amount, which includes items that Hub Shipping disputes.
The marine shipping company said Hub Shipping has a container leasing contract with Textainer; and while Hub Shipping was under a restraining order related to Section 176(10A) of the Companies Act 1965, Textainer had on July 15, 2015 made a demand under the Companies Act 1965 for the payment of US$3.73 million.
The restraining order was sought by Hub Shipping to prevent potential litigations or proceedings from creditors that may adversely affect the restructuring currently undertaken by the group, which is exiting the container shipping industry.
As it is exiting the container shipping industry, it has already fully provided for the impairment of the total cost of investment in the subsidiary at RM102 million.
Thus, the company is not expected to incur any further losses from the winding-up petition, Hubline said.
The company is seeking legal advice to resolve and/or enter into defence. Case management of the matter has been fixed on Jan 8, 2016.
Axiata Group Bhd plans to acquire a 75% stake in Digicel Asian Holdings Pte Ltd (DAH), a unit of Digicel Group Ltd (Digicel), to gain a controlling stake in Digicel Myanmar Tower Company Ltd (MTC).
Axiata’s tower company edotco Group Sdn Bhd entered into a conditional share purchase agreement with Digicel today to effect the purchase of DAH, MTC’s holding company, said Axiata in a filing this evening.
The transaction will be settled via cash after adjusting for external borrowing and other working capital requirements, of which, based on the expected closing date of Nov 30, 2015, is expected to be approximately US$125 million (RM551.3 million), it said.
The transaction values MTC at an enterprise value of US$221 million (approximately RM974.7 million), in line with market benchmarks for similar assets, said Axiata.
The deal, subject to the relevant regulatory approvals, will be financed by edotco’s and/or Axiata’s internally generated funds and/or external borrowings.
The transaction will deliver to edotco strategic majority control providing a platform in a highly attractive tower industry within its geographic area of focus, and further solidify edotco as a leading infrastructure provider to the greater Southeast Asian telecommunications industry.
The acquisition will also expand edotco’s footprint beyond Axiata’s existing operations, the statement read.
Lion Corp Bhd, which has fallen into Practice Note 17 status in Oct 2013, is in the midst of securing potential investors for its subsidiary as part of its regularisation plan.
In a Bursa filing today, Lion Corp said its 78.89%-owned subsidiary Megasteel Sdn Bhd would be included in the regularisation plan.
Megasteel is principally involved in the manufacturing and sale of hot rolled coils (HRC) and cold rolled coils. The company had been in the news of late when it cross defaulted on RM3.02 billion worth of loans.
“The company will continue to engage with potential investor(s) with a view to considering investment in Megasteel and in this respect, discussions have been initiated with a party from Northeast Asia and it is still ongoing,” said Lion Corp.
The group added that the application to Bursa Securities for an extension of time of up to March 31, 2016 for Lion Corp to submit its regularisation plan for approval is currently pending the decision from the regulators.
(Note: The Edge Research’s fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)