KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 8): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept 9) could include the following: Telekom, TNB, Matrix Concepts, Boustead Plantations, George Kent, Pos Malaysia, MMC Corp, THHE, Lay Hong and Cypark Resources.
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and the federal government are in the final stage of discussion over the RM1.8 billion high speed broadband phase 2 project (HSBB 2).
TM’s group chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa told reporters today that the discussion was now in “finalisation stage” and expects to seal the deal within the next two months.
Aside from that, the dominant player in the domestic telecommunication industry also inked a five-year agreement with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) to provide wide-area network services to BSN’s 413 branches nationwide for an undisclosed contract value.
“We normally don’t disclose the value (of the contract), because we don’t want our competitor to know,” he said, adding the project is 40% completed. It targets to finish the project by the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16).
Under the agreement, TM will provide the banking group with connectivity aside from information and communication technology (ICT) services.
With this, Zamzamzairani said BSN will be able to focus more on its core business, improving its efficiencies and overall experience.
“We hope to extend its service agreement with BSN for another five years,” he added.
Reuters reported that Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has been shortlisted for the final bids in the sale of 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) wholly-owned unit Edra Global Energy Bhd, according to sources.
The news agency quoted banking sources as saying that TNB was one of the four suitors for the final round of bidding in Edra Global Energy Bhd.
According to the report, 1MDB had said on Monday it has compiled a shortlist for Edra - valued by bankers at around RM10 billion (US$2.3 billion) - but did not identify the four parties.
1MDB declined to comment and representatives for TNB were not immediately available for comment.
The debt-laden state-owned investment firm has been swamped by allegations of financial irregularities after racking up a RM42 billion debt in just six years. It is also being probed by various authorities.
Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd, which saw changes in its boardroom today, is delaying the RM95 million Puchong land acquisition deal to Oct 19 this year, pending the removal of a caveat lodged on the land.
The property developer announced in April that it was acquiring the 5.8-acre land from IRDK Ventures Sdn Bhd for RM95 million. The deal was initially scheduled to be completed within three months of the announcement.
The said land is to be used for a residential development with an estimated gross development value of RM500 million.
In a filing to the stock exchange, Matrix Concepts said it has entered into a supplemental agreement with the IRDK Ventures to extend the deal.
Accordingly, it has requested the vendor to present the receipt for the withdrawal of a private caveat entered into for the land by one of the vendor’s previous purchasers and evidenced by any or the evidence from the Land Office showing that the said caveat has been removed.
In a separate filing, the group has announced the appointment of its founder Datuk Lee Tian Hock as the group’s new managing director (MD), effective today.
It also re-designated its chief operating officer Ho Kong Soon as its deputy MD, effective today.
Boustead Plantations Bhd is selling six parcels of freehold land collectively measuring 104.4ha in Kulaijaya, Johor, to YTL Cement Bhd for RM60.67 million cash.
The plantation group expects the deal to net an estimated gain of RM52.37 million, which will translate to an approximate 3.3 sen per share for its financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 (FY15).
It said the disposal is part of the group’s effort to continuously unlock the value of its land bank which is non-core to the group.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group expects the deal to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2015.
Water meter manufacturer George Kent (M) Bhd has secured a contract for the supply and delivery of 600,000 units of water meters to Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department (WSD) worth RM31.19 million, the largest single order for water meters it has ever obtained so far.
In a statement posted on Bursa Malaysia today, George Kent said it has today received the Letter of Award from WSD for the job, which will span over the next two years.
The engineering company, which specialises in water-related projects, said the meters will be delivered in 24 batches with the first shipment to commence in October 2015.
Pos Malaysia Bhd expects its courier, express and parcel (CEP) segment, which grew 22% year-on-year in the last financial year ended March 31, 2015 (FY15), to be the main driver of its future growth.
This was due to the contribution from traditional mail segment, which continued to decline, while the performance of the CEP segment continued to be strong.
“The CEP segment registered a 22% on year growth in FY15, and it grew at around the same pace in 1QFY16,” Pos Malaysia’s covering group CEO Azlan Shahrim told a press conference today.
Aside from that, Azlan said the group has outlined and identified three main focus areas, namely to be more innovative, customer-centric and to encourage a high-performing culture among its staff.
The move was to help the group to stay relevant in the evolving business landscape.
Diversified group MMC Corp Bhd’s unit Johor Port Bhd has acquired 5.1 million shares, or a 51% stake, in KOTUG Asia Sdn Bhd (KOTUG Asia) for RM5.1 million cash.
According to its filing with the stock exchange, MMC Corp said the remaining 49% equity interest in KOTUG Asia is held by KOTUG Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
KOTUG Asia is principally involved in the provision of tug boats and maritime crafts within Malaysia and other territories.
TH Heavy Engineering Bhd (THHE) said its rights issue of up to 1.196 billion Islamic irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS-i) at 25 sen each has been undersubscribed by 69.96% or 836.6 million shares.
At the close of acceptances on Sept 1, THHE has only received valid acceptances and excess applications of 359.21 million ICPS-i shares or 30.04% of the ICPS-i shares available for subscription.
“Hence, THHE’s board has decided to allot the ICPS-i to all entitled shareholders and/or their renouncees and/or their transferees who have applied for the excess ICPS-i,” it told the stock exchange today.
According to the filing, THHE’s major shareholder Lembaga Tabung Haji has mopped up an additional 740.79 million of the ICPS-i shares, thus pushing the total subscription to 1.1 billion shares to achieve the minimum subscription level.
THHE expects to raise a gross proceeds of RM275 million from the exercise. The ICPS-i are expected to be listed and quoted on the Main Market of Bursa Securities on next Monday (Sept 14).
Egg producer Lay Hong Bhd has re-designated its group MD Yap Hoong Chai, one of the founding members of the group, as its new executive chairman effective today.
Yap, 65, is also brother to two company directors, Yeap Weng Hong and Yeap Fock Hoong, its filing to Bursa Malaysia today revealed.
Cypark Resources Bhd’s co-founder and CEO Datuk Daud Ahmad has bumped up his stakeholding in the company to 14.7%, after acquiring some 19.8 million shares.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Cypark said Daud acquired the shares yesterday (Sept 7) in two tranches of 16.03 million and 3.75 million shares, for a total value of RM25.94 million or RM1.31 per share.
The acquired shares represent an 8.186% stake in the company.
Following the purchases, Daud’s total equity stake has increased to 35.50 million or a 14.692% stake in Cypark.
(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.)