KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 3): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus for Friday (Jan 4) may include the following: UMW Holdings Bhd, Star Media Group Bhd, Ecobuilt Holdings Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd, Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, S P Setia Bhd and United Malacca Bhd.
UMW Holdings Bhd announced today the commencement of liquidation for three additional subsidiaries under the unlisted oil and gas (O&G) segment to focus on the group's core businesses.
The three subsidiaries are UMW Oil & Gas Bhd, Arabian Drilling Services LLC and UMW Middle East Ventures Holdings WLL.
The exercise is in line with UMW's strategic plan to exit from its investments in the unlisted O&G segment, in which it is well underway to conclude a complete exit from the sector.
Star Media Group Bhd said a temporary special committee, comprising three non-executive directors, will be set up to oversee the operations of the company, following the retirement of its group managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.
Star Media said it has identified the replacement for the CEO position, but will only make the announcement in due course.
In the meantime, the operations of the group will be supervised by the temporary special committee consisting of Datuk Fu Ah Kiow, Datuk Dr Mohd Aminuddin Mohd Rouse and Chan Seng Fatt.
Ecobuilt Holdings Bhd (formerly known as M-Mode Bhd) has bagged an RM202.47 million contract to build two affordable apartment blocks housing 1,320 units, in Kampung Muhibbah, Bukit OUG.
Its wholly-owned subsidiary E&J Builders Sdn Bhd has accepted the letter of acceptance from Vistarena Development Sdn Bhd for the appointment of E&J as the main contractor for the proposed project.
The project is expected to be completed by July 3, 2021.
Unisem (M) Bhd will be submitting an application to Bursa Malaysia to seek an extension of time to comply with the 25% public spread requirement, which has fallen below the threshold, following a recent takeover of the company.
As at Dec 31, 2018, the joint offerors of the takeover owned 546.93 million Unisem shares, representing 75.22% of the issued share capital of Unisem. Correspondingly, the public shareholding spread based on the record of depositors of the company was 22.686%.
To rectify the situation, the joint offerors will procure Tianshui Huatian Electronics Group Co Ltd via Huatian Electronics Group (HK) Ltd (HT Hong Kong) and Tianshui Huatian Technology Co Ltd (TSHT) via Huatian Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (HT Malaysia), to comply with the requirement.
Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd (KAB) is looking to raise RM7.14 million from a proposed special issue of up to 34 million new ordinary shares in the company to Bumiputera investors.
Most of the proceeds from the exercise will be used to finance potential acquisitions and investments in businesses and assets that can help drive its electrical and mechanical engineering services further.
KAB is currently aiming to enhance its revenue stream and grow its market share through the acquisition of relevant and complementary businesses that will help expand the scale of its offerings.
Ahmad Zaki Resources Bhd (AZRB) said its wholly-owned subsidiary has agreed to continue providing marine high speed diesel bunkering services to vessels belonging to Petronas Dagangan Bhd customers at Kemaman Port in Terengganu.
With the new agreement, Inter-Century Sdn Bhd (ICSB) will continue its bunkering activities at the Kemaman Supply Base for five years until Dec 31, 2023.
AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank Group) will dispose of AmBank (M) Bhd's and AmBank Islamic Bhd's non-performing loans (NPLs) totalling RM553.91 million to Aiqon special purpose vehicles (SPVs).
The group, which has obtained approval from Bank Negara Malaysia for the proposal, will dispose of RM428.11 million worth of NPLs of AmBank and that of AmBank Islamic worth RM125.8 million.
AmBank Group said the proposed disposal is part of the debt recovery strategy of AmBank and AmBank Islamic to strengthen their respective loan/ financing management, resolution processes and to monetise the portfolio.
After serving S P Setia Bhd for almost a decade, Tan Sri Dr Wan Mohd Zahid Mohd Noordin has resigned from his post as non-independent and non-executive chairman of the group to pursue other interests.
He is succeeded by Tan Sri Syed Zainol Anwar Ibni Syed Putra Jamalullail, who is also currently the chairman of Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, and Lembaga Zakat Selangor, besides being the chancellor of SEGi University.
United Malacca Bhd has entered into three agreements to dispose of several pieces of plantation land in Melaka and Negeri Sembilan with an aggregate land area of 1,021.06ha, for RM175.15 million.
The company entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Huat Lai Broiler Breeders Sdn Bhd for the sale of 568.09ha of land comprising 11 lots in Alor Gajah and 18 lots in Jasin for RM96.79 million.
Another agreement was entered into with HLRB Broiler Farm Sdn Bhd for the sale of two lots of land totalling 298.91ha in Tampin, Negeri Sembilan for RM51.7 million.
Meanwhile, HLRB Processing Sdn Bhd has proposed to acquire three lots of land with a total land area of 154.06ha in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan for RM26.65 million.