Companies in the news
KUALA LUMPUR (June 10): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Thursday (June 11) may include: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Iconic Worldwide Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, KUB Malaysia Bhd, Datasonic Group Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), Muar Ban Lee Group Bhd (MBL), AT Systematization Bhd, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd and Euro Holdings Bhd.
Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) posted a lower net profit of RM717.9 million for 1QFY20 down 54.53% from RM1.55 billion a year ago, following a RM402.8 million forex loss against the US dollar and yen. Quarterly revenue declined by 12.01% to RM11.65 billion from RM13.24 billion.
TNB said the lower revenue was on the back of RM307.5 million rebate from the Imbalance Cost Pass-Through from the surcharge of RM1.37 billion posted in 1QFY19.
Iconic Worldwide Bhd is venturing into face mask manufacturing, initially targeting factory and construction companies in Malaysia. The firm said its new business venture will be placed under its fully-owned subsidiary Iconic Medicare Sdn Bhd.
Currently, the group’s plant in Penang is capable of producing approximately two to three million face masks a month. It plans to increase production to five million face masks a month by the third quarter of 2020, as orders have already been fully taken up until July.
AirAsia Group Bhd has launched an unlimited pass campaign to stimulate the country’s domestic tourism. Dubbed AirAsia Unlimited Pass Cuti-Cuti Malaysia, priced at RM399 nett, the group said it is available to all Malaysia-based AirAsia BIG members.
The unlimited pass is for travels from June 25 onwards and up to March 31, 2021. It will cover 16 domestic destinations: Alor Setar, Langkawi, Penang, Ipoh, Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Baru, Kuala Terengganu, Kuching, Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and Labuan.
KUB Malaysia Bhd is disposing of two oil palm estates measuring an aggregate 2,656 hectares in Kluang, Johor for RM158 million cash. KUB said Kahang Estate and Sungai Yong Estate — both held via indirect wholly-owned unit KUB Agro Holdings Sdn Bhd — are being sold to Beradin Plantation Sdn Bhd.
KUB said the deal is an opportunity to dispose of the estates at above its market valuation of RM156 million, adding that the market value has appreciated over time.
Datasonic Group Bhd has received a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs for an additional contract value of RM7.3 million in relation to an ongoing contract for card personalisation centres at the National Registration Department.
The initial contract between the ministry and Datasonic’s wholly-owned unit Datasonic Technologies Sdn Bhd was for a sum of RM28.79 million across a two-year period from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2021, with a one-year extension option. This increased the contract sum to RM36.08 million (inclusive of 6% sales and service tax).
KPJ Healthcare Bhd’s net profit dipped by 1.52% to RM38.53 million in 1QFY20 compared with RM39.13 million a year ago, due to higher expenses and the impact from the gestation period of its new hospitals. Quarterly revenue rose marginally to RM884.16 million from RM881 million.
The group said the increase in revenue was contributed by higher activities at the hospitals, mainly from the Malaysia segment including an increased number of outpatients and inpatient procedures performed.
Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) returned to the black in 1QFY20, boosted by defence-related maintenance, repair and overhaul activities. The firm posted a net profit of RM20.38 million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of RM4.3 million for 1QFY19. Quarterly revenue stood at RM44.05 million, up 21.39% from RM36.3 million for 1QFY19.
BHIC said the reversal of expected credit losses of RM18.6 million also contributed to the group’s improved financial performance.
Muar Ban Lee Group Bhd (MBL) has announced that Cocoaland Holdings Bhd’s co-founder Liew Fook Meng has emerged as its substantial shareholder, confirming an earlier report by theedgemarkets.com.
In a stock exchange filing, MBL said Liew had acquired 5.95 million shares that represent a 5.69% stake in the plantation firm. The shares were purchased on June 5, when MBL’s counter closed at RM1.39.
ACE Market-listed AT Systematization Bhd has signed a letter of intent to acquire industrial glove maker, Pearl Glove (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, for an undisclosed sum, subject to due diligence, regulatory and shareholder approval. It said the move is seen as a logical business expansion following the current burgeoning demand for gloves.
Post-acquisition, the company plans to inject further capital and expertise into Pearl Glove for the manufacturing of medical examination nitrile gloves to boost the latter’s capacity and product suite.
Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd’s group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah has increased his stake in the company by another 0.3% via the purchase of 10 million shares in the open market. The shares were bought at RM1.75 per share.
Mohd Abdul Karim’s total shareholding in Serba Dinamik now stands at 275.51 million shares, representing a 21.52% stake. He has been increasing his stake in the oil and gas company since the beginning of this month.
Office furniture manufacturer Euro Holdings Bhd, which received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia today, said it is not aware of any reason that could explain the sharp rise in its share price yesterday.
Yesterday, shares in Euro Holdings spiked to RM1.38, up 21.05% from Friday’s closing price of RM1.14. Today, the stock gained another two sen or 1.45% to RM1.40, with 514,300 shares done.
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