KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Wednesday (Nov 8) may include: F&N, Nestle, Gas Malaysia, Sime Darby, GHL, Hartalega, ML Global, O&C Resources, Key Alliance, Naim Indah, Pharmaniaga and Astro Malaysia.
Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N)’s net profit fell 60.39% to RM19.65 million or 5.4 sen per share in 4QFY17, from RM49.59 million or 13.6 sen per share a year ago, mainly due to one-off organisational restructuring costs and higher input costs.
Total revenue slid 0.02% to RM976.28 million, from RM976.5 million last year.
F&N recommended a final single tier dividend of 30.5 sen per share in respect of its FY17, to be approved by shareholders, bringing its full year dividend to 57.5 sen.
For FY17, F&N’s net profit declined 16.09% to RM323.38 million, from RM385.37 million previously, while revenue slid to RM4.1 billion, from RM4.17 billion.
Nestle (M) Bhd's net profit for 3QFY17 came in at at RM119.75 million compared with RM160.71 million a year ago, while earnings per share was at 51.07 sen, versus 68.53 sen in 3QFY16.
Revenue for 3QFY17 was up 4.77% year-on-year to RM1.32 billion from RM1.26 billion a year ago, thanks to stronger domestic and export sales.
The group declared a 70 sen interim dividend for the quarter — unchanged from last year — in respect of FY17, payable on Dec 14.
For the first nine months of FY17 (9MFY17), Nestle's revenue was up 4.33% RM3.98 billion from RM3.81 billion in 9MFY16, while net profit came in at RM512.25 million from RM570.19 million last year, which it said was "as anticipated".
Gas Malaysia Bhd has partnered Sime Darby Bhd to set up a joint venture company (JVC) to provide electricity, steam, chilled water, hot water, hot air and/or any other utilities to customers.
The JV is formed via its wholly-owned subsidiary Gas Malaysia Venture 1 Sdn Bhd (GMV1) and Sime Darby’s indirect wholly-owned unit Sime Darby Offshore Engineering Sdn Bhd on a 70:30 ratio, respectively.
Gas Malaysia said the provision of services under the JVC would be through combined heat and power (CHP) system to industries in Malaysia. The JV is also expected to design, build, install, commission and operate CHP at each customer’s premises.
The JV would diversify Gas Malaysia’s business from gas distribution to energy business in future.
GHL Systems Bhd has proposed to buy a 31.16% stake in Vietnamese mobile payment company MPOS Global Ltd for US$3.32 million (RM14.05 million).
GHL expects the acquisition to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year and intends to finance the acquisition via internally-generated funds.
Hartalega Holdings Bhd reported a 59.2% surge in net profit for 2QFY18 to RM113.34 million or 6.87 sen per share, from RM71.22 million or 4.34 sen per share a year ago, thanks to an increase in sales revenue and improvement in productivity.
It also attributed its higher profitability in the quarter to a net foreign exchange gain of RM7.8 million, compared with a net foreign exchange loss of RM4.4 million last year.
Hartalega reported a 33.8% improvement in 2QFY18 revenue to RM584.62 million from RM436.98 million a year ago, due to an increase in sales volume by 30.2% and strengthening of the US dollar.
For the first half of its financial year ended Sept 30, 2017 (1HFY18), the group’s net profit grew by 64.6% to RM209.73 million or 12.72 sen per share, from RM127.39 million or 7.76 sen per share a year ago. Revenue increased by 41.4% to RM1.19 billion from RM838.8 million a year ago.
The group declared a first interim dividend of 3.5 sen per share, to be paid on Dec 28, 2017.
ML Global Bhd has secured two housing development projects totalling RM270.5 million in Ijok, Selangor.
ML Global said its wholly-owned MITC Engineering accepted the letters of award today from Kemudi Ehsan Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of its substantial shareholder LBS Bina Group Bhd, to commence work this month.
For a contract sum of RM139.5 million, the first project entails the construction of 980 double-storey townhouses, with three units of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) substations, a guardhouse, a multipurpose hall, to be completed by April 2019.
The second project, valued at RM131 million, is to build 673 double-storey terrace houses, a two-storey community centre, a surau and a guard house, and three TNB substations. Completion is scheduled for February 2019.
O&C Resources Bhd is purchasing 4,101 square feet or 1.01 acres of freehold land in Petaling Jaya for RM24.59 million from Tropicana City Sdn Bhd (TCSB), to diversify its business operation into property development.
O&C Construction Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of O&C, inked a sale and purchase agreement today with TCSB, wholly-owned subsidiary of Tropicana Corp Bhd via Bakat Rampai Sdn Bhd.
The purchase is expected to be funded via bank facilities and internally-generated funds.
Key Alliance Group Bhd has signed an exclusive reseller agreement with Digital Paper Sdn Bhd, a licensed distributor of antivirus software Kaspersky, to sell software licences to its cloud-based customers.
Key Alliance said the one-year agreement between its subsidiary Progenet Innovations Sdn Bhd and Digital Paper signed today will enable it to grow its cloud service business in Malaysia.
Progenet would also be able to integrate the anti-virus software into its suite of products offering end-to-end solutions to cloud-based customers.
Naim Indah Corp Bhd has ceased to be the project management consultant for Lagenda Erajuta Sdn Bhd’s Gateway Klang Project, due to a delay by Lagenda in obtaining approval for the land transfer and a change in the land usage status.
Both parties have mutually agreed to cease the letter of award received by Naim Indah today. The cessation of the award is expected to have an impact on Naim Indah’s revenue and profit, the group said.
Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s Go Shop has partnered with DiGi.Com Bhd’s digital arm Digi-X to offer the latter’s e-Cash on Delivery (e-COD) solution, vcash.
Go Shop customers can have cashless payments and more convenience when shopping on Go Shop’s TV, online and mobile platforms.
Astro said the first of its e-COD solutions with Digi’s vcash app targets 10% of its customer base to start adopting cashless payments in 2018.
Go Shop’s e-COD will be launched in phases, with the initial phase to commence in the Klang Valley this month, followed by a nationwide roll out in March 2018.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/fn-nestle-gas-malaysia-sime-darby-ghl-hartalega-ml-global-oc-resources-key-alliance-naim
