KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 31): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Tuesday (Nov 1) may include: IWCity, Ekovest, Benalec, Wong Engineering, LBS, Sunway REIT, Ivory Properties, Sasbadi, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering, DKSH, Globetronics, Hap Seng Consolidated and Theta Edge.
Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) has axed plans to merge with its 38.35%-owned associate Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity) and assume the latter's listing status.
Tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo, who is the major shareholder and executive chairman of Ekovest Bhd, is instead proposing for Ekovest to buy the rest of the 62% shares it does not own in IWCity through either a cash consideration of RM1.50 per share, valuing the company at RM1.25 billion, or a one-for-one share swap deal.
Marine construction solution providers Benalec Holdings Bhd is selling seven plots of leasehold land measuring 216,427 sq m at Klebang, Melaka, for RM100.17 million cash.
Benalec said its three indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries — Sentosacove Development Sdn Bhd, Oceanview Realty Sdn Bhd and Strategic Cove Sdn Bhd — entered into a sale and purchase agreement with the purchaser Titanium Hallmark Sdn Bhd for the disposal.
Under the deal, Benalec expects to realise a net gain of RM24.7 million representing earnings per share of about 3 sen apiece.
Property developer-cum-manufacturer of high precision metal parts Wong Engineering Corp Bhd has bagged an RM87.5 million contract to build two blocks of affordable housing apartments, together with related facilities at the Kuchai Lama Entrepreneurs Park here.
Wong Engineering said its wholly-owned subsidiary WEC Construction Sdn Bhd accepted the contract from Havana Solaris Sdn Bhd.
The apartment blocks will comprise 556 units. The contract — which will start on Nov 16 this year and be completed by May 15, 2020 — also includes the construction of a 31-unit hawker centre and an eight-storey car park podium.
Property developer LBS Bina Group Bhd has proposed to split its shares on a one-to-two (1-to-2) basis, followed by a bonus issuance on the basis of 1 bonus share for every 10 split shares held (1-for-10).
LBS said the first will result in the subdivision of every one existing share into two ordinary shares, on an entitlement date to be fixed.
Subsequently the group will undertake the bonus issue, which will involve the issuance of up to 162.99 million new shares on the 1-for-10 basis.
Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust (Sunway REIT) kicked off its financial year 2018 with a strong first-quarter performance, with net property income (NPI) rising 15.5% year-on-year to RM111.99 million, on the back of higher revenue and lower property operating expenses.
Quarterly revenue increased 9.5% to RM141.17 million in the three months ended Sept 1, 2017, from RM128.88 million a year earlier, mainly contributed by higher revenue across all segments.
It also proposed an income distribution per unit of 2.67 sen, payable on Nov 29.
Property developer Ivory Properties Group Bhd is planning to buy a plot of commercial land in Sitiawan, Perak, for RM133.86 million, for property development purposes.
Ivory Properties said its wholly-owned unit Sunlink Properties Sdn Bhd has inked a sale and purchase agreement with the land owner Remco Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd.
The land measures some 259,100 sq m, the filing said. The purchase consideration for the land was arrived at based on the indicative market value of not less than RM48 per square feet, which is equivalent to not less than RM133.87 million.
Education material publisher Sasbadi Holdings Bhd posted a net loss of RM4.23 million in its fourth quarter ended Aug 31, 2017 (4QFY17) — its first quarter in the red since the company's market debut on July 23, 2014 — as its publishing units posted lower revenue.
In comparison, the group recorded a net profit of RM4.18 million a year ago.
Sasbadi said the losses were due to lower topline contribution from its academic publishing subsidiaries, Sasbadi Sdn Bhd and Malaysian Book Promotions Sdn Bhd.
Revenue for the quarter fell 16% year-on-year to RM12.99 million from RM15.39.
Consequently, the group's full FY17 net profit was down 52% y-o-y to RM8.04 million, compared with RM16.7 million in FY16, though revenue inched up 0.4% to RM93.06 million from RM92.69 million.
After seven straight quarterly losses, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) reported a net profit in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017, on lower operating loss from its heavy engineering division mainly from finalisation of completed projects in the current quarter under review.
The marine engineering and oil and gas solutions provider posted a quarterly net profit of RM16.41 million compared with a net loss of RM4.53 million a year earlier.
MHB said this was achieved despite lower revenue of RM215.35 million against RM333.49 million a year ago.
For the cumulative nine months, MHB narrowed its net loss to RM13.9 million from RM14.63 million a year ago, while revenue fell 20.2% to RM708.46 million from RM887.66 million previously.
DKSH Holdings (M) Bhd’s third quarter net profit climbed 84.5% to RM9.99 million from RM5.41 million a year earlier on the back of higher revenue.
The market expansion services provider said its revenue for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 grew 9% to RM1.37 billion from RM1.26 billion due to growth in clients.
Cumulative nine-month net profit dipped 1.9% to RM36.4 million from RM37.1 million in the previous corresponding period due mainly to a change in product mix.
Revenue for the Jan-Sept period rose 4.8% to RM4.13 billion from RM3.94 billion a year ago.
Semiconductor components manufacturer Globetronics Technology Bhd's net profit jumped 57% year-on-year to RM14.38 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 from RM9.15 million, as it recorded higher volume loadings and kick-started production of new products for certain customers.
Quarterly revenue grew 66% y-o-y to RM87.01 million from RM52.46 million.
This pushed its net profit for the first nine months of FY17 up 35% y-o-y to RM26.11 million from RM19.35 million, while revenue grew 18% to RM199.77 million from RM168.61 million.
Diversified group Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd is eyeing annual rental income of up to RM21 million from its new commercial building Menara Hap Seng 3 here on office-space demand from foreign multinational companies.
The planned 26-storey Menara Hap Seng 3 along Jalan Sultan Ismail here has a net lettable area of 240,000 sq ft. Hap Seng Land Sdn Bhd chief operating officer for its West Malaysia property division David Khor said construction cost for the project is about RM312 million, which will be funded fully via internally-generated funds.
"We hope to get close to full take-up rate within the first year after completion of construction (of Menara Hap Seng 3)," Khor told reporters after Menara Hap Seng 3's ground-breaking ceremony.
Lembaga Tabung Haji’s 69%-owned information communication, technology services provider Theta Edge Bhd has been slapped with an unusual market activity query from Bursa Malaysia on the sharp rise in its stock price recently.
Bursa said investors are advised to take note of Theta Edge’s reply to the query when making their investment decision.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/iwcity-ekovest-benalec-wong-engineering-lbs-sunway-reit-ivory-properties-sasbadi-mhb-dksh
