KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Tuesday - Nov 22) could include the following: KLK, MQ Tech, Perisai, Fajarbaru, WCT, MKH, MSM Malaysia and Pharmaniaga.
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) plans to acquire a bigger stake in PT Perindustrian Sawit Synergi, a downstream palm oil producer in Indonesia, by upping its stake in the joint venture company from 63% to 75%.
In a bourse filing, KLK said its wholly-owned subsidiary KL-Kepong Plantation Holdings Sdn Bhd has inked an amended agreement with Gunaria Sdn Bhd, Mujib Moosa Modak, Modak Moosa Mohamed and Al Hakim Hanafiah to buy a 75% stake — rather than the original 63% — in Perindustrian Sawit Synergi.
Gunaria, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IJM Plantations Bhd, will cut its stake from 32% to 20%. Meanwhile, a new shareholder, Al Hakim Hanafiah, is set to buy the remaining 5% stake in Perindustrian Sawit Synergi.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2017.
MQ Technology Bhd, which is planning to diversify into the theme park business, saw its renounceable rights issue with free warrants under-subscribed by 34.22%.
The group, which is going to jointly develop a theme park on a 9.16-acre piece of reclaimed leasehold land in Klebang, Malacca, with a private firm, told Bursa Malaysia today it had received valid acceptances and excess applications totalling 275.27 million for its rights issuance at the close of acceptance and payment on Nov 14.
This comprises total valid acceptances of 126.93 million or 30.33% and total valid excess applications of 148.35 million or 35.45%.
"This represents an under subscription of 34.22% over the total 418.47 million rights shares available under the corporate exercise," it said.
Despite the under-subscription, the high precision magnetic coils manufacturer said it managed to hit the minimum subscription level of 180.47 million shares.
As such, the company will allot the rights shares with warrants to all entitled shareholders who have applied for it.
The rights shares’ issue price is 10 sen per share, while the warrants are on the basis of two warrants for every three rights shares subscribed.
Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd, which became the first Malaysian oil and gas company to fall victim to the slump in oil prices and declared itself insolvent on Oct 12, said it has within 60 days from Nov 10 to submit a proposed debt restructuring scheme to the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee (CDRC).
"Upon receipt and review of the proposed scheme, CDRC will call for a meeting with the (company's) lenders to deliberate on the proposed scheme," said Perisai in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
"Simultaneous with the company's admission to CDRC, letters to all of the company's lenders have been issued by CDRC requesting the lenders to observe an informal standstill and to withhold litigation proceedings against the company with immediate effect," it added.
Perisai was responding to a news article by splash247 yesterday, which stated that the company has got some breathing room from creditors thanks to the help of the government through CDRC.
Perisai had on Oct 20, 2016, applied for assistance from CDRC, a platform formed by the government in 1998 for corporate borrowers and their creditors to work out feasible debt resolutions without having to resort to legal proceedings.
Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd's associate company is buying a piece of freehold land measuring 676 sq meter within the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, for A$25.6 million (RM84.15 million) cash.
In a bourse filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the construction outfit said its associate 320 Queen Street Project Pty Ltd is buying the land from the Celtic Club Inc.
According to Fajarbaru, the land has been granted a planning permit that allows the construction of a 48-level residential tower, including two basement carpark levels, two recreational levels and service levels on the land from Oct 29, 2017 to Oct 29, 2020.
Celtic Club Inc is an incorporated association in Australia that supports and celebrate pride in Irish heritage and culture, and that of the broader Celtic community.
Fajarbaru said the purchase consideration will be satisfied by way of cash on or before June 20, 2017.
WCT Holdings Bhd's net profit plunged 72.1% to RM23.97 million or 1.92 sen a share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16) from RM85.91 million or 7.43 sen a share a year ago mainly due to high unrealised foreign exchange gain in 3QFY15.
Revenue, however, rose 11.5% to RM414.41 million in 3QFY16 from RM371.8 million in 3QFY15 mainly due to higher contribution from the local construction segment.
For the cumulative nine months (9MFY16), net profit dropped 56.8% to RM64.87 million from RM150.18 million a year ago despite revenue increasing 29.2% to RM1.48 billion in 9MFY16 from RM1.15 billion in 9MFY15 for the same reasons.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the group said despite the challenging economic outlook, it is confident of achieving satisfactory results for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016.
"This (confidence) is attributable to the group's outstanding order book of RM3.9 billion and unbilled property sales amounting to RM562 million as at Sept 30, 2016. In addition, the group's investment properties are generating increasing recurring income," it said.
MKH Bhd is teaming up with PR1MA Corp Malaysia to jointly develop a piece of freehold land measuring 33,280 square metres (8.22 acres) in Kajang into a mixed project with a gross development value (GDV) of RM464 million.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the property developer-cum-plantation player said its unit Metro KL City Sdn Bhd has inked a joint development agreement with PR1MA Corp, the registered proprietor of the land, to effect their collaboration.
Under the tie-up, MKH said Metro KL City will undertake the development of approximately 1,202 units of stratified residential units, together with a commercial area of approximately 42,000 sq ft.
According to MKH, the project is to be developed over three years and the project's profit and cost sharing between PR1MA and Metro will be on a 30:70 basis.
"The total initial capital and investment outlay by Metro in the joint development of the project land is estimated at RM38 million," it said, which is expected to be incurred for initial start-up costs and preliminary works.
MKH plans to finance the initial outlay via a mixture of internally generated funds and/or bank borrowings. To fully finance its part of the project, it may even undertake other forms of fund raising.
Higher raw material costs and a weaker ringgit have eroded MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd's profitability by 63.5% in the third financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16).
In announcing its results, the country's leading refined sugar producer said its 3QFY16 net profit slumped to RM23.31 million or 3.32 sen per share from RM63.87 million or 9.09 sen per share a year earlier, though revenue climbed 16% to RM633.12 million from RM546.49 million.
The rise in top line was due to higher volume of refined sugar sold in the domestic market, its filing with Bursa Malaysia revealed today.
MSM also declared a first interim dividend of 10 sen for the quarter, payable on Dec 30.
In the nine months ended Sept 30, 2016 (9MFY16), its net profit halved to RM106.33 million or 15.13 sen per share against RM214.04 million or 30.45 sen per share a year earlier, as it recognised higher raw material and production costs.
Cumulative revenue, however, rose 11% to RM1.82 billion from RM1.64 billion on higher volume and trading revenue.
Pharmaniaga Bhd's net profit fell 34.6% to RM13.06 million or 5.04 sen a share in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16) from RM19.97 million or 7.71 sen a share a year ago on lower revenue.
Revenue slipped 1.8% to RM515.22 million in 3QFY16 from RM524.41 million in 3QFY15, due to reduced demand from government hospitals under the concession business.
Nevertheless, the group declared a third interim dividend of four sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016, payable on Dec 15.
The lower 3QFY16 earnings dragged down the group's net profit for the nine months period (9MFY16) by 31.7% to RM46.44 million from RM67.98 million in 9MFY15, primarily due to higher expenses such as finance, selling and distribution costs.
Revenue, however, rose 6.4% to RM1.61 billion in 9MFY16 from RM1.51 billion in 9MFY15, due to improved contributions from the group’s Indonesian operations.
