KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus on Friday (Aug 23) may include the following: AirAsia X Bhd, Media Prima Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, Perdana Petroleum Bhd, Kelington Group Bhd, Tropicana, CJ Century Logistics Holdings Bhd, Tasco Bhd, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and ARB Bhd.
Low-cost long-haul carrier AirAsia X Bhd’s net loss for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019, ballooned to RM207.11 million from RM57.46 million recorded a year ago, which it blamed on a weaker ringgit and the loss on disposal of three aircraft under a sale and leaseback arrangement.
The over four-fold rise in net loss pushed its loss per share for the quarter to 5 sen from 1.4 sen previously. Quarterly revenue fell 4% to RM1.01 billion from RM1.06 billion.
Media Prima Bhd, owner of the TV3, 8TV, ntv7 and TV9 channels and publisher of the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro newspapers, reported its second straight quarterly loss during the second quarter ended June 30, 2019, on lower contribution from the traditional revenue segment such as publishing and television networks.
It’s net loss of RM8.83 million compared with a net profit of RM31.95 million a year ago. Revenue dropped 14% to RM296.77 million from RM342.37 million a year ago.
It said it has revisited several initiatives in its transformation journey and identified areas of improvements — with managing costs remaining a priority for the group.
AMMB Holdings Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019, rose 12.62% year-on-year to RM391.46 million from RM347.59 million, mainly from interest on fixed income securities and customer lending.
It said revenue for the period rose 10.1% to RM2.39 billion from RM2.17 billion a year earlier.
Group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir Sulaiman said the group's FY20 strategic priorities are in place.
"In addition, the group remains focused on further strengthening cost efficiencies through our BET300 programme which involves every line of business," he said.
Allianz Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the second financial quarter ended June 30, 2019, grew 31% to RM117.67 million from RM89.87 million a year earlier, contributed by higher gross earned premiums and investment income.
However, revenue for the quarter grew only 5% to RM1.37 billion from RM1.31 billion in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, whose share price notched a record high closing of RM4.40 yesterday, announced a 27% jump in its second-quarter net profit, lifted by stronger revenue across all three business segments.
Its net profit for the quarter ended on June 30, 2019, stood at RM130.44 million up from RM102.74 million a year ago. This was as revenue surged 41.6% to RM1.14 billion from RM804.13 million a year ago.
Perdana Petroleum Bhd slipped into the red in the second quarter with a net loss of RM5.44 million, from a net profit of RM10.1 million a year ago when it benefited from a hefty foreign exchange gain of RM25.8 million.
Quarterly revenue grew 32.06% to RM62.84 million from RM47.59 million. The higher revenue came as vessel utilisation rose to 79% in the period from 70% previously.
Kelington Group Bhd’s second quarter net profit rose 15.89% to RM5.1 million from RM4.4 million a year earlier, thanks to higher contribution from its Singapore and Malaysian operations, which more than offset the decline from China and Taiwan.
Its quarter revenue rose 6.56% to RM95.08 million from RM89.23 million a year ago.
The group has proposed a first interim dividend of one sen per share, unchanged from last year.
Tropicana Corp Bhd’s net profit went up 3% to RM39.02 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019, from RM38 million a year ago. Quarterly revenue grew 6% to RM299.45 million from RM281.43 million previously.
It attributed the growth in revenue to higher progress billings across some of its key existing ongoing projects.
Logistics companies CJ Century Logistics Holdings Bhd and Tasco Bhd both saw a sharp decline in performance for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.
Tasco saw its net profit drop 75% to RM1.28 million for its first quarter from RM5.07 million a year ago, while revenue fell slightly to RM180.4 million from RM181.64 million.
Meanwhile, CJ Century saw its second consecutive quarterly loss, reporting a net loss of RM3.04 million for its second quarter, versus a net profit of RM2.77 million a year ago. This was despite a 31% jump in quarterly revenue to RM136.74 million from RM104.01 million in the previous year.
Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd has suffered a data breach, exposing customers’ MyKad data. This marks the second time a data breach involving Astro subscribers' data has occurred in the past 14 months.
It said it had recently discovered the unauthorised access to subscribers' MyKad data such as their names, identity card numbers, date of birth, gender, race and address.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), which experienced a technical glitch at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and klia2 and had caused some flights to be delayed, is expecting to resolve the systems disruption by tomorrow morning.
As at 8.51pm, the systems at both terminals had not yet been stabilised.
ARB Bhd has signed a contract with a Cambodia agriculture products firm to provide an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
It said the contract with Tatan Land Co Ltd is expected to contribute an estimated US$20 million (RM84 million) to the group’s topline per year.
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/aax-media-prima-ammb-allianz-serba-dinamik-perdana-petroleum-kelington-tropicana-cj-century
