KUALA LUMPUR (June 16): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, stocks in focus on Tuesday (June 17) may include: Green Packet Bhd, Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), Allianz Malaysia Bhd, KNM Group Bhd, Vsolar Group Bhd, OpenSys (M) Bhd, Magnum Bhd, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto), Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, YTL Corp Bhd, XOX Bhd, Star Media Group Bhd, GDB Holdings Bhd, Petra Energy Bhd and Komarkcorp Bhd.
Green Packet Bhd is buying Singapore-based e-KYC (Electronic Know Your Customer) specialist firm Xendity Pte Ltd for US$10 million. E-KYC specialises in technologies on document verification, facial recognition and biometrics and typically only requires users to do so from their smartphones or personal computers remotely.
Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC)’s indirect subsidiary has been awarded a contract worth RM154.3 million by the Ministry of Defence. Boustead DCNS Naval Corp Sdn Bhd (BDNC) — 60%-owned by BHIC’s unit BHIC Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd and 40%-owned by France’s Naval Group — will be providing in-service support for prime minister's class submarines for the Royal Malaysian Navy.
Allianz Malaysia Bhd's 1QFY20 net profit fell 19.63% to RM79.5 million, from RM98.92 million the year before, due to a swing from investment-related gains to losses. The decline, which was also contributed by higher expenses, came despite higher revenue, lower tax and lower net benefits and claims in the period. Quarterly revenue jumped 10.44% to RM1.48 billion, from RM1.34 billion previously.
Allianz said the higher revenue was attributable to higher gross earned premiums and investment income from both general and life insurance businesses, thanks to growth in all key distribution channels.
KNM Group Bhd has landed a RM73.09 million contract to supply a heat exchanger for a petrochemical project in China. The contract awarded by China Petroleum Materials Company Ltd is for the CNPC Jieyang–Refining Chemical Integration PJ project.
Vsolar Group Bhd is looking into developing a large-scale solar facility under the Energy Commission’s LSS@MenTARI programme. The group plans to bid for a quota under the programme, with the support of Mattan Engineering Sdn Bhd as the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning partner to develop the project.
Brahmal Vasudevan, the founder and chief executive officer of private equity firm Creador, has increased his stake in OpenSys (M) Bhd. Brahmal has been increasing his stake in the financial solutions group over the last two days.
A filing showed that Brahmal’s total stake in the group has risen to 7.05%, after acquiring 1.45 million new shares indirectly. This comprises a 0.671% direct stake and a 6.378% indirect stake via Alaka Holdings Ltd, a British Virgin Islands-incorporated firm linked to Brahmal.
Number forecast operators (NFOs) will resume operations tomorrow after shutting their doors for more than three months since the Movement Control Order was implemented on March 18. Magnum Bhd and Pan Malaysia Pools Sdn Bhd (Damacai), two of the three NFOs in Malaysia, have each put up an official notice on their websites about the reopening of all its outlets nationwide "starting June 17".
It is understood that Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd, owned by Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto), is also resuming its operations tomorrow, although there was no official statement on the matter at press time.
Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd reported a net loss of RM124.12 million for 1QFY20 from a net profit of RM21.57 million a year ago, as it was impacted by low refining margins following a sudden drop in global oil prices, while demand was impacted by the pandemic outbreak.
The slump in global oil prices was the result of a price war, it said, while the demand impact came from the implementation of the movement control order by the government in mid-March to curb the spread of Covid-19, it said. Quarterly revenue fell 13.81% to RM2.55 billion from RM2.96 billion last year, as sales volume shrank to 9.9 million barrels from 10.3 million.
YTL Corp Bhd's net profit for 3QFY20 dropped 66% to RM29.52 million, from RM85.8 million a year earlier, mainly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which affected some of its business segments such as hotels. This was despite quarterly revenue rising 12% to RM4.81 billion from RM4.31 billion a year ago. For the cumulative nine months ended March 31, net profit fell 76% to RM62.37 million versus RM256.41 million for the previous corresponding period, though revenue rose 21% to RM15.64 billion from RM12.96 billion. YTL said the group's financial performance in the final quarter is expected to be adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
XOX Bhd has teamed up with DGB Networks Sdn Bhd to form a 50:50 net profit sharing partnership for the media management and advertising platform that will result from the national deployment of DGB Networks' next generation artificial intelligence (AI) vending machines. Under the agreement, XOX will provide connectivity of these machines to contribute to the seamless creation of a stable digital advertising network.
Amidst a tough operating landscape, Star Media Group Bhd is undertaking another round of cost cutting that will involve a job rationalisation exercise, industry sources say. It is understood that over 100 staff could be affected by the exercise. This is the third cost cutting exercise involving job cuts since 2017. Star Media has yet to respond when contacted on this matter.
GDB Holdings Bhd is tendering for RM2.8 billion worth of building construction and piling projects throughout Malaysia. The construction services firm said its construction tender book as at today amounted to RM2.4 billion, comprising residential, mixed developments and offices.
Meanwhile, the group said its piling and substructure segment, via subsidiary GDB Geotechnics Sdn Bhd, had tendered for RM400 million worth of jobs.
Petra Energy Bhd has bagged a technical service contract from Petronas to provide services for the latter's oil field worth an estimated US$40 million (RM170.8 million).
The group said its wholly-owned subsidiary Petra Energy Development Sdn Bhd, on behalf of Petronas, will provide services to operate and maintain the Banang field.
Komarkcorp Bhd plans to invest up to RM20 million to venture into face mask manufacturing. The group will raise the money via a private placement of up to 30% of its issued shares as well as internally generated funds and bank borrowings.
The group plans to utilise the money on 30 production lines for the manufacturing of particularly the KN95 and three-ply masks with annual production capacity of up 120 million and 522 million pieces, respectively, within 24 months.
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/green-packet-bhic-allianz-knm-vsolar-opensys-magnum-btoto-hengyuan-ytl-xox-star-gdb-petra
