Affin Bank, Dutch Lady, Dialog, Hektar REIT, Teo Seng, Maybulk, PLS Plantations, Minetech Resources, Scomi Group and Maybank

Affin Bank, Dutch Lady, Dialog, Hektar REIT, Teo Seng, Maybulk, PLS Plantations, Minetech Resources, Scomi Group and Maybank

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 15): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Tuesday (Nov 15): Affin Bank Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd (DLMI), Dialog Group Bhd, Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (Hektar REIT), Teo Seng Capital Bhd, Malaysian Bulk Carriers Bhd (Maybulk), PLS Plantations Bhd, Minetech Resources Bhd, Scomi Group Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank).

Affin Islamic Bank Bhd is eyeing a mutually beneficial relationship with small and medium enterprises — with Affin Islamic Bank being hungry to grow its loans while many SMEs are still facing challenges to obtain funding in a tough economic environment. Earlier, Affin Bank Bhd’s shareholders unanimously voted to approve the single-tier special dividend payout of 18.09 sen per share, amounting to RM400.21 million, following the divestment of a 63% stake the group owned in Affin Hwang Asset Management Bhd, which was completed on July 29. Affin Bank president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Razly Abdullah Wan Ali said currently, Affin Islamic Bank contributes 44.5% to the group's contribution, adding that it is poised for stronger growth in the future.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd’s (DLMI) net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 rose 19.74% to RM24.4 million, from RM20.38 million a year earlier, on robust demand for the group’s products, higher sale prices and strong cost management actions. However, this was partially offset by escalating prices for global dairy raw materials and negative foreign exchange results due to the weakening ringgit against the US dollar. Quarterly revenue rose 16.2% to RM337.77 million from RM290.66 million, mainly driven by continued strong demand for milk as an essential product and necessary price increases to offset strong inflationary headwinds. DLMI declared a second interim dividend of 25 sen per share, to be paid on Dec 13.

Additionally, DLMI announced that the total new capital investment for the planned new facilities in Bandar Baru Enstek, Negeri Sembilan will be increased to RM540 million, from the previous estimate of RM340 million, which will be funded through internal funds. The increase is mainly due to the inclusion of additional capex items, as well as unprecedented inflation which has significantly increased the cost of materials, fuel and labour.

Dialog Group Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 slipped 2.35% to RM125.79 million, from RM128.82 million a year earlier, due to higher project and operations cost. Quarterly revenue, however, climbed 40.8% to RM711.7 million, from RM505.45 million, on increased activities contributed by both local and international operations. Meanwhile, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the group’s net profit rose 6.37% from RM118.25 million in the preceding quarter, as revenue grew 5.33% from RM675.65 million.

Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (Hektar REIT)’s third quarter net property income (NPI) rose 77.2% to RM18.31 million from RM10.34 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher revenue recognition and improved NPI margin, besides reversal of impairment losses of trade receivables. Revenue for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 climbed 62.4% to RM31.07 million from RM19.13 million previously. The higher revenue was due to recovery of the retail sector and the reopening of borders for economic activities, compared to last year, when high rental support was provided to tenants as the businesses were hit hard by Covid-19.

Teo Seng Capital Bhd’s net profit plunged 77.34% to RM516,000 in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022, compared to RM2.28 million in the same quarter a year ago, dragged down by higher operating costs, finance costs and tax expenses. This was on the back of a 15.26% rise in revenue to RM166.58 million from RM144.53 million a year before. For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2022, Teo Seng posted a net profit of RM8.61 million against a net loss of RM9.05 million in 9MFY21, as cumulative revenue rose 24.69% to RM471.32 million, from RM378 million previously.

Malaysian Bulk Carriers Bhd (Maybulk) has called off its plan to diversify into the grocery retail business, as conditions precedent of the relevant agreement had not been fulfilled by Monday (Nov 14), the cut-off date. The dry bulk carrier operator had announced three months ago that it planned to invest RM54.38 million for the grocery foray via a collaboration with the operator of a retail chain under the Tunas Manja Group. The proposed diversification, aimed at mitigating the risk of overdependence on its existing shipping business, was deemed a related-party transaction as Tunas Manja is controlled by two substantial shareholders of Maybulk — Datuk Chin Yoke Kan and Datuk Chin Yoke Choon.

PLS Plantations Bhd has inked an exclusive distributorship with China’s agri-product trader China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) in relation to exporting Malaysia’s durian to China. PLS Plantations said its trading and export subsidiary Dulai Fruits Enterprise Sdn Bhd had inked an export and exclusive distribution agreement with COFCO’s import and distribution subsidiary in China, COFCO Food Import Co Ltd. With this exclusive distribution partnership, both PLS and COFCO aim to achieve an annual growth rate of 30% (annual import volume of 200 million yuan) in all types of durian imported from Malaysia over the next three years.

Minetech Resources Bhd has inked an original equipment manufacturing agreement with Cretpaver Asia Sdn Bhd (CASB) to manufacture and trade bituminous products, with an estimated contract value of RM10 million per annum. The agreement was entered through Minetech Asphalt Man International Sdn Bhd (Mami), an 85%-owned subsidiary of Minetech. Mami is engaged in the manufacturing and trading of bituminous products. Meanwhile, CASB is involved in supplying materials for road construction, road line marking and road safety furniture.

Scomi Group Bhd announced that its proposed scheme of arrangement has been approved by the majority of its creditors. This came after a court-convened meeting earlier in the day for the creditors to consider and vote on the proposed scheme. In a separate filing, Scomi said it had requested for further extension of time from Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) to pay the settlement sum under the revised settlement proposal. It is currently awaiting a decision from Maybank.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/affin-bank-dutch-lady-dialog-hektar-reit-teo-seng-maybulk-pls-plantations-minetech-resources