KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 23): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus on Tuesday (Dec 27) could include Barakah Offshore, Minho, VS Industry, REV Asia, Fitters Diversified, Perisai Petroleum, Icon Offshore, IRIS Corp and Tien Wah.
Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary PBJV Group Sdn Bhd has secured a RM20 million contract from MURPHY Sabah Oil Co Ltd for the provision of production riser tensioner overhaul, including maintenance and upgrade works.
The group said the contract commences this month, is valid for a duration of two years and has an extension option of one year.
"The contract involves the overhaul of Kikeh Dry Tree Unit (DTU) to like-new condition, and the modification and improvement of Production and Drilling Riser Tensioner to extend the service life," said Barakah.
It expects the contract to contribute positively towards the earnings and net assets per share of the group.
Minho (M) Bhd is providing its indirect subsidiary Euro-CGA Sdn Bhd a term loan of RM3 million at an interest rate of 8.75% per year to assist the latter in purchasing imported sawn timber for its manufacturing of moulded timber.
Minho said it has entered into an agreement with Euro-CGA to provide the term loan for 12 months from Dec 21. The loan is fully financed from internal funds.
"Euro-CGA desired to purchase sawn timber from Africa, which is currently offered at a discounted price. The sawn timber will be used for 2017 manufacturing and will contribute positively to the operations of the group," said Minho.
Euro-CGA is one of the significant companies within Minho Group, contributing about 9% to 13% to the group's total combined revenue.
VS Industry Bhd saw its net profit drop 44.3% to RM33.51 million or 2.86 sen per share in the first financial quarter ended Oct 31, 2016 (1QFY17) from RM60.18 million or 5.22 sen per share a year earlier, due to weakened contribution from Malaysia and a loss from the operations in China that offset the increase in the smaller-scale Indonesia segment.
The profit decline was within management expectations despite an 11% increase in revenue to RM680.02 million in 1QFY17 from RM612.47 million in 1QFY16, the group said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia.
This was due to a forex loss of RM400,000 during the quarter versus a net forex gain of RM14.6 million in 1QFY16.
The group also declared a first interim single tier dividend of 1.2 sen for the financial year ending July 31, 2017, payable on March 15, 2017.
The group anticipates substantial box-build orders over the next few years. Accordingly, it has hired an additional 1,000 foreign factory operators in 1QFY17, incurring additional costs while revenue from this batch of workers is only anticipated to commence gradually from 2QFY17 onwards.
"We expect our financial performance to be much better in the second half of FY17 in comparison with the first half, as increasing sales orders that come in would push production volume and efficiency higher to reach optimal level," VS Industry managing director Datuk S Y Gan said.
REV Asia Bhd is buying three Malay content websites — Siraplimau, Myresipi and Kongsiresepi — and their respective domains www.siraplimau.com, www.myresipi.com and www.kongsiresepi.com for RM2.65 million.
REV Asia said its 70%-owned subsidiary Rev Lifestyle Sdn Bhd has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Dua Marhalah Sdn Bhd for the proposed acquisition, which is expected to be completed by this month.
"The proposed acquisition will further strenghten REV Asia Group’s dominant position in the emerging Malay-speaking online community, with the ability to further expand its reach to users in the family lifestyle, parenting and food verticals," it added.
REV Asia said both Myresipi and Kongsiresepi are driven by user generated content, where users and bloggers submit their recipes which get aggregated onto the websites.
Fitters Diversified Bhd said today it has decided not to proceed with plans to list its wholly-owned subsidiary Future NRG Sdn Bhd (FNRG) on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for the time being.
No reason was given for its decision although the group said it may re-consider listing the subsidiary in the future.
The company first announced plans on the proposed listing of FNRG on Jan 10, 2014.
Perisai Petroleum Teknologi Bhd and Emas Offshore Ltd (EOL) have come to a settlement on their dispute over the disposal of Perisai’s 51% stake in SJR Marine (L) Ltd to EOL.
Perisai said it has entered into a settlement agreement with EO, to achieve a full and final settlement arising from or in connection with the share sale agreement (SSA) dated Nov 30, 2012 and put option.
To recap, EOL had intended to terminate the agreement with Perisai after Perisai had tried to exercise its put option following a lapse in the right to the call option by EOL.
Today, EOL and Perisai mutually agreed to a consideration of US$43.03 million of the put option shares to be satisfied by EOL. This would comprise US$20 million in cash on the completion date and US$23.03 million in a deferred payment amount.
Upon completion of the agreement, Perisai will receive partial settlement of the consideration of US$20 million (RM89.51 million), which is crucial to ensure the success of its debt restructuring plan, and as general working capital for operational, corporate and restructuring expenses.
The partial settlement of the consideration of US$20 million will be paid by EOL through its bank borrowings.
Following completion of the sale of the put-option shares, SJR Marine will no longer be part of Perisai Group and this is consistent with the Perisai Group's plan to exit the offshore construction segment.
The proposed settlement agreement is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2017.
Icon Offshore Bhd has bagged a RM5.6 million contract to provide one straight supply vessel to EQ Petroleum Production Malaysia Ltd for the Seligi/PM 8 (Extension) oil field offshore Peninsular Malaysia.
Icon said the contract, clinched through its wholly-owned subsidiary Icon Offshore Group Sdn Bhd, will commence this month and will continue for a period of one year.
"The contract is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of Icon Group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 and beyond," it added.
IRIS Corp Bhd group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Tan Say Jim has ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the company after disposing of 56.6 million shares via a direct business transaction.
Iris said Tan had disposed of the shares, which is equivalent to a 2.52% stake in the company, for RM6.19 million yesterday.
Tan sold the shares in two blocks. One block of 41.6 million shares was transacted at 12 sen apiece amounting to RM4.99 million, a 4.3% premium to Iris’s closing price of 11.5 sen today.
However, the other block comprising 15 million was transacted at 8 sen each or a total of RM1.2 million, a 30.4% discount to Iris’s closing price.
Following the disposal, Tan's stake in Iris dwindled to 3.91%.
Printing firm Tien Wah Press Holdings Bhd has agreed to dispose of its remaining 30% stake in Benkert Malaysia Sdn Bhd to Benkert UK Ltd for RM25.81 million.
Tien Wah said it has accepted Benkert UK’s offer today in order to avoid any conflict of interest, considering that Benkert Malaysia may be in direct competition with PT Bintang Pesona Jagat.
To recap, Tien Wah had announced in October that it is acquiring British American Tobacco Indonesia’s printing business Bintang Pesona Jagat for about RM96.9 million.
The completion of the disposal of Benkert Malaysia is expected to be by the end of the first quarter of 2017. Benkert UK owns the other 70% stake in Benkert Malaysia.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/my/article/barakah-offshore-minho-vs-industry-rev-asia-fitters-diversified-perisai-petroleum-icon
