KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus on Friday (Dec 23) could include KFM, KLK, AEON Credit, Poh Huat, MAHB, Shell Refining, Managepay, Boustead Plantations, SP Setia and FGV.
Kuantan Flour Mills Bhd (KFM) said today that it is still seeking the reason for Felcra Bhd retracting its letter of interest (LoI) to explore possible participation in the flour miller's equity.
It had sent a follow-up letter to Felcra yesterday (Dec 21) to seek an official reply in relation to KFM’s letter dated Dec 15, the group in a bourse filing today.
"As of now, we have not received any official reply from Felcra," said the flour miller.
Felcra had aborted its intention to take up a stake in the the Practice Note 17 (PN17) company on Dec 15, just two days after KFM said it was considering a reverse takeover (RTO).
Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd's 740 pence (RM40.93) per share offer for MP Evans Group Plc shares has lapsed, as the group only received valid acceptances for 7.36 million shares, representing 13.2% of the issued ordinary share capital of the London Stock Exchange (LSE)-listed plantation group.
KLK — which made the offer via its wholly-owned subsidiary KL-Kepong International Ltd (KLKI) — said the offer had lapsed as it did not meet the 50% threshold, the group said in an announcement today.
KLK said it reserves the right to make a further offer for the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of MP Evans.
In a filing with the LSE, MP Evans said it welcomed the rejection by its shareholders as it believed the offer had substantially undervalued MP Evans shares.
To recap, the board of MP Evans had spurned KLK’s earlier offer of 640 pence per share on Oct 25.
Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd saw its net profit climb 25.66% to RM67.05 million or 44.01 sen per share in the third quarter ended Nov 30, 2016 (3QFY17) from RM53.36 million or 34.54 sen per share, on higher revenue and other operating income.
According to a filing with Bursa Malaysia, its revenue rose 14.07% to RM280.35 million from RM245.78 million.
For the nine-month period ended Nov 30, 2016 (9MFY17), Aeon Credit’s net profit grew 15.54% to RM184.97 million from RM160.09 million, while revenue rose 14.73% to RM811.11 million from RM706.94 million.
Poh Huat Resources Holdings Bhd reported a 20% increase in net profit to RM19.06 million or 8.93 sen per share for the fourth quarter ended Oct 31, 2016 (4QFY16) from RM15.85 million or 7.43 sen per share a year earlier, supported by better profit margins and the strengthening of the US dollar against the ringgit.
Revenue rose 8% to RM152.05 million from RM140.179 million on the back of sustained demand for its products from the US and Canada markets, while its Vietnamese factories saw better efficiency, following the completion of its new spray-line facilities in August.
In a filing today, Poh Huat said its Malaysian factories saw a moderation in turnover amid product rationalisation and gestation period for new products.
The group also saw better gross profit margin for the quarter due to higher level of production and improvement in margin of products shipped from Vietnam, as well as the strengthening of the US dollar.
Going forward, the group said it expects demand for household products to be sustained over the next few years, in line with the improvement in the US housing market.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) today filed separate arbitration proceedings against three of its consultants in regard to losses and damages for the proposed development of a new Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) and third runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
In an announcement on the bourse today, MAHB said it had issued a notice of arbitration against HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd for losses and damages of an estimated sum of RM64.62 million as at May 2016, for which it had signed a contract for civil and structural consultancy services.
Separately, MAHB also initiated arbitration proceedings against KLIA Consultancy Services Sdn Bhd (KLIACS) for estimated losses and damages of RM148.93 million as at Oct 2016.
The third party MAHB filed arbitration proceedings against was Straits Consulting Engineers Sdn Bhd, which had been appointed by MAHB to provide civil and structural consultancy services, for a sum of RM84.31 million as at Oct 2016.
Shell Refining Co (Federation of Malaya) Bhd (SRC) has named Chinese national Wang Youde as its non-independent and non-executive chairman following the completion of the sale of Shell Overseas Holdings Ltd’s 51% stake in SRC to Malaysia Hengyuan International Ltd (MHIL).
Wang, 53, who is the chairman and general manager of Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical, replaces Datuk Iain John Lo, who is resigning after serving in the post since July 2012.
At the same time, Martinus Joseph Marinus Aloysius Stals, 50, is replacing Amir Hamzah Abu Bakar as SRC's managing director.
Chinese nationals Sun Jianyun and Wang Zongquan have also been appointed as non-independent and non-executive directors of SRC.
MHIL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical Co Ltd, had on Dec 19 acquired 153 million shares in Shell Refining for US$66.3 million (RM293.76 million), or 43 US cents (RM1.92) a share.
The Chinese-backed firm is launching an unconditional mandatory offer to acquire the remaining 49% stake in SRC at RM1.92 per share.
Managepay Systems Bhd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hong Kong-listed Credit China FinTech Holdings Ltd to collaborate on fintech solution, services and business know-how.
The MOU is focused on online peer-to-peer (P2P) financing and online micro loan, mobile and integrated point of sale (POS), and e-Money and e-Wallet businesses, including collaboration on MasterCard payment card issuance or acquisition, money remittance between Malaysia and Myanmar and China, cyber security, certificate authority and multi-factor authentication, and cross-border e-Commerce/other Internet-related services and solutions.
“The initial phase of co-operation will focus on offering products and services in Malaysia. The co-operation may eventually extend across South East Asia countries,” the group said.
Managepay expects the cooperation to be fruitful as Credit China is well-experienced in the fintech sector with mature processes and technologies while the former owns various operating licences in Malaysia such as online lending, e-money and money collection.
S P Setia Bhd is acquiring five parcels of land measuring a total of 677.8ha in Seberang Perai Utara, Penang from Boustead Plantations Bhd (BPB) for RM620.12 million in cash.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, S P Setia said its wholly-owned subsidiary Setia Recreation Sdn Bhd had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Boustead Plantations.
The proposed acquisition comes after a successful bid submitted by Setia Recreation under a tender process conducted by WTW Real Estate Sdn Bhd.
The property developer proposed a township development with a gross development value of approximately RM9.6 billion, marking the group’s maiden entry into the mainland of Penang.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, S P Setia targets to launch the township development on the land in 2019/2020 and it is expected to take 15 to 20 years to complete.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) said it no longer has any stake in Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV), as it assures members that the EPF practises high standards of corporate governance in its investments, with robust policies on risk control and asset allocation.
"In line with these best practices, we have been closely monitoring the equity performance of FGV over the years and have gradually sold down our shareholding," the retirement fund said in a statement today.
The fund also confirmed that the RM6.5 billion loan taken by Felda Holdings Bhd is not in default, following a blogpost dated Dec 14 which questioned whether Felda would be able to pay off its RM6.5 billion loan from EPF, which was taken in 2010.
"We urge EPF members to verify the facts with the EPF and not be misled by comments made in the social and online media," added the fund.
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