MHB, Tasco, Axis REIT, LuxChem, Widad, BIMB, CIMB, TM, Maybank and Hong Leong Bank
Arjuna Chandran Shankar
KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): Based on corporate announcements and newsflow today, companies in focus on Thursday (April 22), may be as follows: Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd, Tasco Bhd, Axis Real Estate Investment Trust, Luxchem Corp Bhd, Widad Group Bhd, BIMB Holdings Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.
Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) disclosed today that the value for the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and installation, and hook-up and commissioning services (EPCIC) contract secured from SapuraOMV Upstream (Sarawak) Inc is RM1 billion. The duration of the contract in the Jerun gas field, which lies in the SK408W block off the coast of Bintulu, is 40 months. The group had announced the contract — awarded to its wholly-owned unit Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd (MMHE) — last Thursday.
Tasco Bhd said its unit is investing in a Sabah-based cold chain logistics company as part of its move to expand its presence in East Malaysia. The group said its 70%-owned unit, Tasco Yusen Gold Cold Sdn Bhd (TYGC), is teaming up with Swift Integrated Logistics Sdn Bhd to jointly acquire Hypercold Logistics Sdn Bhd. The two buyers will pay RM10.55 million each for the acquisition, said Tasco, adding that TYGC will fund its 50% stake purchase via a combination of advances from Tasco and internally-generated funds.
Axis Real Estate Investment Trust (Axis REIT) declared an interim distribution per unit of 2.23 sen after the investment trust announced that its net property income (NPI) for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 grew 3.26% to RM49.82 million from RM48.25 million a year ago. The improved NPI was due mainly to rental from newly acquired properties. Quarterly revenue increased by nearly 5% to RM57.48 million, from RM54.77 million a year ago.
Luxchem Corp Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 surged 129% to RM20.56 million, from RM9.99 million a year earlier, due mainly to its trading and manufacturing segments. Luxchem said its revenue for the quarter rose 31% to RM227.87 million, from RM174.48 million previously, due to higher sales for the trading segment. Earnings per share (EPS) rose to 2.19 sen versus 1.11 sen earlier. The group declared a single-tier interim dividend of 0.9 sen per share to be paid on June 3.
Widad Group Bhd has secured a contract worth RM89.8 million from the Kedah State government to upgrade the Sungai Limau water treatment plant in Baling. The group said that the project will be undertaken by its wholly-owned subsidiary Widad Builders Sdn Bhd, which is involved in construction and integrated facilities management activities. The project will be funded via internally-generated funds and external borrowings, said Widad
BIMB Holdings Bhd, which owns Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, is targeting to offer shariah-based financial solutions as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) or Syariah-ESG products by 2025, based on its five-year post restructuring plan, according to Bank Islam chief executive officer Mohd Muazzam Mohamed. Speaking at a media briefing, Muazzam said Bank Islam will continue to strengthen its business flow through five business drivers, namely wealth management, social finance, digital bank, enterprise and wholesale banking. He added that Bank Islam will not apply for a digital banking licence as it has established a dedicated division to design and build its digital-only proposition.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s 94.8%-owned subsidiary CIMB Thai Bank PCL saw its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) fall by 68.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 341.32 million baht (RM44.89 million) from 1.08 billion baht due to a jump in credit losses. CIMB said the Thai subsidiary's expected credit losses increased 64.32% to 1.01 billion baht from 616.16 million baht for 1QFY20. It noted that total operating income during the quarter was 17.2% lower y-o-y at 3.51 billion baht from 4.24 billion baht a year prior, following a 12.9% decline in net interest income (NII). The lender’s NII fell to 2.46 billion baht from 2.83 billion baht a year prior.
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) is partnering Madrid-headquartered Telefónica Tech to strengthen its digital infrastructure solutions, which would enable TM ONE to offer global cybersecurity solutions for the Malaysian enterprise and public sector. TM said a master service agreement was signed between TM One and Telefónica Tech, via Telefónica Global Solutions, which will allow TM ONE to further develop and implement a global cybersecurity strategy for the Malaysian market. Under the agreement, Telefónica Tech will provide consultancy to support and build a holistic cybersecurity programme for the development of the TM ONE Global Cyber Security Operations Centre, which includes training in cybersecurity services to increase the digital intelligence and skillset of its local workforce.
Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) foreign shareholding has dropped to 16.64% as of April 9, 2021, from 16.72% as of March 19, 2021. The bank also said its foreign shareholding stood at 16.65% as of April 2, 2021. Meanwhile, CIMB said on its website that the financial services provider’s foreign shareholding had increased to 20.7% as of March 2021 from 20.6% as of February 2021. As of January 2021, CIMB’s foreign shareholding stood at 20.7%, the group said previously. On the other hand, Hong Leong Bank Bhd’s (HLB) foreign shareholding fell in quarterly terms. In an April 7 filing, HLB said shares in the bank held by foreigners as at March 31 accounted for 10.1%.
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/mhb-tasco-axis-reit-luxchem-widad-bimb-cimb-tm-maybank-and-hong-leong-bank
