Jan11th - Companies in the news Cycle & Carriage, Lay Hong, Boustead Plantations, Scientex, Landmarks, Atrium REIT, MRCB, Sarawak Cable, OSK Holdings,

by **Cals** Sat 09 Jan 2016, 01:55

Companies in the news

[size=28]Cycle & Carriage, Lay Hong, Boustead Plantations, Scientex, Landmarks, Atrium REIT, MRCB, Sarawak Cable, OSK Holdings, Seacera, EA Technique and Brahim's[/size]

By Sangeetha Amarthalingam / theedgemarkets.com | January 8, 2016 : 9:57 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that may be in focus on Monday (Jan 11) could include the following: Cycle & Carriage, Lay Hong, Boustead Plantations, Scientex, Landmarks, [size=16]Atrium REIT ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 3.00, Fundamental: 2.45), MRCB ( Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 1.30), Sarawak Cable, OSK Holdings, Seacera, EA Technique and Brahim's.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd sold 10,845 units of passenger vehicles in 2015, which is 56% higher compared to the previous year due to higher sales of C-Class, E-Class, S-Class and CLA models.

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia vice president of sales and marketing Mark Raine said total sales volume in 2015 rose from 6,932 vehicles in 2014.

Speaking at a media briefing today on the company's sales performance, Raine said Mercedes-Benz Malaysia would "maintain the momentum in 2016".

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia is a joint venture between Daimler AG and Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 2.10).

Trading in Lay Hong Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.80, Fundamental: 0.75)'s shares has been suspended from 2.48pm today, pending the release of an announcement, its filing with Bursa Malaysia showed.

Lay Hong was last traded at its all-time high of RM6.75, up 25 sen or 3.85% from yesterday's close, although trading volume was thin, at 204,800 shares.

The stock has been on the rise since Aug 14, 2015, when it was trading at RM3.08 apiece. The share price has more than doubled since.

The Haj pilgrim fund, Lembaga Tabung Haji, has pared down its stake to below 5% in Boustead Plantations Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Valuation: N/A, Fundamental: N/A), after it disposed of 783,000 shares or a 0.049% stake yesterday.

On Nov 13 last year, Tabung Haji possessed 79.5 million shares, which translates into a 4.97% direct stake, and 783,800 indirect shares or a 0.049% indirect stake.

In a separate filing with Bursa today, Boustead Plantations revealed that Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera raised its direct interest to 11.86% after acquiring 3.46 million shares, bringing its total shares to 189.8 million.

Scientex Quatari Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientex Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.50, Fundamental: 1.70), has issued the first tranche of its sukuk murabahah programme worth RM150 million in value.

In a filing with Bursa today, Scientex said the inaugural issuance of its sukuk murabahah programme of up to RM500 million in nominal value will be utilised to part finance the acquisition of lands.

In a separate filing, Scientex said it has completed the purchase of five parcels of freehold agriculture land measuring 249.02 acres in total from Bukit Gambir Company Sdn Bhd and two parcels of freehold agriculture land measuring 73.85 acres from Jayaplus Bakti Sdn Bhd for a combined value of RM216.74 million.

Resort and property developer Landmarks Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.90, Fundamental: 1.20) said it has decided not to proceed with US-based Canyon Ranch to build the Canyon Ranch Bintan resort within Landmarks' Treasure Bay development in Bintan, Indonesia.

"Canyon Ranch and Landmarks have, after much consideration and deliberation, mutually decided not to move forward with the planned development at Treasure Bay Bintan," Landmarks chairman Tan Sri Zakaria Abdul Hamid and Canyon Ranch chief executive officer Susan E. Docherty said in a joint statement today.

"The joint decision was based on the commercial interest of both parties and their respective strategic business directions. Both parties will instead be focusing their endeavours in projects slated for release in 2016," they added.

Atrium Real Estate Investment Trust (Atrium REIT) is spending RM15.4 million, excluding goods and services tax, to undertake an asset enhancement initiative (AEI) on Atrium Shah Alam 2.

In a filing with Bursa today, Atrium REIT said the cost of the AEI will be financed via bank borrowings and internal funds.

The AEI mainly involves the upgrading and refurbishment of the whole warehouse floor slab and the whole warehouse roof; the replacement of the lighting system for the whole warehouse; the replacement of the rain water goods; external wall and facade repainting; and sheet piling works at the rear boundary of the property, it said.

"The sheet piling works are necessary to prevent the soil/earth beneath the warehouse floor slab to be drawn out gradually causing the said floor slab to undulate and the rear driveway to settle," it added.

Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) said the Ministry of Youth and Sports has agreed to another one-month extension for the group to fulfill the conditions precedent in a RM1.63 billion deal with the government to regenerate the Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex into an iconic Kuala Lumpur Sports City.

The new deadline is Jan 28.

"The government, represented by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, had vide its letter dated Dec 28, 2015 to Rukun Juang Sdn Bhd, agreed to the latter's request for an extension of time of one month from Dec 28, 2015 until Jan 28, 2016 to fulfil the conditions precedent, as set out in the privatisation agreement," MRCB said in a filing with Bursa today.

Sarawak Cable Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 0.55) has proposed to undertake a private placement of up to 10% of the company's issued and paid-up share capital to raise approximately RM53.9 million.

In a filing with Bursa today, Sarawak Cable said RM53.4 million of the raised proceeds will be utilised to pay off the group's and its subsidiaries' borrowings within six months.

The company expects to complete the proposal by the first quarter of 2016.

The exercise will see the company issue 31.71 million shares worth RM15.85 million at an indicative issue price of RM1.70 per share and the shares will be placed to third party investors to be identified at a later date.

OSK Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 3.00, Fundamental: 1.50)'s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Aspect Synergy Sdn Bhdplans to purchase six parcels of land in Negeri Sembilan for RM145 million to turn into a mixed development project with a gross development value of RM3.6 billion.

In a filing with Bursa today, OSK Holdings said the freehold agricultural lands measuring approximately 310.7 ha in Mukim Rantau, Seremban, are being purchased from Ambank (M) Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 2.55, Fundamental: 1.50).

The proposed acquisition will enable OSK Holdings to increase its existing property development land bank and to strengthen its presence in the growing Seremban locale particularly since the town has been identified as one of the stops along the high-speed rail link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Seacera Group Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 2.40, Fundamental: 2.30) is proposing a private placement of up to 18.93 million shares, which could raise as much as RM18.93 million based on an indicative issue price of RM1 apiece, to be used mainly in its property and construction businesses.

In a filing with Bursa today, the ceramic tiles manufacturer said the new shares, which represent about 10% of its total issued and paid-up share capital, are meant to be issued to independent third party investors to be identified later.

It added that the placement shares will be priced at a discount of not more than 10% to the five-day volume weighted average market price (5D-WAMP), immediately preceding the price fixing date, but will not be lower than the RM1 par value of its shares.

EA Technique (M) Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: N/A, Fundamental: N/A) has bagged four contracts — the provisioning of two 60-tonne pull harbour tugs, a unit of 40-tonne bollard pull harbour tug and a unit of multipurpose mooring boat — collectively valued at RM26.59 million from Sungai Udang Port Sdn Bhd.

In a bourse filing, EA Technique said Sungai Udang Port awarded the contract to the group vide a letter of award dated Dec 22, 2015.

"Confirmation and/or approval on the award of the contracts were obtained from Sungai Udang Port on yesterday," it added.

It said the contracts have commenced from Jan 1 and shall be valid for two years, with an option to extend for another one year upon expiry.

The contracts are expected to contribute positively towards its earnings and net asset per share for the duration of the jobs.

In-flight caterer Brahim's Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.30, Fundamental: 0.35) expects to register profit in the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 (FY16) as the company eyes new airlines as potential clients.

Brahim's executive chairman Datuk Seri Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi said the company, which aimed to report "substantial" profit in FY16, was also expanding its army rations production abroad.

"We are eyeing to turn our operations around in FY16, over time. It won't be a complete turnaround because we made massive losses, but it will still be quite substantial," he told reporters today.

Brahim's is currently serving 37 airlines, including British Airways, Malaysia Airlines Bhd and AirAsia Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.60, Fundamental: 0.20).

Ibrahim said new airlines entering the Malaysian market would usually approach Brahim's.

"When Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 0.80) gets new airlines in, chances are that they will talk to us. We are expecting at least three or four new airlines to come in, but we are not sure whether they will be working with us in the future," he said.

Meanwhile, Brahim's is reducing its dependence on the airline-catering business. Ibrahim said the company had commenced the manufacturing of army rations two months ago via its factory in Jordan.

"Now is the time to look out for opportunities, not just locally but overseas as well. All the while, about 80% or 90% of our operations were concentrated on the airline business. We will work to reduce it to 50% or 60% in the future," he said.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)
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