Jan 18th - Companies in the news Emas Kiara, Nexgram, Scan Associates, Scomi Energy Services, Petron, Air Asia, Fajarbaru Builder, Brahim, Axiata and

by **Cals** Mon 18 Jan 2016, 03:22

Companies in the news

[size=28]Emas Kiara, Nexgram, Scan Associates, Scomi Energy Services, Petron, Air Asia, Fajarbaru Builder, Brahim, Axiata and IHH

By Tan Siew Mung / theedgemarkets.com | January 15, 2016 : 9:34 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies that will be in focus next Monday (Jan 18) may include: Emas Kiara Industries, Nexgram, Scan Associates, Scomi Energy Services ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Valuation: 1.50, Fundamental: 1.00), Petron, Air Asia, Fajarbaru Builder, Brahim, Axiata and IHH.

Emas Kiara Industries Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.90, Fundamental: 1.20) has received a notice of unconditional takeover offer today from its second largest shareholder Kim Feng Capital Sdn Bhd (KF Capital), who has a 15% stake in the company, for the acquisition of all the remaining ordinary shares it does not own, at an offer price of 80 sen per share, cash.

In a bourse filing, Emas Kiara said KF Capital had entered into a conditional sale of shares agreements with founder and deputy executive chairman Wong Kong Foo, Intan Kuala Lumpur Sdn Bhd, Goh Siew Bee and Tan Sri Kamaruzzaman Shariff, to acquire 29.4 million shares, which is equivalent to 32% of EKIB’s share base, for RM23.52 million or 80 sen per share.

With the acquisition, KF Capital’s holdings in Emas Kiara will rise to 47% from 15%, triggering the mandatory general offer offer (MGO) for the remaining shares it does not own.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has raised a red flag over the conduct of Nexgram Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 1.15), in disposing of three of its subsidiaries.

In a statement today, the SC said it has come to the regulator's attention that Nexgram, which is making a voluntary takeover offer for the securities of Ire-Tex Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.90, Fundamental: 0.35) via a share-swap arrangement, entered into agreements this month to dispose of three of its subsidiaries.

The three subsidiaries are Nexgram Resources Sdn Bhd, Godynamic Investments Ltd and PT Semesta Tirta Antara Raya (Indonesia).

The SC said Bursa Malaysia is seeking verification from Nexgram on the existence of certain assets belonging to the subsidiaries.

They are also being investigated by the SC in relation to the accuracy of information disclosed in the offer document despatched to Ire-Tex shareholders, it said.

Hence, it said Nexgram's disposal of the subsidiaries, delays and obstructs SC and Bursa Malaysia's on-going enquiries.

The outcome of the enquiries may impact the value of Nexgram shares, which Ire-Tex shareholders are to receive in exchange for accepting the voluntary offer, it warned.

Scan Associates Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.00, Fundamental: 0.00) is focusing on cost cutting and streamlining of its ICT security solutions provider's operations to rejuvenate the company's financials.

The executive director Mak Siew Wei said of the Practice Note 17/Guidance Note 3 (PN17/GN3) entity, that the group was working closely with its adviser Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd to come up with a regularisation plan.

“If you look at the last quarter, just based on pure operation, we are making a slight profit. Of course, we have a lot of baggage to handle. But I do see improvement,” Mak told reporters, after Scan's annual general meeting here today.

Scomi Energy Services Bhd (SESB) has bagged a US$41.6 million contract from PT Total E&P Indonesie (TEPI), Indonesia's biggest gas producer, to provide drilling fluids and completions services for one year.

The contract is an extension from a previous three-year award, which was signed with TEPI in 2012. SESB’s current orderbook stands at US$1.78 billion.

Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.30, Fundamental: 1.20) expects to chalk "positive numbers" for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2015 (FY2015).

The group operations manager Jimmy Lu said in a launching ceremony of the RON100 fuel that based on the latest numbers, the group is moving into the positive territory, and it is expecting some good numbers ahead, while hoping for future sales to grow by 5% annually.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, 2015 (9MFY2015), Petron recorded a net profit of RM204.36 million, as compared to net loss of RM16.89 million, on better operating efficiency, stable margin and growth in sales volume.

"We have yet to report our fourth quarter numbers, and you will be able to better gauge our performance, once it is filed with the stock exchange later," Lu added.

While declining to provide short-term crude oil forecast, Lu said, "the global prices has stabilised, with more favourable margin".

AirAsia Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.60, Fundamental: 0.20) is revising its baggage pricing effective Jan 28, allowing passengers to save more money, if they purchase checked baggage when making their flight reservations.

Passengers who buy their checked baggage after booking their flights, such as through the Manage My Booking page, will have to pay a higher price, the budget carrier said.

But it added that both methods will still be cheaper than buying checked baggage at the last minute at the airport counter.

Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.80, Fundamental: 1.55) plans to place out up to 10% of its issued share base, to raise gross proceeds of approximately RM23.84 million under the maximum scenario to finance its construction and property businesses.

Fajarbaru told the exchange today that it might place out up to 47.68 million new shares to third-party investors, at an indicative price of 50 sen each.

Brahim’s Holdings Bhd (BHB) is eyeing further expansion overseas through its partnership with SATS Investments Pte Ltd, following the disposal of a 49% equity stake in Brahim’s Airline Catering Holdings Sdn Bhd (BACH) to the latter.

BHB's executive chairman Datuk Seri Ibrahim Ahmad said after the group’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM) that SATS has 43 airline catering kitchens around the globe and also has non-airline catering businesses; and that with SATS as a partner, it would be able to do much better business overseas.

Axiata Group Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.70, Fundamental: 1.15) announced three key appointments to strengthen the mobile telecommunication network provider's management team and human capital development.

It said that Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, currently CEO of Axiata's Sri Lanka unit, Dialog Group ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 2.30), will take on the additional role of regional CEO for Axiata, while Dominic P Arena has been appointed as Axiata's group chief strategy officer. Mohd Asri Hassan is also named as the group’s head of business operations.

IHH Healthcare Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 0.50, Fundamental: 1.25) signed an agreement with Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd ( Valuation: N/A, Fundamental: N/A) to lease space for IHH's planned ParkwayHealth Chengdu Hospital in China.

IHH managing director and chief executive officer Dr Tan See Leng said in a statement today that the group would lease at least 48,000 square metres at the Perennial International Health and Medical Hub for the 350-bed ParkwayHealth Chengdu Hospital.

(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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