Hot Stocks UEM, Tebrau, Ekovest up on Iskandar play

Hot Stocks UEM, Tebrau, Ekovest up on Iskandar play
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Thursday, 21 March 2013 15:16


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KUALA LUMPUR (March 21): EKOVEST BHD [], TEBRAU TEGUH BHD [] and UEM Land Bhd continued to march in active trades, powered by the latest analyst and media reports that paint a bright exciting outlook for Iskandar Malaysia.

A CIMB report refers to Iskandar Malaysia as “Shenzehn of Malaysia” and various other feature reports stated that it is no longer “hot air” that investors are flowing into this zone.

The cynicism expressed in the past on this economic corridor has dissipated. Investors from the West, China, Middle East and most importantly, Singapore, are getting excited.

“UEM and Tebrau have been running up since late last year on their link with Iskandar Malaysia. But Ekovest only stirred this week after its directors joined Tebrau,” said a dealer.

At 2.48 pm, UEM Land netted 11 sen or 4% to RM2.75 on 12.7 million shares. It was the 12th most active and the fourth among top turnovers.

Tebrau, the 8th most active counter, added 8 sen or 6% to RM1.43 on trades of 20.3 million shares.

And Ekovest emerged to be the top gainer across the exchange after soaring 23 sen or 9% to RM2.85 on trades of 517,300 shares.

“Excitement about the Iskandar Malaysia economic region is reaching levels never seen before….We remain bullish on this growth corridor in Johor and advise investors to position for the longer term,” said CIMB in a report this week.

Iskandar Malaysia has been long in the making but it was the completion of the theme park Legoland, as well as the Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park and several foreign educational institutions in 2012 that brightened it up.

CIMB said: “The recent meetings between the prime ministers of the two countries and the go-ahead for the RM30 billion high-speed rail link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur have cemented Iskandar’s position as the “Shenzhen of Malaysia”.

It added that the best proxy for Iskandar Malaysia has always been UEM Land due to its huge landbank in there and the fact it is also the key planner and driver for Iskandar.

Though Tebrau is not on CIMB’s recommended list, it is on the radar of retail investors who believe it is a cheap proxy to Iskandar Malaysia due to the fact that its controlling shareholder Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo is a key player there.

Since late last year, it has a favourite of retail investors, particularly after the news that its parent company, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd, will be heading for listing by June this year.

Shares of Tebrau, which have soared over 90% so far this year, continued to charge ahead after two directors from Ekovest Bhd joined its board early this week.

This is despite the company being a loss-making concern, with net asset per share at 77 sen at end-December 2012.

Ekovest, which is also controlled by Lim, has turned into a hot stock today.

From past announcements, it can be seen that Ekovest has close links with MALAYSIAN RESOURCES CORP []oration Bhd (MRCB). It has not only obtained contracts from MRCB but also formed a joint venture company with MRCB.

Its net asset per share at end-Dec 2012 was RM2.42, after posting second quarter net profit of RM14.27million on back of RM32.14 million.