April 22nd, Stocks to watch Tenaga, MISC, De Gem, Datasonic, Johan, Kamdar

Stocks to watch Tenaga, MISC, De Gem, Datasonic, Johan, Kamdar
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com
Saturday, 20 April 2013 12:13


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KUALA LUMPUR (April 20): The FBM KLCI is likely to remain range-bound next week on the back of the sharp correction in regional stocks last week and the prevailing tepid sentiment at most global markets.

Most investors’ eyes and ears would be on the thirteenth general election campaigning that started after nomination of candidates’ names on Saturday, as indication of policies that may be adopted after the new government is formed could be revealed.

Affin IB Bank vice president and head of retail research Dr Nazri Khan said that following the bearish performance of the global stocks and the sharp correction in the regional stocks, he expects the FBM KLCI to stage a temporary decline to neutralise its overbought situation.

“Despite the strong catalyst of local General Election, we believe the local equity market may have a choppy time as investors pricing in concerns about the weaker prospects for global economic growth,” he said.

Among the stocks that could be in focus next week are TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [], MISC BHD [], De Gem Bhd, Datasonic Group Bhd, JOHAN HOLDINGS BHD [] and Kamdar Group (M) Bhd.

Tenaga Nasional is seen by CIMB Research to be well-positioned to be a font-runner among the five shortlisted by the Energy Commission to bid for the 2GW greenfield coal power plant.

The research house said Tenaga was backed by sovereign capital and would bid aggressively.

“Capacity payments will fall as old plants expire to make way for more efficient capacity.

“A shift to coal is also positive because it is not subsidised and coal is less political. We think this makes it easier to pass on costs, which enhances earnings certainty for the company, it said in a note last Friday.

Tenaga has tied up with Japan’s Marubeni Corp to bid for the project.

MISC could see some movement after national oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) failed in its bid to take the former private, with acceptance from shareholders amounting to 86.07%, or 3.93% short the 90% shareholding level to make the offer unconditional.

Petronas needed to achieve a 90% acceptance level for the offer to become unconditional, thereby paving the way for the stock's delisting.

The Edge weekly in its latest edition reported that De Gem had denied talk of any privatisation.

“The board of directors has not received any proposal for the company to be taken private to date,” the Edge cited a spokeperson for the company as replying via e-mail.

Datasonic Group Bhd said its wholly-owned subsidiary, DTSB, has been awarded a two-year RM14.95 million contact for the maintenance of the National Registration Department.

Johan said it is in negotiations/discussion with a third party for to sell its charge and credit cards businesses in Malaysia and Singapore.

However, no binding terms and conditions have been agreed upon, it added.

Meanwhile, Kamdar announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kamdar Holdings Sdn Bhd, has entered into an agreement to sell four pieces of freehold land together with a commercial building in Jalan TAR for RM26 million to Prisma Muju Sdn Bhd.

The disposal of the property will enable the company to make a net profit of RM4.7 million, the company told Bursa Malaysia today.

Nazri however also said the overall uptrend remains intact, and that any declines in the index would likely be short lived and shallow.

He said immediate supports now stood at 1,700 level (record high in Jan 2013) followed by 1,680 level (the rising 20-day moving average) while immediate resistance remains at 1,720 level (last week record high) followed by 1,740 level.

“As for stock picks, given the soft regional sentiment and yet cautiously bullish Election season, we opt for blue chips that possess resilient business models and good dividends to withstand further sell-off.

“These includes Finance, REITS, telcos and consumers stocks such as Bursa, RHBCap, AxisReit, Pavillion Reit, TM, Maxis, Digi, BAT and Dutch Lady,” he said.