Sept 25th - Wed Stocks To Watch Perwaja, Frontken, TA, Unico-Desa, Poh Kong, George Kent

Stocks To Watch Perwaja, Frontken, TA, Unico-Desa, Poh Kong, George Kent
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Tuesday, 24 September 2013 19:35

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): Based on news flow and announcements today, stocks in focus tomorrow could include Perwaja, Frontken, TA Enterprise, TA Gobal, Unico-Desa, Poh Kong and George Kent.

Perwaja Holdings Bhd informed the stock exchange that its wholly owned unit, Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd (PSSB), has been allowed to postpone the repayment of its Islamic debts to Nov 29, 2013.

In a filing to Bursa, the steel company said PSSB has been “granted indulgence by the holders of the MMTN notes” for the following repayments to be deferred from Sept 25 to Nov 29, 2013:

a)principal due on 25 September 2013 of RM50.0 million; and

b)pre-contributions profit of RM2.85 million into the Finance Service Reserve Account.

Perwaja also informed that PSSB is currently proposing a restructuring exercise and has been engaging its financial lenders and major creditors in the exercise.

FRONTKEN CORPORATION BHD [] (FCB) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary FMSB has won a contract worth RM110.6 million for a development in Johor.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, it said its unit Frontken Malaysia Sdn Bhd (FMSB) today accepted a Letter of Award (LOA) from ATT Tanjung Bin Sdn Bhd (ATT) to be the main contractor for engineering and CONSTRUCTION [] works for ATB Ph-2 Terminal and Jetty Top-side Facilities for a proposed development at Tanjung Bin, Johor, Malaysia.

The amount involved is US$34.5 million (or RM110.6 million).

The project, required to be completed within 20 months from the date of the LOA, is expected to contribute positively to the group’s earnings for year ending 31 December 2013, said the company.

FMSB is principally involved in the business of providing surface metamorphosis TECHNOLOGY []. ATT is principally engaged in the development, management and operation of multi-products petroleum facilities.

TA ENTERPRISE BHD [] posted a net profit of RM31.9 million for the second quarter to end-July 2013, up 382% year-on-year.

But its quarterly revenue rose marginally to RM188.5 million, from RM176.9 million a year ago.

For the six months to July 2013, cumulative profits totalled RM65.8 million, compared to RM27.1 million in the first half of the previous year. Revenue was up at RM369.4 million, compared to RM353.2 million.

“The increase in revenue was mainly attributable to higher contribution from the broking segment, hotel operations and property development segment,” said TA Enterprise in its filing with Bursa.

Despite higher foreign exchange translation loss, it enjoyed higher profit before tax due to the absence of impairment loss on financial receivables, and higher contribution from its investment portfolio.

Unico-Desa PLANTATION []s Bhd’s shares may be in focus again for the second day tomorrow, if the AGM of its unlisted parent company Unico Holdings Bhd approves a plan to sell its 30% stake in this Sabah-based plantation company.

Ahead of the AGM on Sept 25, Unico Holdings had informed shareholders that it intended to offload its near 30% stake in Unico-Desa and distribute all the cash proceeds to shareholders of Unico Holdings.

It said it has appointed an investment bank to look for a taker of its 256 million shares in Unico-Desa.

Unico-Desa saw its shares jumped as high as 35 sen or 30% to RM1.53 per unit in intraday trades today before closing at RM1.30, which was 12 sen or 10% higher than yesterday’s close.

Unico-Desa, which posted a net profit of RM348,000 for the first quarter to June 30 compared to RM10.9 million a year ago due to the slump in palm oil prices, had a net asset per share of RM0.85 as at end-June

POH KONG HOLDINGS BHD [] reported a 9% fall in fourth quarter net profit from a year earlier. The decline came on higher operating expenses, and lower gold prices.

Poh Kong said net profit fell to RM8.71 million in the quarter ended July 31, 2013 (4QFY13) from RM9.54 million. Revenue was however higher at RM304.06 million compared to RM204.72 million.

The company said higher revenue came mainly on the increase in demand for gold investment products like gold bars, wafers and gold jewellery. "The drop in gold price had resulted in gold rush since April 2013 and continued in this quarter," Poh Kong said.

Its cumulative full-year net profit fell to RM34.53 million from RM51.57 million a year earlier. Revenue climbed to RM975.78 million from RM830.12 million.

The company plans to pay a dividend of 1.4 sen during the quarter in review. This is the first payout for FY13.

TA Global Bhd posted a net loss of RM3.3 million for the second quarter ended July 31 compared to a loss of RM824,000 a year ago.

The property company said the loss for the quarter was due to foreign exchange losses caused by the weakening of the ringgit.

According to a filing on Bursa today, TA Global reported revenue of RM152.3 million for the current second quarter compared to revenue of RM147.8 million achieved in the previous corresponding period.

“Although the revenue has slightly increased, a loss was recorded for this quarter due to the foreign exchange loss resulting from the strengthening of US dollar against the reporting currencies of the group,” it said.

GEORGE KENT (M) BHD [] posted slightly lower net profit of RM5.11 million for the second quarter ended July 31, 2013, as compared to RM5.79 million in the previous corresponding period.

Revenue for the second quarter increased by 46% to RM82.95 million from RM56.78 million previously, it said in a filing on Bursa today.

The board declared an interim dividend of 2 sen less 25% tax per share.

The company said although it achieved higher construction revenue, the overall gross margin was lower due mainly to lower manufacturing revenue and lower construction margin.

It said the Ampang LRT extension project is expected to contribute positively to its earnings.

It said it is optimistic of its prospects for the current financial year ending January 31, 2014.