Stocks To Watch Sona, Hibiscus, MPI, Unisem, KLCI-linked firms

by **Cals** Thu 05 Jun 2014, 20:20

Stocks To Watch Sona, Hibiscus, MPI, Unisem, KLCI-linked firms

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Chong Jin Hun of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 05 June 2014 17:57

KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): Based on Bursa Malaysia announcements and news flow today, stocks to watch tomorrow (June 6) may include the following companies :

Sona Petroleum Bhd plans to buy a 40% stake in UK-listed Salamander Energy Plc's marine oil and gas (O&G) fields in Thailand for US$280 million (RM903.64 million) cash.

Sona said it had signed a heads of agreement with Salamander for the purchase of a 40% stake in the latter's unit Salamander Energy (Bualuang) Ltd in Thailand.

Salamander Energy (Bualuang) owns two O&G fields within the Gulf of Thailand, namely, the B8/38 and G4/50 concessions. Sona said B8/38 has been producing hydrocarbon resources since 2008.

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd is buying minority stakes of 5% each in two upstream O&G projects in the Norwegian Sea.

According to Hibiscus, its jointly-controlled entity Lime Petroleum Norway AS has signed an agreement with North Energy ASA to buy the stakes in marine O&G fields PL591 and PL591B.

"The transfer of the equity interests in PL591 and PL591B to Lime Norway is subject to regulatory approval. Upon completion of the acquisitions, Hibiscus Petroleum’s portfolio of licences in Norway will increase to 16," Hibiscus said.

Shares of semiconductor manufacturers Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd and Unisem (M) Bhd may be closely watched.

This follows a report by US-based Semiconductor Industry Association that global semiconductor sales rose 11.5% to $26.34 billion (RM85 billion) in April 2014 from $23.62 billion a year earlier.

The association said it had also endorsed the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics latest year-on-year semiconductor sales growth forecast for 2014 at 6.5% to $325.4 billion. This compares with the previously estimated 4.1% expansion.

KLCI-linked stocks with high foreign shareholdings may be in the spotlight in anticipation of the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary policy. A widely-expected ECB interest rate cut is seen prompting capital inflows into Malaysian assets.

Reuters reported that the ringgit gained as custodian banks and interbank speculators bought the currency in expectation of more inflows from any ECB easing.

The ECB is widely expected to cut interest rates, putting the deposit rate into negative territory for the first time. It is also seen offering longer-term loans linked to further lending without large-scale asset purchases as the Bank of Japan has done.