Aug 27th - Stocks To Watch Mah Sing, KPJ Healthcare, Mudajaya, Land & General, plantation stocks

by **Cals** Tue 26 Aug 2014, 23:43

Stocks To Watch Mah Sing, KPJ Healthcare, Mudajaya, Land & General, plantation stocks

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Gho Chee Yuan of theedgemalaysia.com

Tuesday, 26 August 2014 21:30

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26): Based on newsflow and corporate announcements today, stocks that will garner interest tomorrow (Aug 27) may include: Mah Sing, KPJ Healthcare, Mudajaya, Land & General and plantation stocks such as TSH Resources, IJM Plantation and Sarawak Oil Palms.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd said it has discovered that a caveat has been lodged on the 1,051 acres of land in Rantau, Negeri Sembilan, that it is in the process of acquiring for a planned development with a gross development value of RM7.5 billion.

According to the group, a previous land search conducted on Aug 07 revealed that there was no caveat on the land.

"Furthermore, the representations and warranties by the vendors in the sales and purchase agreement, stated that other than the intended acquisition and the right of way for electricity lines, there were no other encumbrances on the land," the announcement stated.

However, subsequent land search conducted last week, revealed there was indeed a caveat lodged on Aug 08 this year.

"Thereafter, a further instrument search on the details of the said caveat was obtained on Aug 22, 2014," the announcement said.

Mah Sing said it is currently seeking clarifications from the vendors and concurrently evaluating its options.

KPJ Healthcare Bhd saw its net profit rise 33% to RM33.74 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 (2QFY14), from a year earlier. Profit growth came on higher revenue from the group's hospitals in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Cumulative first half net profit meanwhile, climbed to RM63.96 million from RM50.39 million a year earlier. Revenue was higher at RM1.27 billion, versus RM1.13 billion.

Mudajaya Group Bhd told the exchange that it managed to secure a US$118 million (RM375.4million) contract from 40%-owned associate, Amihan Energy Corporation.

The contract was to undertake the Offshore Equipment Procurement Works For 62MW Wind Energy Farm in Cebu, Philippines. The commencement date of the project shall be 2 months from date of Notice To Proceed, and the completion date shall be 18 months from the commencement date.

Meanwhile, in a separate announcement, the group reported that its net profit dropped 93% to RM3.3 million in the second quarter ended June 30, from RM46.1 million in the previous year’s same quarter. Quarterly revenue was also down 35% to RM279 million from RM432.1 million a year earlier, due to contract delivery tapering-off during the period.

For the cumulative period up to June 30, Mudajaya saw its net profit also decline sharply to RM28.4 million from RM88.2 million before, while revenue fell to RM645.4 million from RM810 million.

Moving on to the plantation sector, several palm oil players have reported stellar profits in the second quarter.

TSH Resources Bhd revealed that its net profit soared 105% to RM35.38 million for the second quarter ended June 30, on higher oil palm production and crude palm oil (CPO) prices. Quaterly revenue climbed to RM301.81 million, from RM239.22 million a year ago.

For the first six months, net profit rose to RM87.55 million from RM37.18 million a year earlier, while revenue climbed to RM588.93 million from RM519.84 million.

Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, meanwhile, saw its net profit multiplie 28.5 times to RM32.9 million in the second quarter ended June 30, from RM1.2 million in the previous corresponding quarter. Revenue approximately doubled to RM655.35 million, from RM313.99 million in the same quarter last year.

For the half-year period, net profit chalked RM66.6 million versus RM22.2 million in the previous period, while revenue came in at RM1.202 billion versus RM741 million from a year earlier.

IJM Plantations Bhd, on the other hand, posted more than eightfold growth in net profit year-on-year to RM26.12 million for its first financial quarter ended June 30, from RM2.92 million in the previous corresponding quarter last year.

Revenue rose by 32.2% to RM177.8 million in 1Q15, compared to RM134.5 million in 1Q14. The company's jump in net profit was due to higher sales volume and rising commodity prices, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia.

Meanwhile, property developer Land & General Bhd saw its first quarter net profits ended June 30, rise 178% to RM29.01 million, from RM10.44 million a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter had risen 70% to RM153.18 million, from RM89.91 million a year ago.

The strong growth is driven by its property division which contributed the bulk of its profits, with 75% contribution locked in by the Elements@Ampang and the remainder derived from the progress of its Damansara Foresta Project.