Dec 9th- Companies in the news IJM Corp, Wah Seong, Berjaya Auto, E&O, Perduren, Digistar and Sunway REIT

by **Cals** Tue 09 Dec 2014, 03:59

Companies in the news
IJM Corp, Wah Seong, Berjaya Auto, E&O, Perduren, Digistar and Sunway REIT

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 8): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, the companies that may be in focus tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec 9) could include the following: IJM Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Wah Seong Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Berjaya Auto Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O),Perduren (M) Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Digistar Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard) and Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust (Sunway REIT) ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard).
IJM Corp Bhd is selling its 100% stake in India highway concessionaire, Jaipur-Mahua Tollway Private Ltd (JMTPL), to ISQ Asia Infrastructure I-A Private Ltd for INR5.25 billion (RM295 million).
IJM told Bursa Malaysia today that the sale was estimated to rake in approximately RM188 million gain for the builder.

"The total consideration of the disposal was arrived at, on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis, after taking into consideration the discounted future cash flows of the project," it said.
IJM Corp said its wholly-owned subsidiary, IJM Rajasthan (Mauritius) Ltd, had last Saturday (Dec 6), signed a conditional share purchase and debenture subscription agreement to dispose of the 100% stake, comprising 195.14 million shares, in JMTPL.
The sale will be done in two stages. IJM Corp said the disposal will see the initial 74% stake in JMTPL, changing hands first.
The remaining 26% will be disposed of, upon obtaining approval from the National Highways Authority of India.
IJM closed unchanged today at RM6.57, with 1.16 million shares done, giving it a market capitalisation of RM9.78 billion.
Energy infrastructure group Wah Seong Corp Bhd plans to venture into a biomass power plant project in Cambodia, by supplying electric energy to Baitang (Kampuchea) Plc for 20 years.
Wah Seong told Bursa that its indirect subsidiary PMTI Energy (Cambodia) Co Ltd had signed a power purchase agreement with Baitang (Kampuchea) last Friday (Dec 5), to sell up to 3.5 megawatts (mw) per hour, of any and all electric energy generated available for sale, to the latter.

Baitang will purchase the energy from PMTI Energy for 20 years, from the first day after the date PMTI Energy successfully completes the initial capacity test.
The contract may be renewed and extended perpetually, by mutual agreement between the two parties, the statement read.
Shares of Wah Seong inched up 1 sen or 0.65% to close at RM1.55 today, translating into a market capitalisation of RM1.2 billion.
Berjaya Auto Bhd saw its net profit for the second quarter ended Oct 31, 2014 (2QFY14) more than double to RM57.5 million, from the RM27.6 million it had recorded in the previous corresponding period, on favourable sales mix and a weaker Japanese yen.
Revenue increased 80.2% to 508.8 million, from RM282.4 million, the company's filing to Bursa Malaysia showed today, which was mainly due to higher sales of Mazda in Malaysia and the Philippines.
The group also declared a second interim dividend of 3.25 sen per share for the period, which will be payable on Jan 20 next year (2015).
For the six-month cumulative period (6MFY14), Berjaya Auto posted a net profit of RM113.6 million, more than double the RM53.7 million in 6MFY13; while revenue was at RM1.02 billion, up 43.48% from RM710.9 million.
Looking ahead, Berjaya Auto said the remaining half of the financial year is expected to be challenging, as other major car players are stepping up their promotional activities to clear stocks, due to oversupply.
"The uncertainties of the effects of the Goods and Services Tax (effective 1 April 2015) on local car prices, remain a concern to the group," it said.
Berjaya Auto closed four sen higher at RM3.31 today, with a market capitalisation of RM2.61 billion.
Lifestyle property developer Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) may now commence reclamation works for Phase 2 of Seri Tanjung Pinang (STP2) development at Tanjung Tokong in Penang, after obtaining planning permission from the Penang Town and Rural Planning Department.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, E&O said its unit Tanjung Pinang Development Sdn Bhd was granted planning permission for land reclamation works, in accordance with the approved masterplan in relation to STP2.
"With the approval in hand, Tanjung Pinang Development may now commence reclamation works for STP2," it added.
Nevertheless, the planning permission is conditional upon Tanjung Pinang Development, in due course surrendering 191.09 acres of reclaimed land to the Penang government.
"Out of this, 110 acres will be the net area of land available for development, made up of 60 acres on the man-made island and 50 acres at Persiaran Gurney,¨ said E&O," it added.
Shares in E&O closed down 0.43% at RM2.32 today, bringing it to a market capitalisation of RM2.58 billion.
Datuk Kamaluddin Abdullah, son of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and businessman Datuk Mazlin Md Junid have launched a mandatory takeover offer of property firm Perduren (M) Bhd for the remaining 30.7% they do not own in the company, after triggering the 33% control threshold.
In a filing with Bursa, Perduren announced that it had received a notice of takeover offer from Kamaluddin and Mazlin to acquire the remaining 30.7% of Perduren shares they do not own for RM66.27 million cash or RM1.60 sen per share.
The mandatory offer was triggered when Kamaluddin and Mazlin acquired 93.5 million shares – which represented 69.3% of the issued share capital of Perduren – at RM1.60 per share for RM149.6 million from its biggest shareholder TS Law Group Sdn Bhd through eight separate share purchase agreements today.
The offer price represents an 11% discount to Perduren’s last trading price of RM1.80 per share that was suspended at 12:20pm yesterday. The offer is also at a 20.2% discount to Perduren’s five-day volume weighted average market price of RM2.005, up to Dec 5. The stock will resume trading tomorrow. (Dec 9)
However, the offer is not extended to Perduren shares currently held as treasury shares. As at yesterday, there are 1.29 million Perduren shares held as treasury shares.
Perduren said Kamaluddin and Mazlin have expressed their intention to maintain Perduren’s listing status following the proposed takeover. The offer will remain open for acceptance until 5pm for a period of 21 days from the posting date.
“The board will appoint an independent adviser to advise the non-interested directors and non-interested shareholders of Perduren on the fairness and reasonableness of the offer in due course,” said Perduren.
Shares of Perduren declined 12.20% or 25 sen to RM1.80, before the company applied for suspension in the afternoon. With the current price, the company has a market capitalisation of RM242.85 million.
Digistar Corp Bhd's managing director Mejar (K) Datuk Wira Lee Wah Chong has increased his stake in the communications systems firm, after acquiring 687,400 shares on the open market.
The filing with Bursa Malaysia said this latest purchase was transacted at 22 sen per share on Dec 3, 2014. This raised Lee's interest in the company to 23.39%.
Digistar's share price closed at 21 sen today, its lowest year-to-date, giving it a market capitalisation of RM98.04 million.
Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust (Sunway REIT) plans to acquire Sunway Hotel Georgetown and Wisma Sunway for RM134 million, from subsidiaries of Sunway Bhd.
Based on a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Sunway REIT will be paying RM74 million for Sunway Hotel Georgetown — a 4-star, 250-room hotel located in Penang. Thereafter, Sunway Reit will sign a master lease agreement with Sunway City Sdn Bhd (SBH), to leaseback the property to SBH for 10 years.
Meanwhile, Wisma Sunway, a 19-storey office building in Shah Alam, will be purchased at RM60 million from Sunway Mas Sdn Bhd (SMSB) and Daksina Harta Sdn Bhd (DHSB) — subsidiaries of Sunway Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The acquisitions of Sunway Hotel Georgetown and Wisma Sunway are expected to be completed in the third quarter of financial year 2015 ending June 30, 2015 (3QFY15), and the first quarter of financial year 2016 ending June 30, 2016 (3QFY16), respectively.
The acquisitions will be funded through Sunway REIT’s existing debt facility, and will increase its gearing ratio from 32% as at Sept 30, 2014, to 33.5%.