Dec 12th - Companies in the news Gopeng, DNex, Bumi Armada, Astro, Perak Corp and SapuraKencana

by **Cals** Fri 12 Dec 2014, 01:16

Companies in the news
Gopeng, DNex, Bumi Armada, Astro, Perak Corp and SapuraKencana

By Gho Chee Yuan / theedgemarkets.com | December 11, 2014 : 9:02 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 11): Based on newsflow and corporate announcements today, the stocks that may in focus tomorrow (Friday, Dec 12) may include the following: Gopeng Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Dagang Nexchange Bhd (DNex), Bumi Armada Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd (Astro), Perak Corp Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Financial Dashboard) and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard).

Gopeng Bhd’s (Gopeng) third largest substantial shareholder, Datuk Mohamad Hamdan Hazizi, has sold his entire stake in the palm oil plantation company on Nov 27, 2014, said the company’s filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Gopeng said Mohamad Hamdan had disposed over 18.36 million shares or his entire 10.24% stake in the company. However, the price of the sizable transaction was not disclosed.

Gopeng’s largest shareholder is still Datuk Mohd Salleh Hashim, the company’s executive chairman, holding 32.93% in the company. This is followed by Fortuna Gembira Enterpris Sdn Bhd, with 19.33% stake in Gopeng.

The counter closed unchanged at 81 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM145.26.

Information communication technology company Dagang Nexchange Bhd (DNex) is seeking to diversify into energy and power generation business.

It told Bursa it has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with the one of the directors ofForward Energy Sdn Bhd (FESB), Datuk Azmi Abdullah, for the proposed acquisition of 1.53 million shares in FESB for RM1.53 million.

The block of shares it plans to acquire represents 51% of the issued and paid up capital of FESB, and that the acquisition will be fully-funded by its internally-generated funds, said DNex.

FESB has equity interests in various companies involved in power plant, engineering and energy related businesses, specially in the area of Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Malaysia and internationally.

It was incorporated in 2003, as a private limited company. Azmi is one of its directors, together with Datin Zarinah Md Shariff and Yap Jin Meng.

On completion of the proposed acquisition, DNex said FESB will become a 51% subsidiary of the group. The remaining 49% stake will be held by Azmi (10%), Zarinah (32%) and Yap (7%).

The acquisition should be completed by the first quarter of next year (2015), said DNex. It also expects the acquisition to contribute positively to the group's future earnings.

Its counter slipped 1 sen or 3.77% to close at 25.5 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM197.69 million.

Bumi Armada Bhd has finally executed the contract for the supply of one floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) to Indonesian-based Husky-CNOOC Madura Ltd (HCML), after several delays.

"Bumi Armada is pleased to announce the signing of the contract yesterday evening, in furtherance to the letter of intent. The effective date of the contract is Aug 8 this year [2014]," the company said.

"The contract will contribute positively to the earnings of the Bumi Armada group for the quarter and financial year ending Dec 31, 2014, as well as the financial periods thereafter for the duration of the contract," said the company in a filing with Bursa.

It added that the FPSO is expected to commence operations in the Madura BD Field, in the fourth quarter of 2016. The tenure of the contract is ten years, with an option to extend.

A Bumi Armada's spokesperson said the group would need to convert the existing FPSO, according to HCML's specifications to cater the operating environment of the Madura BD field.

Bumi Armada would receive progressive payments from HCML, during the period between the effective date of the contract in August 2014 and commencement date, he added.

Bumi Armada's share price closed at RM1.03, down 3 sen. This gives it a market capitalisation of RM6.16 billion. The stock has more-than-halved since the start of the year, falling from RM2.49 in early January.

Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd net profit fell 8.33% to RM113.41 million in the third quarter ended Oct 31, 2014 (3QFY15), from RM123.71 million a year ago, due to higher tax expenses, amortisation of software, and higher depreciation of property, plant and equipment.

However, the higher tax expenses — by RM15.1 million — was primarily due to a reversal in over provision of tax, amounting to RM9.8 million in the corresponding quarter, its filing with Bursa Malaysia today showed.

The media and entertainment company has also declared a third interim dividend of 2.25 sen per share, payable next Jan 12.

This brings its total dividend for the nine months of FY15 (9MFY15) to 6.75 sen per share, 12.5% higher than 6.0 sen per share in 9MFY14.

Quarterly revenue grew 5.24% to RM1.28 billion, from RM1.22 billion a year ago, mainly due to the higher subscriptions and other revenue of RM56.7 million and RM11.7 million respectively, though this was offset by a decrease in advertising revenue of RM4.7 million.

For the cumulative nine months (9MFY15), Astro's net profit was 12.73% higher at RM379.4 million, from RM336.56 million in the previous corresponding quarter. Revenue for the period was also up 9.98% to RM3.88 billion, from RM3.53 billion a year ago.

Astro closed 1 sen or 0.3% higher at RM3.33, giving it a market capitalisation of RM17.43 billion.

The Securities Commission (SC) has approved the withdrawal of Perak Corp Bhd's proposed selective capital reduction (SCR) and repayment exercise, said the company in a Bursa Malaysia filing this evening.

The proposal to withdraw the corporate exercise was made by Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Perak (PKNP), on behalf of and together with Fast Continent Sdn Bhd, Cherry Blossom Sdn Bhd and Perak Equity Sdn Bhd, in October this year.

The proposed withdrawal came after Sime Darby Property Bhd (Sime Property), which holds a substantial stake in the company, indicated in a letter that it would be voting against the exercise, at the extraordinary general meeting that was to be convened in relation to the SCR and repayment.

As at June 30, Sime Property, a unit of Sime Darby Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard), held a 6.13% stake in Perak Corp.

The proposed SCR would need at least 50% in the number of entitled shareholders, and 75% in value of the votes held by the entitled shareholders cast in person or proxy at the EGM, according to Perak Corps's announcement to the stock exchange.

Sime Property's stake would translate to 13% of the voting shares held.

The proposed SCR was to pave way for controlling shareholder PKNP to take the asset-laden company private, at the price of RM3.90 per share.

Perak Corp's share price took a nosedive after the announcement on the proposed withdrawal, tumbling from RM3.60 to RM2.39 today, with a market capitalisation of RM242 million.

Meanwhile, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has continued its shopping spree for shares in the upstream oil and gas (O&G) player, SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, with a purchase of 6.26 million shares in the latter.

This brings the provident fund’s shareholding in SapuraKencana to 13.48% as at Dec 8, 2014, the date of the acquisition.

EPF has been on a buying spree for SapuraKencana shares, after several positive news flow from the oil and gas group recently.

On Monday (Dec 8), SapuraKencana revealed improved financial performance for the third quarter ended Oct 31, 2014 (3Q15). It recorded a nearly 42% jump in net profits to RM348.4 million, while its revenue grew 1.2% to RM2.41 billion year-on-year.

Prior to that on Dec 5 (Friday), the company had announced it has been awarded contracts with a combined value of approximately RM1.58 billion.

SapuraKencana closed at RM2.37 today, down half a sen. This gives it a market share of RM14.2 billion. The stock has been on a decline from the start of the year, shedding 51.5% year-to-date.