Sentoria fails to excite investors

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Shares of Sentoria Group Bhd, the first initial public offering (IPO) of the year, fell 9.7% at the closing bell, failing to excite investors as fears of an economic slowdown brought on by possible high oil prices and the ongoing European debt saga.

Sentoria's share price closed at 78.5 sen, down 8.5 sen from its reference price of 87 sen, with 34.2 million shares traded in.

Meanwhile, the FBM KLCI on Thursday ended 3.86 points lower, or 0.25%, to close at 1,556.66, dragged down by banks — such as CIMB Group Holdings (down 8 sen to RM7.16), Hong Leong Bank (down 18 sen to RM11.66), and RHB Cap (down 17 sen to RM7.61) — to bring the index down 2.07 points.

A total of 1.95 billion shares were traded in, valued at RM2.11 billion. Losers led gainers 689 to 217, while 264 counters traded unchanged.

Regionally, markets closed on a weak note, as fears of a possible economic slowdown brought on by high oil prices and the ongoing European debt saga continues.

South Korea's Kospi was down 1.03% to 2,007.80, Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.80% to 7,937.30, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was lower by 0.78% to 21,380.99, and Singapore's Straits Index dropped 0.92% to 2,968.34.

However, Japan's Nikkei 225 (up 0.44% to 9,595.57) and Shanghai's Composite Index (up 0.25% to 2,409.55) bucked the trend.

On Bursa Malaysia, top gainers included United PLANTATION []s (up 76 sen to RM24.18), ORIENTAL HOLDINGS BHD [] (up 56 sen to RM6.34) and MBM RESOURCES BHD [] (up 41 sen to RM4.89).

Top losers included British American Tobacco (down 64 sen to RM52.12) and Batu Kawan Holdings (down 30 sen to RM18.50).

Most actively traded was Naim Indah Corporation, which was down 3.5 sen to close at 42 sen, with 68 million shares traded in.



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Weak start for Bursa Malaysia’s first IPO of 2012

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Bursa Malaysia’s first initial public offer (IPO) for 2012, Sentoria Group Bhd, got off to a weak start, with the share price ending the morning session below its reference price of 87 sen.

The weak debut also reflected the cautious local and key regional markets as investors feared high oil prices would slow down global economic growth and also the continuing Euro zone debt crisis saga.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI was down 1.08 points to 1,559.44. Turnover was 937.15 million shares valued at RM811.77 million. Declining stocks beat advancers 515 to 206 while 293 counters were unchanged.

All the key regional markets fell, with the exception of Japan where the Nikkei 225 rose 0.13% to 9,566.42.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.98% to 21.337.50, Shanghai’s Composite Index lost 0.05% to 2,402.30, Taiwan’s Taiex 0.71% to 7,945.15 and South Korea’s Kospi 1.12% to 2,006.01 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.97% to 2,966.66.

At Bursa Malaysia, property developer Sentoria fell eight sen to 79 sen in active trade, with 21.62 million shares done. Its reference price was 87 sen, which was the placement price while the price offered to the public was 85 sen.

CIMB fell seven sen to RM7.17, dragging the KLCI down 1.23 points while HL Bank lost 12 sen to RM11.72 and Maybank one sen to RM8.70. Public Bank rose four sen to RM13.72.

AirAsia shed seven sen also to RM3.58, pushing the index down by 0.45 of a point. GENTING BHD [] lost four sen to RM10.80.

Among the PLANTATION []s, IOI’s decline of five sen, dragged the index down by 0.76 of a point. Batu Kawan fell 20 sen to RM18.60 and KLK 16 sen to RM23.48.

Lafarge fell 17 sen to RM7.20 and Boustead 16 sen to RM5.38 while SapuraCrest gave up 12 sen to RM4.88.

However, Axiata managed to support the index by 1.8 points when it rose nine sen to RM5.10. Tenaga added eight sen RM6.19, nuding the index by 1.02 points. United Plantations was the top gainer, up 54 sen to RM23.96, Hartalega 26 sen to RM8.23 and Oriental 25 sen to RM6.03.



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Sentoria slides to 82 sen in listing debut

Sentoria Group Bhd, a property developer and builder, slid 5.8 per cent to 82 sen as of 9:50 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur in its stock-exchange debut. -- Bloomberg



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Market opens on cautious note, MISC, AirAsia down

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Blue chips opened weaker on Thursday, in line with the cautious regional markets as investors worried about a global economic slowdown due tohigh oil prices and that that the Euro zone could slip into a recession.

At 9.12am, the FBM KLCI was down 3.01 points to 1,557.51. Turnover was 144.99 million shares valued at RM62.78 million. There were 102 gainers, 141 losers and 216 stocks unchanged.

Sentoria, which made its debut on the Main Board, fell 2.5 sen to 82.5 sen. Its offer price to the public was 85 sen while it had placed out shares at 87 sen.

Among the decliners were KL Kepong, falling for the third day after its dividend went ex on Tuesday. It lost 52 sen to RM23.12.

BAT fell 28 sen to RM52.48, Genting PLANTATION []s 23 sen to RM9.02 while Public Banj and HLFG shed six sen each to RM13.62 and RM11.70.

MISC fell 12 sen to RM5.68 after it suffered net loss of RM1.74 billion in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 compared with net profit of RM1.38 billion a year ago due to recognition of one-off provisions totalling RM1.45 billion.

AirAsia gave up six sen to RM3.59 after its fourth quarter earnings fell 56.3% to RM135.66 million when compared with RM311.08 million a year ago as it was impacted by aircraft fuel expenses, which rose to RM475.07 million from RM292.44 million on-year.



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Flat debut for Sentoria at 85 sen

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Property developer Sentoria Group Bhd made a lacklustre debut on the on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, opening at at 84 sen or one sen below its offer price of 85 sen.

At the opening bell, there were 300,000 shares transacted.

The FBM KLCI was down 2.43 points to 1,558.09. Turnover was 44.52 million shares done valued at RM13.50 million. There were six gainers, 50 losers and 144 stocks unchanged.

The property developer is the first company to list in 2012.Its offer of 20 million new shares at an 85 sen each to the public was oversubscribed by 5.4 times.

The vendors had also placed out 30 million shares at 87 sen per share.

RHB Research Institute had accorded a fair value of 92 sen based on a 30% discount to its sum-of-parts valuation.



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Stocks to watch: Sentoria, AirAsia, Hartalega, WCT, Kencana, TSH, MISC, KLK, Perisai

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Property developer Sentoria Group Bhd will be the stock to watch on Thursday, when it makes its debut on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia.

The property developer is the first company to list in 2012.Its offer of 20 million new shares at an 85 sen each to the public was oversubscribed by 5.4 times.

RHB Research Institute had accorded a fair value of 92 sen based on a 30% discount to its sum-of-parts valuation.

Other stocks which could see trading interest following fresh corporate developments and financial results include AIRASIA BHD [], HARTALEGA HOLDINGS BHD [], WCT BHD [], KENCANA PETROLEUM BHD [], TSH RESOURCES BHD [], MISC BHD [], KUALA LUMPUR KEPONG BHD [] (KLK) and PERISAI PETROLEUM TEKNOLOGI [] Bhd and IJM CORPORATION BHD [].

AirAsia’searnings fell 56.3% to RM135.66 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 when compared with RM311.08 million a year ago as it was impacted by aircraft fuel expenses, which rose to RM475.07 million from RM292.44 million on-year.

It recorded foreign exchange losses of RM137.38 million compared with forex gain of RM44.29 million a year ago.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011, its net profit fell 46.8% to RM564.14 million from RM1.06 billion in FY10.

Nitrile latex glove maker Hartalega’s earnings rose 3% to RM50.70 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 from RM49.20 million a year ago. For the nine months ended Dec 31, 2011, net profit increased 10% to RM151.60 million from RM137.76 million.

It proposed a bonus issue of up to 371.65 million 50 sen shares on a one-for-one basis and free warrants issue of up to 74.331 million free warrants on the basis of one free warrant for every five existing shares held on the entitlement date.

WCT secured a RM331 million contract for a mixed commercial project with a medical centre in Kota Kinabalu.

Kencana secured a RM101 million contract from Murphy Sarawak Oil Co. Ltd for two offshore platforms in Sarawak.

TSH Resources Bhd posted record net profit of RM120.54 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011, an increase of 43% from the RM84.28 million a year ago and its expects the Indonesian oil palm estates to boost future earnings.

As for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2011, net profit fell 39.8% to RM26.15 million from RM43.45 million. TSH said the reduction was primarily due to a foreign exchange loss of RM10.962 million and a RM7.291 million reduction in contributions from jointly controlled entities

MISC suffered net loss of RM1.74 billion in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 compared with net profit of RM1.38 billion a year ago due to recognition of one-off provisions totalling RM1.45 billion.

For the nine-month period, MISC recorded a net loss of RM1.481 billion due to the recognition of one-off provisions totalling RM1.452 billion following its recent decision to exit from the liner business.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong recorded a 12.1% increase in earnings to RM340.98 million in the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2011, boosted mainly by its PLANTATION []s business, when compared with RM304.18 million a year ago.

Perisai’s net profits soared 106.8% to RM21.28 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011 from RM10.25 million a year ago, boosted by profit contributed by the Intan Group, which it acquired in August last year. For the year ended Dec 31, 2011, its revenue was up 9.6% to RM82.41 million from RM75.21 million a year ago.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2011, Perisai’s earnings 62.3% to RM11.21 million from RM6.93 million.

IJM Corporation’s earnings rose 5.7% to RM135.23 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 from RM127.96 million a year ago. Its revenue chalked up 30.1% increase to RM1.172 billion from RM901.34 million. Earnings per share were 9.81 sen compared with 9.47 sen.

IJM Corp said for the nine-month period, its net profit was 1.1% higher at RM325.04 million from RM328.83 million. Its revenue rose at a stronger pace of 23.6% to RM3.303 billion from RM2.672 billion.



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