Bumi Armada clears air on reports Ananda Krishnan paring down stake

KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): Bumi Armada Bhd in response to news reports that Ananda was paring down his stake said that enquiries with its major shareholders and directors, it clarified that Ombak Damai Sdn Bhd, Wijaya Sinar Sdn Bhd and Karisma Mesra Sdn Bhd had participated in abook-building exercise conducted by CIMB Investment Bank Bhd .

It said Ombak Damai had participated with 9 million, while Ombak Damai and Karisma Mesra with a joint 284 million shares respectively, accounting for a total of 293 million Bumi Armada shares.

The Edge Financial Daily on Friday reported that Tycoon Ananda Krishnan and his bumiputera partners will sell roughly 15% of offshore services provider Bumi Armada Bhd in private placements to local and foreign institutional investors in a deal that will raise close to RM2 billion.

Financial executives involved in the placement told The Edge Financial Daily that the sale of roughly 440 million shares in Bumi Armada would cut the joint holdings of Ananda and his bumiputera partners to 55% in the company.



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WZ Steel buys industrial tract in Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27) : WZ Steel Bhd is acquiring an industrial land in Indonesia’s West Java province for IDR 14.58 billion (RM5.02 million) to build a new factory in the neighbouring country.

In a statement to the Bursa Malaysia, WZ Steel said it is buying the leasehold tract within the Delta Silicon industrial area in the Lippo Cikarang enclave, from Indonesia-based property developer PT Lippo Cikarang Tbk.

“The proposed acquisition is part of WZ Steel’s expansion plan to set up a factory in Indonesia. The total estimated investment costs for this new factory in Indonesia would be approximately RM16 million including land acquisition and CONSTRUCTION [] of manufacturing facilities.

“The market for the cold‐drawn steel products in Indonesia has seen considerable growth in the past few years. The setting up of production facilities in Indonesia will enable the group to be closer to its customers and tap the potential of the growing market there,” WZ Steel said.

It said it will finance the land acquisition and construction of its factory with internal funds and bank loans.



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Pensonic posts 3Q net loss on higher operating cost

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27) : PENSONIC HOLDINGS BHD [] posted a third quarter net loss on higher as higher revenue failed to mitigate the impact of rising operating cost for the electrical and electronic appliances manufacturer.

In a statement to the exchange, Pensonic said net loss came to RM1.14 million in the quarter ended February 29, 2012 against RM896,000 a year earlier. Revenue grew 7% to RM85.08 million from RM79.65 million.

“The decrease was mainly due to lower margin recorded as a result of active promotional activities carried out and also the increases in administration, selling and distribution expenses in current quarter for future expansion,” Pensonic said.

Cumulative nine-month net profit fell 54% to RM2.24 million from RM4.86 million a year earlier although revenue rose 12% to RM258.37 million from RM230.27 million. Pensonic said it will focus on its core business to achieve stronger profit growth for the final quarter of the current financial year.



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KLCI finishes in red on pre-election sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27) : The FBM KLCI stayed in the red till the market closed on Friday as pre-election sentiment gets an upper hand in dictating the direction of local equities. This comes ahead of the much-anticipated Bersih 3.0 rally on Saturday.

The less-optimistic sentiment across the local bourse was despite a stronger overnight close across US markets as global investors responded positively to improving US real estate and corporate earnings updates.

At 5pm, the FBM KLCI fell 11.89 points to close at 1,567.8. Across the exchange, 1.3 billion shares worth RM1.4 billion were traded, leading to 286 gainers versus 409 decliners.

Among top gainers, NCB HOLDINGS BHD [] was up 49 sen to RM4.39, while MALAYAN BANKING BHD [] added 12 sen to RM8.64.

Decliners include NESTLE (M) BHD [] which fell 80 sen to RM55.10 while BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (M) [] Bhd was down 70 sen to RM54.80.

Most active was Ariantec Global Bhd which gained two sen to 25.5 sen with some 300 million shares done.



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CIMB Research maintains Outperform AirAsia, target price RM5

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): CIMB Research has maintained its Outperform rating on AIRASIA BHD [] at RM3.38 with a target price of RM5 and said the low cost carrier’s 1Q12 operating statistics indicated an exceptionally strong Thai, consistently good Malaysian but unfortunately, weaker Indonesian performance.

In a note Friday, CIMB Research said the figures suggested that AirAsia as a whole should continue to do well in 2012 relative to its airline peers.

“We maintain our Outperform rating and target price based on 9x P/E.

“We believe that Thai AirAsia’s strong operating performance will contribute to the success of its impending listing and could help catalyse AirAsia’s share price,” it said.



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NCB at 15-year high on dividends

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27) : NCB HOLDINGS BHD [] rose as much as 14% to its highest in almost 15 years on the port operator’s dividends.

The top gainer across the exchange added 53 sen to RM4.43, the highest since June 1997, before being transacted lower at RM4.40 at 2.43pm with some 405,000 shares traded.

NCB told the exchange on Thursday it plans to reward shareholders with a single-tier special interim dividend of 56 sen a share for financial year ending December 31, 2012. The ex and entitlement dates fall on May 16 and 18 respectively, NCB said.



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MPI up 1% on dividends, OSK cuts earnings forecast and TP

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27) : MALAYSIAN PACIFIC INDUSTRIES [] Bhd (MPI) rose as much as 1% as investors bought the stock to capitalise on its dividends.

MPI shares added three sen to RM3 before trading lower at RM2.99 at lunch break with about 52,000 shares changing hands. The stock had risen despite a downward revision to the company’s earnings forecast and share price.

In a note, OSK Research Sdn Bhd said it has revised downwards its earnings forecast for MPI by RM30.2 million and RM1.2 million for financial years ending June 30, 2012 (FY12) and 2013 respectively. This takes into account MPI’s latest quarterly financials.

The earnings forecast revision has prompted OSK to lower its target price for MPI shares by 1.6% or six sen from RM3.70 to RM3.64 while maintaining its “trading buy” call for the stock.

MPI posted a net loss of RM7.43 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2012 against a net profit of RM5.05 million a year earlier as revenue fell18% to RM275.76 million from RM334.82 million. The company said revenue fell as it registered lower sales in major markets including European and Asian countries apart from the US.

Cumulative nine-month net loss came to RM33.26 million against a net profit of RM56.18 million previously while revenue fell 19% to RM870.6 million from RM1.07 billion.MPI said it plans to reward shareholders with a second interim tax-exempt dividend of five sen a share for FY12.



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KLCI in red till noon, focus on general election concerns

KUALA LUMPUR (April 27) : The FBM KLCI stayed in the red till lunch break on Friday as the local market takes the cue from domestic concerns ahead of the coming general election. Crucial highlights include the much-anticipated Bersih 3.0 rally on Saturday.

The less-optimistic sentiment across the local bourse was despite a stronger overnight close across US markets as global investors responded positively to improving US real estate and corporate earnings updates.

At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI fell 8.01 points to 1,571.68.Across the exchange, some 759 million shares worth RM543 million were traded, leading to 216 gainers versus 356 decliners.

Top gainers NCB HOLDINGS BHD [] was up 46 sen to RM4.36 while COUNTRY VIEW BHD [] added 19 sen to 85 sen.

Among decliners, Sam Engineering & Equipment Bhd fell 37 sen to RM3 while United PLANTATION []s Bhd was down 24 sen to RM25.70.

Most active was Ariantec Global Bhd which gained 1.5 sen to 25 sen with some 267 million shares done.

Across Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.12% to 9,573.64, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.05% to 4,373.2, while South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.48% to 1,973.55.



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