Monday, 31 October 2011

Stocks to watch: Tenaga, Envair, SILK, MFM

KUALA LUMPUR: TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [] could be in focus on Monday, Oct 31 after it announced fourth quarter net loss of RM453.90 million, the second consecutive quarter of losses, last Friday, and expected the current financial year to be very challenging.

At the operating level, the power company reported operating losses of RM248.80 million due to higher fuel costs of coal and utilisation of oil and distillates after the gas curtailment by Petroliam Nasional Bhd.

Though investors anticipated Tenaga to reported losses, their concerns were whether it could work out the gas supply issue and a definite compensation from Petronas.

However, the lack of assurance from Petronas could weigh on the share price, especially after Tenaga president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said on Friday no decision had been reached as yet.

OSK Research said barring a write-back of compensation from Petronas due to its failure to supply sufficient gas to Tenaga, the power company should still post losses over the next two quarters.

“A continued gas shortage coupled with outages in coal plants during 4QFY11 should have necessitated Tenaga to continue to generate substantial power from expensive oil and distillates. In addition, the weakening ringgit would give rise to translation losses,” it said.

OSK Research cautioned that Tenaga might be hopeful for compensation from Petronas amounting to 33% to 67% of its additional fuel bill.

“Investors may also hold out hopes of Tenaga securing a fuel cost pass through after the anticipated General Elections, which may be held soon. In any case, we still believe it would be risky to invest in Tenaga beyond current levels given such speculation,” it added.

However, the broader market could extend their gains, underpinned by the recent strong performance on Wall Street where stocks closed out a fourth week of gains in quiet fashion on Friday, edging higher as the market took a breather after rallying 3% on Europe's deal to stem its debt crisis.

Reuters reported though investors still have questions about implementing the deal, they appeared satisfied by Europe's progress as stocks ended their longest weekly winning streak of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 22.56 points, or 0.18%, to 12,231.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.49 point, or 0.04%, to 1,285.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.48 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,737.15.

As for the FBM KLCI, it is up 114.3 points from Oct 3’s 1,367.52 to end 1,481.82 last Friday. For last week, the KLCI was up 30.9 pts or 2.19%.

Affin Investment Bank head of retail research Dr Nazri Khan believes the KLCI is likely to trend higher next week on stronger global risk appetite following twin Europe-US catalysts last week.

The factors were the long awaited plan to resolve the European debt crisis and the stronger than expected US 3rd quarter economic growth (registering the fastest quarterly GDP in a year).

“Going forward next week, we expect investors to price in stronger US/European economy as well as the reduced banking crisis risk in both continents, pushing KLCI to a possible 1,524 level (which is the KLCI high made in 2008 before the subprime crisis),” said Nazri.

Other stocks to watch are Envair Holdings Bhd, SILK Holdings Bhd and MALAYAN FLOUR MILLS BHD [] (MFM). Also in focus could be TASEK CORPORATION BHD [] and Cycle & Carriage Bhd.

Envair has received a letter of intent from Zai Corporate Finance Ltd (ZAICF), an investment banking firm based in London, to subscribe for up to 30% of its new ordinary shares of 10 sen each at the market issue price.

The ACE Market listed company said the board would deliberate on this matter and announce its decision on the private placement.

SILK chairman Datuk Mohd Azlan Hashim has said he was confident the company would be able to return to profitability in a couple of years as traffic volume picks up for its tolled highway operations and an improvement in the marine support services.

"We expect with the continued increase in traffic flow in that area, these losses will eventually be wiped out and there will be a turnaround in profitability," he said.

Malayan Flour Mills could be getting ready for the next stage of growth, having announced a series of corporate exercises in May and signing an agreement in October that would see it step into the Indonesian market, according to The Edge weekly.

Tasek's earnings fell 32.9% to RM22.10 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011 (3QFY11) from RM32.90 million a year ago, due to lower sales. Its revenue fell 7.5% to RM132.99 million from RM143.78 million. Earnings per share were 17.82 sen compared with 20.63 sen.

Cycle & Carriage Bhd’s earnings for third quarter ended Sept 30, 2011 fell 38.37% to RM5.93 million from RM9.62 million a year ago, due to lower margins and reduced non-recurring income. Revenue rose 20.6% to RM188.21 million from RM156.03 million. EPS were 5.89 sen compared to 9.55 sen the previous year.

Sunday, 30 October 2011

Petronas:They must get licence from us

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has clarified that companies wanting to start or continue oil and gas upstream businesses and services in Malaysia must get a licence from it.

The policy, enforced under the regulations following the enactment of the Petroleum Development Act 1974 has not been changed. It applies to all foreign and domestic companies, service providers and suppliers, the national oil company said in a statement yesterday.

Petronas was responding to recent reports claiming that it had decided to do away with its licensing system for companies involved in Malaysia's upstream oil and gas industry.

OSK: MBM offer good for Hirotako

PETALING JAYA: The takeover offer by auto parts manufacturer MBM Resources Bhd on Thursday for Hirotako Holdings Bhd, which makes car safety restraint equipment, will help Hirotako to clinch more and bigger deals.

According to OSK Research, though the deal did not see much synergy as Hirotako served an entirely different set of products, its profile would be raised in clinching bigger deals since Daihatsu Motor Corp is a common shareholder in MBM's subsidiaries and associate companies (Daihatsu Motor Corp and Perodua).

“This could potentially enable Hirotako to tap into a bigger market in Indonesia where Daihatsu Motor is eyeing a huge production hub for the small compact car market,” it said yesterday.

Based on the latest financial results, Hirotako had in its second quarter ended June 30, 2011 posted net profit of RM12.67mil on revenue of RM75.17mil.

Its net asset per share was RM1.15 and it had RM77.54mil cash and cash equivalents.

The research house was more bullish on Hirotako's earnings for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2012 (FY12) as it would see its revenue and earnings base grow by 43% and 34% year-on-year respectively, driven by, among others, compulsory airbags for all vehicles, notably for the baseline variants of Proton and Perodua, which would bring in additional revenue of RM30mil to RM35mil from FY12 onwards.

On Thursday, Hirotako said it had received a notice of conditional takeover offer from AmInvestment Bank Bhd on behalf of MBM.

MBM was offering 97 sen per share for all the voting shares of 25 sen each in Hirotako and 5 sen per warrant.

OSK Research believed that the valuation paid by MBM was reasonable after taking into consideration Hirotako's earnings growth potential in FY12.

MBM said it had obtained an irrevocable undertaking from Hiro-Dapat Holdings Sdn Bhd the largest shareholder with 39.948 million shares or 22.85% to accept the offer.

Hiro-Dapat is controlled by Hirotako group managing director Datuk Kuan Peng Ching @ Kuan Peng Soon.

MBM said it did not intend to maintain Hirotako's listing status.

Hirotako's board of directors had yesterday said it did not intend to see an alternative party to make a takeover offer for the securities of the company.

It said under the Malaysian Code on Take-Overs and Mergers, 1998, the board would appoint an independent adviser for purposes of the offer.

The notice would be posted to the shareholders of Hirotako within seven days of its receipt.

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Media Prima, Puncak Semangat in early talks

KUALA LUMPUR: Media Prima Bhd is in preliminary talks with privately-held Puncak Semangat Sdn Bhd, which is looking at converting all analog televisions (TVs) into the digital ones by 2015.

Puncak Semangat, owned by tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, has been bidding for the conversion job from the government for the last three years.

"We cannot comment much on that. It's still in preliminary talks. Actually what I am doing here is evading your question," Media Prima chief operating officer for television networks Ahmad Izham Omar said at a press conference after announcing the content line-up for four of its TV stations for next year.

The conversion of all analog TVs to digital is expected to cost about RM2 billion, a study done in 2000 revealed.

The government is expected to announce the winner next year, but industry sources said the government has more or less confirmed that the tycoon has got the job.

Puncak Semangat has gone on a recruitment drive, looking for talent through collaboration with private colleges and universities.

For next year's content line-up, Izham said that their four stations, namely TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9 are expecting an increase. He did not share any number.

This year, Media Prima's TV stations took the top spot with 49 per cent viewership, followed by Astro 38 per cent and RTM channels at 13 per cent.

"Media Prima is committed to screening high quality local content helps to encourage and nurture the local content development industry.

"We have continually developed multimedia and interactive content that resonates with the IT-savvy generation. We believe in changing. Therefore, we are changing the landscape of content to be more interactive and innovative," added Izham.

Earnings trip at Tenaga

The group's results were dragged down largely by the very poor fourth quarter results, a net loss of RM453.9 million

KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB)'s net profit for the year ended August 31 2011 fell by 84.3 per cent to RM499.5 million, its lowest in 13 years, after the national utility company booked higher operating cost to buy energy-related commodities.

TNB had to spend more to buy oil, distillates and coal to cushion the limited supply of gas. Gas is the mainstay energy, accounting for 60 per cent of the country's power ge-neration capacity.

Last year, group level net profit stood at RM3.2 billion.

TNB president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said the following quarter will be a challenge for TNB as it grapples with limited gas supply and more expensive alternate fuel and coal to ensure continued supply of electricity.

"There's nothing much we can do as gas volume is low and fuel costs five times more than gas. Electrici-ty demand in 2012 is expected to grow by four per cent but it will be a challenging year," Che Khalib told reporters yesterday at TNB's headquarters.

The group's results were dragged down largely by the very poor fourth quarter results, a net loss of RM453.9 million, compared with a net profit of RM555.2 million in the same quarter the previous year.

Quarterly revenue, however, climbed to RM9.1 billion from RM8 billion previously on higher sales of electricity.

TNB spent a total of RM3.3 billion on fuel costs last year, comprising gas, coal, oil and distillates.

Meanwhile, Che Khalib said talks between TNB and Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Bhd) on compensation issues due to the shortage of gas to TNB and industries are ongoing .

"The industry cannot sustain when the supply of gas is low. We just don't have enough gas. The stakeholders (the government, TNB, Petronas and the independent power producers) are having discussions but there is no solution yet," said Che Khalib.

He added that negotiations are ongoing on how it can assist TNB in relieving the utility's as well as other industries' burden.

KL tin price may surge to US$22,200

The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) is expected to stage a better performance next week, with higher demand from the Japanese, European and local buyers, dealers said.

A dealer said the metal's price is likely to surge to around US$22,200 a tonne next week.

“We expect tin price to move higher as the prices of all metals have spiralled due to the Eurozone agreement to help debt-laden Greece.

"We expect to see demand for the metal with active buying activities," he added. For the week just-ended, the metal closed US$300 higher at US$22,000 a tonne from US$21,700 a tonne yesterday.

The four-day week saw KLTM staging steady performance, recording gains on most of the days except on Thursday as there was no buying activity at all, partly due to the Deepavali public holiday on Wednesday. The KLTM opened the week with a US$150 gain to US21,850 a tonne and the metal was traded at US$22,400 high a tonne on Tuesday and US$21,850 low a tonne on the first day trading for the week.

Total turnover for the week dwindled to 176 tonnes from 205 tonnes last week.

The premium between the KLTM and the LME stood at US$285 a tonne compared to US$790 a tonne on Friday. -- Bernama

Rubber mart to improve on tight supply

The Malaysian rubber market is expected to improve next week as supply remains tight due to the rainy season and floods in Thailand, dealers said.

A dealer said the euro debt crisis will, however, continue to affect the market. "Traders are awaiting the solution to the eurozone debt crisis," he said.

During the four-day trading week, the market was mixed and its performance was affected by the rainy season and floods which as a result saw tight supply of the material. Traders were also monitoring the eurozone financial crisis.

For the week just ended, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 rose 13.5 sen to 1,231 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk fell 5.5 sen to 793.5 sen per kg.

The unofficial closing price for SMR 20 gained 22.5 sen to 1,226 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk dropped 3.5 sen to 794.5 sen per kg. -- Bernama

KL bourse expected to strengthen next week

Share prices on Bursa Malaysia are expected to extend gains next week on heightened global risk appetite boosted by good news from Europe and the US economic outlook, dealers said.

“Going forward next week, we expect investors to price in the stronger US and Europe economy as well as the reduced banking crisis risk in both continents,” Affin Investment Bank's Head of Retail Research, Dr Nazri Khan told Bernama today. The private sector investors recently agreed to make a 50 per cent cut in Greek bonds and it is expected to boost the firepower of the eurozone rescue fund to US$1.4 trillion (US$1=RM3.13) while the US third quarter gross domestic product data rose 2.5 per cent. “These will push the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) index to a possible 1,524 level, which is FBM KLCI high made in 2008 before the subprime crisis,” he added.

In line with the positive trend on regional markets, Nazri said the traditional year-end rally has started and is likely to last before Chinese New Year 2012.

Meanwhile, TA Securities senior technical analyst Stephen Soo said the benchmark index is expected to strengthen next week, boosted by rising appetite in riskier assets.

“We foresee the positive sentiment globally will further help properties and construction stocks to slightly recover after their recent losses,” he added.

However, OSK Research director/research head Chris Eng said the market is still in defensive position and investors remain cautious amid the uncertain global economic outlook.

"There is a possibility the market will dip if the index reaches the 1,500 level, due to selling pressure," he added. Meanwhile, during the whole trading week, the local bourse was in a positive movement with the benchmark index ending Friday's trade with 10.89 points at 1,481.82.

Bursa Malaysia was closed on Thursday for the Deepavali holiday.

On a week-to-week basis, the FBM KLCI advanced 42.99 points to 1,481.82 compared to last Friday's closing at 1,438.83.

The Finance Index gained 339.47 points to 13,420.59 while the Plantation Index rose 177.75 points to 7,494.68 and the Industrial Index added 77.35 points to 2,714.66.

The FBM Emas Index rose 310.41 points to 10,117.36, the FBM70 Index advanced 418.94 points to 10,959.65, the FBM Ace Index gained 112.46 points to 4,072.95 while the FBMT100 added 307.83 points to 9,935.99.

Total weekly volume declined 6.033 billion shares worth RM7.097 billion from 7.391 billion shares worth RM6.584 billion last week.

Main Market turnover fell 4.674 billion units worth RM6.941 billion from 5.491 billion units worth RM6.362 billion on Friday.

Warrants turnover slipped to 471.509 million units valued at RM30.039 million from Friday’s 659.107 million units valued at RM32.675 million.

Volume on the ACE market dwindled to 775.248 million units worth RM111.181 million from 1.194 billion units worth RM164.173 million last week. -- Bernama
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