CI Holdings reports earnings of RM650.39m for 2Q

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): CI Holdings Bhd posted net profit of RM650.39 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 from RM11.17 million a year ago, boosted by the disposal of its Permanis Group to Asahi for RM820.0 million cash.

It said on Thursday that its revenue declined slightly to RM11.35 million from RM11.96 million a year ago due to a slowdown in the CONSTRUCTION [] sector.

“The improvement in profit before tax can be attributed largely to income received from the investment of the proceeds of disposal and gain on the disposal group of RM688.43 million,” it said.

CI Holdings said its earnings per share were 458.02 sen compared with 7.87 sen. It declared a dividend of RM4.60 per share totaling RM653.20 million.

For the first half, its earnings were at RM657.74 million compared with RM22.84 million in the previous corresponding period while revenue slipped 10.9% to RM20.43 million from RM22.93 million.



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Tasek Corp earnings down 57% in 4Q on higher production costs

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): TASEK CORPORATION BHD []'s earnings fell 57.1% to RM33.44 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2011 from RM78.00 million a year ago, as a result of higher production costs.

However, despite the lower earnings, it declared dividends totaling 86%. They comprised of a special ordinary dividend of 50% less income tax of 25%; preference dividend of 6% single tier and final ordinary dividend of 30% single tier.

It said on Thursday, revenue rose 25.11% to RM167.24 million from RM133.67 million. Earnings per share were 26.98 sen compared to 48.88 sen.

Tasek Corp said the higher revenue was due to higher volume in local cement and ready-mix concrete sales which increased 22% and 21% respectively.

Higher average selling price in both segments also contributed to the higher revenue. However, the better margin from a higher average selling price was offset by higher production costs as a result of increasing coal and electricity costs.

For the 12 months ended Dec 31, 2011, net profit declined 33.10% to RM103.16 million from RM154.19 million a year ago. Revenue rose 3.5% to RM566.19 million from RM546.76 million.



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Tradewinds Plantations unit selling 45% of RI International

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): Tradewinds PLANTATION []s Bhd’s indirect unit Mardec International Sdn. Bhd is selling its 45% stake in R1 International Pte Ltd for US$25.86 million.

It said on Thursday, that Mardec International and other shareholders of R1 has entered into a conditional share sale agreement with Hainan State Farms Investment Ltd and Hainan Rubber Group (Singapore) Pte. Ltd to dispose of their entire 90% stake for US$51.72 million cash.

Under the agreement, Mardec International would dispose of its 45% stake or 3.15 million shares in R1 for US$25.86 million.

“R1 is principally engaged in the trading of natural rubber, latex concentrate and synthetic rubber. R1 is a global rubber trading company specialising in rubber commodity which operates in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China and India,” said Tradewinds Plantations.

As at Dec 31, 2011, the R1 group’s unaudited net tangible assets (NTA) were US$34.67 million. The disposal price represents the price to book ratio of 1.6575.

“The disposal price is conditional upon R1 group’s audited NTA at Dec 31, 2011 being not less than US$34.67 million and will be adjusted in the event of lower audited NTA by using the same price to book ratio,” it said.



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Hibiscus Petroleum gets SC nod to buy 35% stake in Lime Petroleum

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd has received the Securities Commission’s approval for its qualifying acquisition of a 35% stake in Lime Petroleum Plc for US$55 million.

Hibiscus Petroleum’s Managing Director, Dr Kenneth Pereira, said the company would hold an EG to seek shareholders’ approval as soon as it has received the SC’s clearance to issued the finalised version of the EGM circular.

To recap, in October 2011, the company announced its proposed acquisition of Lime which has majority interests in companies with concession rights in three offshore oil and gas exploration assets located in the UAE and Oman.

“Out of the total consideration, US$50 million will be injected into Lime to primarily fund Lime’s activities whilst the balance of US$5 million is for the purchase of existing shares in Lime,” it said.



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Maxis proposes 10-yr RM2.45 bn Sukuk to refinance loans, capex

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): Maxis Bhd has proposed to undertake a RM2.45 billion unrated Sukuk Musharakah programme with a 10-year maturity.

It said on Thursday that of the proceeds, RM1.45 billion would be used for refinancing of existing loans and RM1.0 billion for the capital expenditure and/or working capital and/or general funding requirements.

Maxis said CIMB Investment Bank Bhd was appointed as the sole principal adviser and sole lead arranger for the proposed Sukuk Musharakah.

CIMB and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd have been appointed as the joint lead managers for the first issuance.



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BAT 4Q earnings dn 1.1% to RM180.6m, FY11 RM719.6m

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd’s earnings slipped 1.1% to RM180.65 million from RM187.72 million a year ago.

It said on Thursday that revenue rose 2.9% to RM987.26 million from RM959.16 million. Its earnings per share were 63.30 sen compared with 64 sen.

BAT declared a fourth interim dividend of 66 sen per share, tax exempt under the single tier exempt system for the financial year ended Dec 31, ember 2011.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011 its earnings fell 1.5% to RM719.61 million from RM731.11 million in FY10, mainly due to a lower effective tax rate in 2010 than 2011. However, its revenue rose 4.1% to RM4.127 billion from RM3.965 billion.

“The group experienced a 1.3% decline in volumes as a result of decreased consumption and the still high levels of illegal cigarettes which stands at 36.1%,” it said.



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Tenaga, Public Bank weigh on KLCI, at lowest since Feb 2

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): Shares of Tenaga Nasional and Public Bank weighed on the FBM KLCI on Thursday as investors became more cautious in line with the key regional markets, all of which were in the red.

Reuters reported that European shares fell and the euro eased to a three-week low on Thursday as a delay in a decision on a crucial bailout for Greece unnerved investors and prompted a halt in the rally for riskier assets like equities that has marked the start of 2012.

At 5pm, the KLCI was down 10.81 points or 0.69% to 1,550.49, the lowest since Feb 2. Turnover was 2.19 billion shares valued at RM1.97 billion.

The broader market showed more signs of weakness as the declining counters beat advancers 668 to 239, the largest margin in recent days, and putting a halt in the recent rally.

All key regional markets were in the red. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.24% to 9,238.10, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index 0.41% to 21,277.20, Shanghai’s Composite Index 0.42% to 2,356.86, Taiwan’s Taiex 1.69% to 7,869.70, South Korea’s Kospi 1.38% to 1,997.45 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index 1.14% to 2,977.20.

Light crude oil fell 69 cents to US$101.11. The ringgit weakened to 3.0592 against the US dollar.

At Bursa Malaysia, Tenaga fell 13 sen to RM6, pushing the KLCI down by 1.66 points.

Public Bank lost 12 sen to RM13.64, nudging the index down by 1.34 points, CIMB five sen to RM7.25 and Maybank three sen to RM8.50.

PLANTATION []s were also among the major decliners as crude palm oil third-month futures slipped RM8 to RM3,193 per tonne. KLK fell 58 sen to RM24.80, Batu Kawan 46 sen to RM19.52, Chin Tek and BLD Plantations 20 sen each to RM8.80 and RM10 while Sime Darby shed seven sen to RM9.54. However, United Plantations added 32 sen to RM22.66.

Among Petronas-related counters, Petronas Dagangan fell 40 sen to RM17.82 with volume seen picking up to 1.50 million shares done while Petronas Gas lost 28 sen to RM16.36.

Naim Indah Corp was the most active with 188.94 million shares done, up 3.5 sen to 55.5 sen. MUI PROPERTIES [] gained 7.5 sen to 22.5 sen and Compugates 0.5 sen to 11.5 sen.

Among the gainers were Dialog-WA, surging 31 sen to 65.5 sen while Cypark advanced 24 sen to RM1.87.



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Market Commentary

The FBM KLCI index lost 10.81 points or 0.69% on Thursday. The Finance Index fell 0.60% to 13771.94 points, the Properties Index dropped 0.78% to 1045.94 points and the Plantation Index down 0.77% to 8794.57 points. The market traded within a range of 9.74 points between an intra-day high of 1559.08 and a low of 1549.34 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include NICORP, MUIPROP, COMPUGT, TMS, WINSUN, TIGER, KBUNAI, HIBISCS-WA, MUIIND and TAKASO. Trading volume decreased to 2185.22 mil shares worth RM1972.18 mil as compared to Wednesday’s 2309.57 mil shares worth RM2145.93 mil.

Leading Movers were GENM (+1 sen to RM3.96), TM (+1 sen to RM4.84), MAXIS (+1 sen to RM5.77) and UMW (+1 sen to RM6.84). Lagging Movers were TENAGA (-13 sen to RM6.00), PBBANK (-12 sen to RM13.64), DIGI (-6 sen to RM4.10), SIME (-7 sen to RM9.54) and KLK (-58 sen to RM24.80). Market breadth was negative with 239 gainers as compared to 668 losers. -- JF Apex Securities Bhd



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