KUALA LUMPUR (June 21): The FBM KLCI could extend its gains for a fifth day on Thursday, building on the momentum from a day earlier when the local benchmark index surpassed the 1,600-point mark for the first time since June 5.
Asian shares rose on Wednesday, and the euro clung to most of the previous session's gains as investors bet that Europe's worsening debt crisis and faltering global growth will prompt major central banks to launch a new round of monetary stimulus, according to Reuters.
European shares and the euro steadied on Wednesday, pausing after strong gains, as investors waited to see if the US Federal Reserve will adopt further monetary stimulus to help counter faltering economic growth, it said. The Fed is set to announce its monetary policy decision at 1630 GMT at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, with expectations high that the US central bank will extend its bond-buying programme dubbed "Operation Twist", it said.
However, the eurozone has yet to resolve its debt crisis and with pretty much hanging in limbo at the moment, any news perceived as negative would dent already fragile and nervy investor sentiment in the region.
Among the stocks that could be in focus on Bursa Malaysia are WAH SEONG CORPORATION BHD [], PETRA ENERGY BHD [], KUB MALAYSIA BHD [], SALCON BHD [], KUMPULAN PERANGSANG SELANGOR [] Bhd (KPS), Bumi Armada Bhd and JAYA TIASA HOLDINGS BHD [].
Wah Seong has trumped bids by Sarawak-based Pansar Bhd and influential businessman Datuk Desmond Lim Siew Choon to acquire Perdana Petroleum Bhd's strategic 26.9% interest in Petra Energy Bhd, according to The Edge Financial Daily, citing financial executives close to the deal.
The executives said that Wah Seong had offered to pay about RM1.70 for the 26.9% interest in the company, stake or 57.7 million shares, valuing the deal at RM98.09 million. Petra Energy ended trading on Wednesday at RM1.44, slipping six sen.
The financial executives added that Perdana Petroleum is slated to have a board meeting later this week to confirm Wah Seong as the winning bidder, but could seek shareholders approval, before selling the block.
KUB's subsidiary Empirical Systems (M) Sdn Bhd has accepted a contract worth RM11.69 million from Home Ministry to supply toner and printing consumables to the police force. The company said on Wednesday that its unit had accepted the contract on Tuesday, and that the contract was for period of two years, adding that the contract would contribute positively to its earnings for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2012.
Waste and wastewater specialists Salcon are in discussions with several parties for potential mergers in China to help quicken its plans to list its Chinese water assets in the next two years, said executive director Datuk Eddy Leong Kok Wah.
"Our current capacity is at about 1,300 million litres a day (MLD) but we need to be at a decent size 3,000 MLD when we want to list. So we are now in talks with one or two companies for mergers," he told The Edge Financial Daily after the group's annual general meeting on Wednesday. The companies that it was considering were of equal size in terms of capacity or those which were sizeable enough, he said.
KPS, which is controlled by the Selangor-state government, is looking at divesting slower yielding investments and assets to reorganise its portfolio. These include its 20% stake in Sprint Highway which it acquired in 2002 at RM130 million, according to KPS chairman Raja Idris Raja Kamarudin.
"We may divest or add further investments into the assets," Raja Idris said on Wednesday after the firm's AGM. He said the company has not decided on the status of its stake in Sprint, but indicated that talks are on-going with certain principals of the assets.
Bumi Armada has issued a Letter of Intent (LOI) to Nam Cheong Dockyard Sdn Bhd to build four units of DP2 multi-purpose vessels with an aption to build four additional units at US$130 million (RM410.8 million). On the rationale for the contract, Bumi Armada said the newbuilds envisaged under the LOI were in line with the the company’s fleet expansion plan in the offshore support vessel (OSV) market.
Jaya Tiasa's net profit for the three months ended April 3-0, 2012 fell 44.65% to RM30.16 million from RM54.49 million a year earlier, due mainly to lower average selling prices and reduction in plywood sales volume. The company said on Wednesday that its revenue for the quarter rose 7.4% to RM274.54 million from RM255.52 million in 2011.
Earnings per share was 11.30 sen compared to 20.41 sen previously, while net assets per share was RM5.27. For the nine months ended april 30, Jaya Tiasa's net profit rose 14% to RM172.75 million from RM151.44 million, on the back of revenue RM1.01 billion.
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