KUALA LUMPUR (March 28): If the Parliament is not dissolved on Friday (March 29) and there is no pre-election panic reaction in the stock market, then the stocks that could stir some interest may include Maybank, United Malacca, Gamuda, Borneo Oil, Axiata, Puncak Niaga and Affin.
Late today, Bernama reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had met state Barisan Nasional (BN) chairmen at the Perdana Putra Complex here, raising speculation that dissolution of Parliament is getting close.
It is believed that the meeting was called to finalise the BN's candidate lists before the 13th general election.
On Friday, the prime minister is expected to meet the heads of BN component parties on the same matters.
In the past, prime ministers would act to dissolve the Parliament after meeting all BN component party leaders.
Meanwhile on the corporate front, there were announcements that could affect investor sentiment.
MALAYAN BANKING BHD [] (Maybank) said it expects a growth in market share for its financial year 2013 due to further plans in strengthening its domestic presence.
“Our market share in the consumer and household segments rose to 17%, our share of total retail deposits is now 18.3% and we lead the pack in retail current accounts & savings accounts segments,” chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar told theedgemalaysia.com after the bank’s annual general meeting today.
He added that the group has set their key performance indicator (KPI) to grow loans by 12% this year.
“Organically we are targeting to grow in profit to 33% level. I am very optimistic that our transformation initiatives will put us further ahead by 2015,” he added.
UNITED MALACCA BHD [] said its net profit for the first quarter to end-January 2013 was at RM16.08 million, lower than RM21.29 million posted in the first quarter of previous financial year. Its revenue also fell to RM49.63 million, from RM57.42 million.
The company said although the group’s FFB production was 36% higher year-on-year, the group’s profit fell due to lower CPO and PK prices.
“We expect lower profit this current financial year as compared with the preceding year due to significantly lower CPO prices as well as rising costs of fertilizer, labour and transportation,” said the company, controlled by the family of former Finance Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin.
GAMUDA BHD [] posted a net profit of RM156.89 million for the second quarter to end-January 2013, a 15% rise over RM136.47 million registered in previous corresponding quarter.
Revenue also rose to RM875.22 million for the quarter, up from RM769.33 million in the second quarter of previous financial year.
The increase in profit for the quarter was due to higher profit contributions from all divisions, the company said in its filings to Bursa Malaysia.
In the CONSTRUCTION [] division, there was higher work progress from the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Project. There were higher profits from property projects in Malaysia especially Horizon Hills, and various expressways.
“The group expects to perform better this year supported by on-going construction projects, strong unbilled sales of the property division and steady earnings from the water and expressway concessions division,” the company said.
BORNEO OIL BHD [] recorded a net loss of RM6.1 million for its fourth quarter ended Jan 31, 2013, a 155.2% deeper into red compared to net loss of RM2.4 million in the last corresponding quarter.
In a filing to Bursa today, the group said revenue came in at RM9.6 million, a 16.8% increase over the RM8.2 million it brought in last year.
“We expect the performance of the fast food division to improve further as demand for the franchise, both locally and overseas are expected to increase further,” it said.
Axiata Bhd said its unit in Sri Lanka, mobile phone operator Dialog Axiata, will roll out the country's first mobile 4G LTE network, sealing the deal with a 3.2 billion Sri Lanka rupees ($25.22 million) bid at auction, Reuters reported.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC), which auctioned its mobile 4G LTE spectrum at a base price of 800 million rupees, said the subsidiary of Malaysia's Axiata had beaten two local rivals.
"We have auctioned 10Mh band in the 1,800 spectrum and the highest bidder was Dialog," said TRC’s chief Anusha Palpita.
Dialog dominates the Sri Lanka telecoms market, accounting for 55% of revenue market share.
PUNCAK NIAGA HOLDINGS BHD [] announced that its indirect wholly owned unit, GOM Resources Sdn Bhd, has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with MedcoEnergi of Indonesia to cooperate in oil & gas field development and risk service projects in Malaysia.
The MOA also covers the exploration and production opportunities in the region.
GOM Resources is a wholly owned unit of Puncak Oil & Gas Sdn Bhd, which is wholly owned by Puncak Niaga Holdings.
GOM Resources, a service provider for offshore construction, is a recognised offshore installation contractor in Malaysia.
MedcoEnergi is an Indonesian listed integrated energy company with operations in Indonesia, Oman, Libya, Yemen and the United States of America.
“The contents of the MOA are for cooperation in providing expertise in identifying Blocks with potential for exploration and production activities,” said the company.
AFFIN HOLDINGS BHD [] said it has ceased negotiations with Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd (BMMB) shareholders led by DRB-HICOM BHD [] for a possible acquisition of an equity interest.
On March 2, theedgemalaysia.com reported that the BMMB shareholders and Affin were not able to come to an agreement on the acquisition of a stake in the latter.
Both parties were not able to agree on the size of the stake as well as the price.
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
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