KUALA LUMPUR (May 13): Based on news flow and the corporate announcements today, stocks that may attract investor interest include MSM, CSC, MMC, Yokohama, United PLANTATION []s, Scomi and Allianz.
MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd reported a 6.67% year-on-year drop in net profit for its first quarter due to lower domestic sales.
The sugar manufacturing group said net earnings for its first quarter ended March 31, 2013 came in at RM61.96 million on revenue of RM514.96 million.
In the previous corresponding quarter, MSM Malaysia’s net profit was RM66.39 million and revenue at RM531.76 million.
“Notwithstanding the volatility of commodity prices, the group is expected to be able to sustain its satisfactory performance,” said the group.
CSC Steel Holdings Bhd reported a higher net profit of RM17.53 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2013, which was 216% higher than RM5.55 million posted in the first quarter of 2012.
Revenue also rose to RM312.04 million, from RM242.19 million due to higher sales volume of all CSC’s steel products.
“The much improved profit is due to significantly lower raw materials cost and lower unit production cost as a result of greater production volume,” CSC said.
It said it “expects to generate healthier returns for the group in 2013”.
MMC CORPORATION BHD [] is allocating RM2.21 billion to upgrade its ports in Johor to attract more shipping companies to the southern gateway.
Group managing director Datuk Hasni Harun told reporters today the company is expected to spend RM1.6 billion on Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) to increase its handling capacity to 10.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year next year from 7.7 million currently, according to Bernama.
The company has allocated RM421 million for Johor Port to increase its capacity to 45 million freight weight tonnes (FWT) in 2015 from 35 million FWT currently.
Hasni said the expansion of PTP is to show the company's desire to bring the cargo business of AP Moller-Maersk Group, the port's 30 per cent shareholder, to PTP.
"Out of the seven million TEUs handled by PTP last year, about six million TEUs came from Maersk, a few million TEUs of whose cargo was also handled by Singapore's port.
"If our ports are ready in terms of capacity and efficiency, those few million TEUs handled by Singapore may be moved to PTP," he said.
Hasni said while PTP is planned to handle more containers, Johor Port's expansion will cater to the growing oil and gas business.
He said the company expects a steady performance this year, driven by Malakoff Corp Bhd's power plant and higher sales from Gas Malaysia Bhd, and higher contribution from the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) work.
Hasni said MMC also plans to unlock the value of its landbank of over 1800 hectares in Iskandar Malaysia and is currently in talks with joint venture partners to develop the area.
Yokohama Industries Bhd turned around in the first quarter of this year, posting a net profit of RM3.28 million to end-March 2013 compared to a loss of RM912,000 in similar quarter in 2012.
It revenue also rose to RM45.85 million, from RM35.33 million.
The company told Bursa Malaysia higher sales and higher selling prices of batteries had pushed up its revenue and improved its bottom-line.
UNITED PLANTATIONS BHD [] saw its net profit for the first quarter drop by 11% from a year earlier due to lower production and higher production costs of crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the plantation company reported that its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013, had fallen to RM64.64 million from RM72.65 million in first quarter last year.
United Plantations said its plantations division reported a lower profit in 1QFY13 because of higher production costs and lower selling prices of CPO and PK.
However, its refinery divisions’ profit before tax surged by 55.7% due to favourable hedging and trading positions in commodities.
Looking ahead, the company said the risk of prices declining further outweighs the probability of prices recovering.
SCOMI GROUP BHD []'s oilfield services business has been awarded a 2-year contract worth RM98.5 million from Dragon Oil (Turkmenistan) Ltd for the provision of drilling and completion fluids services in Turkmenistan.
The contract commenced from January 2013, according to a statement from the company.
Scomi has provided drilling fluids and solids control services to Dragon Oil since 2007. Scomi has had a significant presence in Turkmenistan since 2004.
Scomi said it currently has an order book of over RM4.9 billion with a pipeline of tenders.
Allianz Life Insurance (M) Bhd aims to increase its new business premium this year to RM150 million, from RM110 million-RM120 million last year, with the launch of its investment-linked insurance plan this year.
Group chief executive officer Jens Reisch said the group is targeting up to 70,000 customers this year from its PowerLink product, an investment-linked insurance plan.
"We realise the importance of providing not just protection, but sufficient amount of protection for those who go through the most difficult times in their lives, especially when it comes to illness," he said.
Up to December 2012, the group’s market share was at 7% for life insurance. It is targeting to introduce a retirement plan product by September this year.
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
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