10th October 2011
Top Story: 2012 Budget ' Strengthening foundation for longer-term growth
Strategy Update (published 7 Oct 2011)
'' The focus of the 2012 Budget appears to be on strengthening the foundation of the economy for longer-term growth with greater emphasis on the services sector and the development of quality human resources. There are however, no substantial measures that will likely excite equity investors in the immediate term, in our view.
'' Although the market had been fearful of a severe revision to the RPGT, the actual measure was kinder. There were also no duty hikes for tobacco and brewery. On a more positive note, the retail sub-sector will likely benefit from the civil servants' pay adjustment and bonus payment.
Corporate Highlights
WCT: "Oktoberfest" of new contracts? Market Perform
Visit Note
'' WCT reiterated its guidance of RM2bn worth of new contracts in FY12/11, despite having only secured RM187m YTD.
'' Specifically, WCT spoke about "a large shopping mall near the Abu Dhabi F1 Circuit", "highways in Oman ", "government offices in Qatar " and a new RM300m MITI building.
TNB: More fuel oil needed Underperform
News Update
'' According to Reuters citing traders last Friday, TNB issued a tender seeking 100k tonnes of Nov delivery fuel oil after buying similar volumes for this month. We view the news negatively, as it signals the gas supply disruption will likely remain prolonged, thus further negatively impacting FY12 earnings.
'' We had previously highlighted that the gas supply bypass for Petronas' Bekok C field was unlikely to meet the end-Sep target.
KNM: Peterborough project delayed Underperform
News Update
'' Last week, KNM announced that it had been prompted by its client that the financial close of its UK Peterborough contract (worth RM2.2bn) has been delayed to Dec. As such, the company believes it will be unable to meet its guided FY11 revenue and EBITDA earnings of RM2.2bn and RM270m respectively.