MO R N I N G C O F F E E  - Thursday, April 26, 2012

U.S. and European market roundup
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday and the Nasdaq was on track for its best percentage gain for 2012 a day after Apple's blowout results further lifted optimism about the strength of earnings. Pushing the S&P 500 to its session high in afternoon trade, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed stands ready to act if further economic help is needed. Earlier, the Fed repeated its promise to leave interest rates on hold until at least late 2014.

In a troubling sign, March durable goods orders fell 4.2% in the biggest drop in three years. The report was the latest to show softness in U.S. economic data. New York Mercantile Exchange, June crude rose 57 cents, to settle at $104.12 a barrel, after receiving a late lift from Wall Street's rally. DJIA was up 0.66%, S&P 500 up 1.34% and Nasdaq was up 2.23%.

 -Reuters

from Apple Inc. to Swedbank AB and Electrolux AB reported earnings that beat estimates. A gauge of European bank shares climbed, with Swedbank AB jumping to its highest price in almost a month. Electrolux AB, the world's secondbiggest appliance maker, rallied 6.5 %. The U.K. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first quarter as construction output slumped, pushing Britain into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s.

Gross domestic product contracted 0.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, when it shrank 0.3 percent, the Office for National Statistics. France's CAC 40 rallied 2%, Germany's DAX advanced 1.7% and U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.

-Bloomberg

Corporate News Headlines
Mudajaya says coal supply for India plant adequate. There is sufficient coal supply for its coal-fired plant in Chhattisgarh, India and is confident it can begin selling power by the first quarter of 2013.When fully operational, the power plant will consume about six million tonnes of coal per year and its 99.6 million tonnes coal block would sustain it for 15 years.

FGVH sticks to June listing deadline. The IPO in its current form means Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF), which owns 49% of Felda Holdings Bhd, will be excluded from the exercise. Originally, it was planned that KPF will get a 37% stake in FGVH in exchange for injecting its interest in Felda Holdings into FGVH. The plan, however, was thwarted by a court order obtained by a group of settlers who opposed the listing of FGVH.

Clement Hii, Navis make joint takeover offer for SEGi. The two parties collectively control 57.62% of SEGi. They are offering to buy the rest of the company for RM1.714 a share and RM1.214 per warrant and delist the company

-SunBiz

DiGi Q1 net profit down 3.2% to RM320.6m. Their earnings slipped 3.2% to RM320.63mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 from RM331.39mil a year ago. DiGi will pay a first interim tax-exempt dividend of 5.9 sen per ordinary share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2012 on June 8, 2012. The growth was mainly driven by data revenue that accounted for close to 31% of total revenue.

Ramunia turning around? speculation that the company is poised for a turnaround soon. Sources close to the company said Ramunia was near to clinching a contract from Shell Sarawak worth more than RM100mil. The company it is seeking the approval of its shareholders for the company's name to be changed to TH Heavy Engineering Bhd at its forthcoming EGM.

TH Plantations to complete land deal in Q3, acquisition of a total of 19,000ha in Sarawak and East Kalimantan for RM93mil. The group's total land bank would be more than 59,000ha after the acquisition and would transform the company into a mid-size plantation company.

-StarBiz

Nestle nets RM158m in first quarter. Nestle registered a 7.4% rise in its net profit to RM158.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31 2012 compared with RM147.15 million in the previous corresponding period. Turnover during the quarter grew 8.5%to RM1.16 billion from RM1.07 billion a year ago, driven by strong performance in both local and export sale.

SP Setia plans to invest up to RM30 million to set up an integrated rail transport hub at KL Eco City mixed development in Kuala Lumpur.The company is building a KTM commuter station, which will be integrated with the existing Abdullah Hukum light rail transit (LRT) station at the project location by 2013.

Ingress bags Honda parts supply deal. PT Ingress Malindo Ventures, has been awarded a RM26.6 million contract to supply door sash parts for a new Honda model by PT Honda Prospect Motor. The five-year project to supply the parts would start within the first quarter of financial year ending January 31 2014.

-Btimes

Source:Jupiter Securities Research 26 April 2012