MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

European Stocks Are Little Changed; Banks Drop, Rio Rises: following last week's rally for the region's equity
benchmark, as a selloff in banks offset Greek opinion polls that eased concern the country will leave the euro. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 decreased 0.2 percent.

U.S. financial markets closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

Oil Climbs a Third Day on U.S. Economic Growth Outlook: Signaling fuel demand may increase in the
world's biggest crude-consuming nation. Crude for July delivery advanced as much as $1.13 to $91.99 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Floor trading was closed yesterday for the
U.S. Memorial Day holiday and transactions will be booked with today's trades for settlement purposes.


CORPORATE NEWS


FGVH to list on June 28: Source. The world's thirdlargest oil palm plantation operator, will be launching its prospectus on Thursday, with listing targeted for June 28. The retail price is touted to be RM4.65, subject to the final institutional price which will be determined by a bookbuilding exercise (which ends on June 15).

Rashdan resigns from MAS: During his short stint in MAS, Rashdan was in charge of short-haul operations, commercial, finance, corporate finance and strategic procurement units. This includes the purchase of aircraft. Rashdan's latest stint in MAS was his second involvement in restructuring the national air carrier over the last 10 years.

RHBCap posts lower Q1 net profit of RM435m: net profit fell 5% in the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 (Q1, mainly due to the effects of higher restated profits due to application of Malaysia Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) 139 and lower profit contributions from its corporate and investment banking, retail banking, business banking and global financial banking operations.

-SunBiz

PetChem posts higher profit: net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012, grew 3.4% to RM1.02bil, the group recorded improved operational performance this quarter.

E&O Q4 net profit triples: its net profit for the fourth quarter of its financial year ended March 31 more than triple to RM42.37mil. Attributable to strong sales and higher revenue recognition as well as cost control initiatives. The company has proposed a final dividend of 4.25 sen per share.

Boustead earnings rise 22% on higher revenue: net profit rose to RM144.6mil for the first quarter ended March 31. The only division that saw a deficit was its heavy industries, with a pre-tax loss of RM5.4mil due to losses at the commercial shipbuilding segment and the fact that work on the second-generation patrol vessels have yet to move into full swing. Given its overall positive results, Boustead declared an interim dividend of 7.5 sen for the first quarter.

-StarBiz

Scomi posts RM23m pre-tax profit in Q1: has achieved a profit turnaround for the first quarter ended March 31 2012, thanks to gross margin improving to 24.2 per cent, attributed better earnings to its marine and oilfield services divisions.

BIMB's Q1 pre-tax rises 16.2pc: the higher profitability was increased due to the higher net income growth of 22.2 per cent of RM81.6 million, partly offset by the higher operating overheads of RM46.2 million and higher allowance for impairment on financing and other assets (including provision for contingent liability) of RM12.6 million.

Bumi Armada in joint bid for 4 marginal field deals: On its first quarter results, he said the group posted a net profit of RM89.7 million, up by 9.3 per cent, over the same quarter 2011.However, its revenue fell by 10.9 per cent to RM227.3 million during the period

-Btimes

Source:Jupiter Securities Research 29 May 2012