MARKET ROUNDUP

U.S. Stocks Rise on Earnings as Dell Agrees to Be Bought Rebounding from the biggest loss of the year for benchmark indexes, as earnings topped forecasts and
Dell Inc. (DELL) agreed to be taken private in the largest leveraged buyout since the financial crisis. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1 percent to 1,511.24 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark equity index sank 1.2 percent yesterday amid concern that the European debt crisis may intensify. The Institute for Supply Management's index (SPX) of U.S. nonmanufacturing businesses, which covers about 90 percent of the economy, fell to 55.2 in January from the prior month's 55.7, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said.

Oil Rebounds on Services Report
After the biggest decline in two months as U.S. service industries expanded at a better-than-expected pace in January, signaling growth in 90 percent of the U.S. economy and stronger demand for crude. Oil advanced 0.5 percent as the Institute for Supply Management's index of U.S. non-manufacturing businesses reached 55.2, beating the estimate of 55 in a Bloomberg survey of economists. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for March delivery rose 47 cents to settle at $96.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices dropped the most since Dec. 6 yesterday. Trading was 10 percent above the 100-day average at 4:32 p.m. Prices have gained 5.2 percent this year.

(Source: Bloomberg)


NEWS

IJM ropes in China firm to grow Kuantan Port
IJM, via its unit Road Builder (M) Holdings Bhd (RBH), yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Guangxi to outline the basic principles for the disposal of 48 million shares or 40% stake in KPC. The proposed disposal is conditional on the approval of the Malaysian government, which holds a golden share in KPC, and the change of shareholdings in KPC under the privatisation agreement signed between the government and KPC in November 1997. It is also conditional on a 60-year extension of the current concession to KPC, which expires in 2027, as well as the granting of a 60-year concession to KPC for a new deep water terminal. Under the deal, a joint venture company will be set up by IJM and Guangxi on a 60:40 equity participation, which will acquire and jointly develop 280ha of industrial land north of Kuantan Port with the assistance of the Pahang state government. Guangxi is a China stateowned company that operates four ports in China, namely Fangchenggang, Beihai, Tieshan and Qinzhou. http://www.thesundaily.my


Hartalega Q3 net profit up 19%
Revenue rose 7% to RM259.6 million from RM242.0 million. For the nine-month period, the group's net profit rose 14% to RM172.4 million from RM151.6 million a year ago, while revenue grew 10% to RM762.3 million from RM690.7 million. The group also declared a second interim dividend of 3.5 sen per share for the financial year ending March 31, 2013, payable on March 21. This brings total dividends declared to date for the first and second interim periods to 7
sen. In a statement today, Hartalega managing director Kuan Mun Leong said the group is bullish on growth prospects in the nitrile market, given that global demand for nitrile rubber gloves has continued to grow at an exponential rate of
20% driven by customer switching from latex to nitrile. http://www.thesundaily.my

UMW lands US$140m Sabah Shell project
UMW Holdings Bhd has received a letter of award from Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd for a US$140mil contract. UMW said on Tuesday its unit UMW Petrodril (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd received the letter for the contract to supply a single combo top tension riser for Sabah Shell's Malikai project. "The contract is expected to contribute positively to the 2013 earnings and net assets of the UMW Group," it said. Some websites state top tensioned riser systems connect the subsea well bore to the floating production vessel. Top tensioned riser pipes are normally in contact with high-pressure production fluids and are subjected to dynamic loads. http://biz.thestar.com.my

UMW's capex to hit RM4b over next 3 years, says RAM Ratings
RAM Ratings issued the statement after the finalisation of transaction documents and it assigned a final AAA long-term rating to UMW's proposed RM2bil Islamic medium-term notes programme (2013/2028) while the rating had a stable outlook. To recap, UMW assembles and distributes Toyota vehicles, trading of heavy and industrial equipment (Komatsu, Toyota, Case and Bomag), provision of oil and gas (O&G) services (with drilling and oil-field services as core offerings), manufacture of automotive parts, and distribution of lubricants (Pennzoil and Repsol). RAM Ratings said the rating predominantly reflected UMW's strong market position and solid financial profile. UMW's 51%-owned UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd distributes the Toyota marque that leads the non-national segment of the Malaysian automotive industry. Toyota accounted for 14.49% of the total industry volume as at end-2011; its best-selling models are Vios, Camry, Hiluxand Hiace - the most popular brands in their respective segments. http://biz.thestar.com.my

Jupiter Securities Research - 6 Feb 2013