AEON Credit's (ACSM) FY12 earnings beat consensus and ourfull-year forecasts by 17.5% and 10.1% respectively. Revenue and net profitsurged  27.7% and 50.7% y-o-y on bettershowing in all its business segments. Asset quality was largely preserved althoughthe CAR declined to 21.8% from 24.0% in the previous year  ' but still well above the required16.0%  - while NPLs dipped 14 bps to1.80%. The  company has proposed a 16.8sen single tier final dividend, bringing the FY12 dividends to 30.0 sen. MaintainBUY, with a higher fair value of RM9.98, pegged to 10x FY13 EPS vs 9x previously,on ACSM's consistent growth and bright prospects ahead.

Investors stay sidelined. FBM KLCI  eased 2.24 pts  to  1,596.62 as investors  turned cautious on regional markets' lossesamid fresh concerns over the Eurozone debt crisis. Losers outpaced gainers 429to 281, while 350 counters were unchanged. Today's headlines are Bank Negara governor  Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz said  the Malaysian economy is set for almost 5%growth in 2012, the Felda co-op votes in favour of FGVH's listing, sources saidMalaysia Airlines may need to re-engage with its employees before changing  its business plan, Naza plans to produce bigbikes locally, Miti confirms  the appointmentof Boston Consulting Group to study the  entire steel sector toaddress increasing petitions among the players, and Bursa posts flat 1Qearnings on lower revenue. Overnight, the DJIA fell  68.65 pts, or 0.5%,  to 12,964.10, as disappointing economic data and unease over Europe offsetthe positive corporate results. We expect another uninspiring today for thelocal bourse pending fresh leads.

Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF) voted overwhelmingly infavour of a corporate restructuring that will pave the way for the listing ofFelda Global Ventures (FGVH). KPF holds a 51% stake in Felda Holdings, which controlsall of the domestic agriculture businesses and other plantation-relatedbusiness, while FGVH holds the remainder. KPF delegates yesterday voted infavour of transferring its 51% interest in Felda Holdings to FGVH. FeldaHoldings will thus become a wholly-owned subsidiary of FGVH, which in turn willbe 51%-owned by KPF and 49% held by the government. Felda Holdings madeRM614.2m in profits in 2010 while FGVH made RM287.3m. (Financial Daily)

Proton recorded a 14% y-o-y and 10% q-o-q dip in car salesin 1Q2012, attributing the decline to stricter Bank Negara (BNM) hire-purchase(HP) guidelines introduced in January 2012. Perodua also indicated the BNM new guidelinesas the likely reason for its 11% drop in y-o-y sales. The new HP guidelineshave made it harder for car buyers to get their loan applications approved withlower loan amounts. The entry-level segment customers are now faced with higherloan rejections and will potentially move to lower-priced cars, such as usedcars or basic variants of A-segment models. (Malaysian Reserve)

The local advertising expenditure (adex) growth in Malaysiathis year is expected to moderate slightly by 2% to reach an estimated RM12bn.Last year's growth was 12%. Cautious market sentiment and growing focus on socialmedia are said to be the main causes for the slower growth, said MediaSpecialist Association president Ranganathan Somanathan. The area growing thefastest are digital and pay-TV ads. Ranganathan said more marketers today arestarting to explore the earned media space, in which they have to earn theiraudience, as opposed to the paid media space where they pay to engageaudiences. (Malaysian Reserve)

Ta Ann has proposed to undertake a 1-for-5 bonus issue of upto 61.79m shares. The proposed bonus issue would be implemented by capitalizingup to RM61.79m from the company's retained earnings reserve. The bonus issue isexpected to be completed in 2Q this year. (Financial Daily)

Philippines: Halts interest-rate cuts as growth outlookgains

The Philippines kept interest rates unchanged, halting aftertwo consecutive cuts as a recovery in exports lessened the need for policymakers to add stimulus to the economy. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas held therate it pays lenders for overnight deposits at 4%, according to a statement yesterday. Asian central banks are jugglingthe need to boost economies hurt by Europe's debt crisis and slowing Chinesegrowth with increasing pressure to contain inflation fanned by elevated oilprices.  (Bloomberg)

Japan reported the fastest export growth in a year and asmaller-than-expected trade deficit, aiding prospects of a sustained recoveryin the world's third- biggest economy. Boosted by car exports to the US,outbound shipments rose 5.9% in March from a year earlier. Comparisons aredistorted by the earthquake in March 2011. The results support theInternational Monetary Fund's estimate earlier this week that Japan's economy mayexpand as much as 2% this year, boosted by reconstruction spending. (Bloomberg)

India's trade deficit widened 56% in the fiscal year throughMarch to a record USD184.9bn, adding pressure on the rupee, government datashowed. Merchandise shipments climbed 21 percent to USD303.7bn in the 12-month period, Rahul Khullar, the topbureaucrat in the commerce ministry said yesterday. Imports advanced 32.1% toUSD488.6bn. The trade gap in 2010- 2011 was USD118.7bn. The shortfall inIndia's current account, the broadest measure of trade, was USD19.6bn in thethree months through December, prompting the central bank to say it'sunsustainable.  (Bloomberg)

International Monetary Fund Managing Director ChristineLagarde said she expects more contributions after landing pledges of aboutUSD320bn in her campaign for bigger reserves to combat threats to globalgrowth.'I look at this pot of money as an umbrella,' Lagarde said on BloombergTelevision yesterday. 'There are clouds on the horizon.' Japan, Denmark andSwitzerland are among the countries to rally this week to Lagarde's call for abigger lending capacity beyond the current USD380bn to shield the world economyagainst any deepening of Europe's debt turmoil. (Bloomberg)

Italian and Spanish bonds led declines among Europe'shigher-yielding government securities amid concern the regional debt crisis isworsening.  Italy's 10-year yieldsclimbed for a second day after a government report showed industrial ordersfell more than economists forecast and the Finance Ministry said debt-servicingcosts will increase. French bonds dropped after Citigroup Inc. said it expectsthe nation's credit rating to be cut over the next two to three years. Germanbunds advanced as investors sought the safest assets. Spain and France bothraised the amounts they targeted at debt auctions today. (Bloomberg)

More Americans than forecast filed claims for joblessbenefits and sales of  previously ownedhomes unexpectedly dropped, indicating the almost three-year-old economicexpansion may be moderating.  Jobless claimsfell by 2,000 to 386,000 in the week ended 14 April from a revised 388,000 theprior period, Labor Department figures showed yesterday in Washington.(Bloomberg)

Household confidence improved last week to match the highestlevel in four years as more Americans said their finances were in better shape.The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 31.4 in the period ended 15 April,compared with minus 32.8 over the previous seven days. The reading equaled thatfrom two weeks earlier as the best since March 2008. Nonetheless, the monthlyexpectations measure fell from a one-year high, showing concern remains thattoo many Americans are still unemployed. (Bloomberg)

Sales of previously owned US homes in March unexpectedlyfell for the third time in the last four months, showing an uneven recovery inthe housing market.  Purchases dropped2.6% to a 4.48m annual rate from 4.6m in February, the National Association ofRealtors reported yesterday. Residential real estate remains the economy's softspot, challenged by stricter lending standards, lower home values and thethreat of more foreclosures. An improved labor market and mortgage rates nearhistoric lows have yet to  stoke biggergains in demand. (Bloomberg)

Source: OSK188