MQ Market Updates - 15 February 2023

MQ Trader

Publish date: Wed, 15 Feb 2023, 05:27 PM

MISC Bhd posted a net profit of RM1.82 billion in the financial year ended December 31, 2022 (FY22), a slight decrease from RM1.83 billion posted in FY21. Revenue, however, jumped to RM13.87 billion from RM10.67 billion coming from contributions from all segments. For the fourth quarter (Q4), MISC's net profit expanded to RM645 million from RM461.7 million, while revenue increased to RM4.17 billion from RM3.09 billion previously. (NST)

Time dotCom Bhd's more than RM2 billion sale of its data centre business will diminish the long-term shareholder value for some of Malaysia's largest public funds, industry observers caution. Time shareholders will deliberate on the disposal at an extraordinary general meeting today. The Employees Provident Fund, Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) or KWAP collectively hold a 37 per cent stake in Time. (NST)

Engineering and project management consultant HSS Engineers Bhd (HEB) has made its first inroads into Bangladesh by securing a railway consulting contract in the country. HEB's associate company, HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd (HISB) and joint venture partners Oriental Consultants Global Co Ltd, Japan (OCG) and EGIS Rail S.A, France (EGIS) signed a contract agreement with Bangladesh Railway to provide consulting and technical services for the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded railway connectivity improvement preparatory facility project in Dhaka. (NST)

JF Technology Bhd's net profit dropped 47.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to RM2.88 million in the second quarter (Q2) ended December 31, 2022 (FY23) from RM5.52 million Q2 FY22 due to changes in product mix. The company said there were higher contributions from test interface products division and manufacturing in China and these businesses are still gradually gaining traction. (NST)

Solarvest Holdings Bhd (Solarvest) is expected to allocate up to RM1 million for its Solarvest Innovation Lab 2023 (SIL 2023) start-up accelerator programme. Its programme advisor, Gan Teck Hooi, said the majority of the allocation would be towards equity investment for the accelerator funding. (TheStar)

MR DIY Group Bhd is still experiencing an elevated increase in input costs, especially staff costs, which are having a negative impact on its bottomline. In its recent 4QFY22 earnings report, the home improvement retailer's profit after tax came in at RM138.3mil, 3% higher year-on-year (y-o-y), which bought its entire financial year earnings to RM481.5mil. (TheStar)

Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd (SCIB) has terminated an engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) project valued at RM55.59mil in Sumatera, Indonesia. The civil engineering specialist, in a statement, said its wholly-owned subsidiary, SCIB International (Labuan) Ltd or SCIBILL, issued a notice of termination to PT Cipta Multi Sarana for the proposed EPCC project involving earthworks for the Prabumulih–Muara Enim tolled road. (TheStar)

Rex Industry Bhd, which posted a net loss of RM1.9mil in the second quarter ended Dec 31, expects the environment for the food and beverage industry to remain challenging in the next 12 months. The company said this was mainly due to continued high input costs, freight charges and volatility of the ringgit. (TheStar)

Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider Betamek Bhd, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Betamek Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd, has secured contracts worth RM123.5mil to supply various electronics parts for a new Perodua model. The supply of these parts commenced in the fourth quarter of its financial year ending March 31, 2023, and is for a duration of six years, Betamek said in a statement yesterday. (TheStar)

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE) kicked off 2023 on a good start having secured an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract worth about RM1.4bil. Analysts said the job win is a positive development and see the group securing more in the future on the back of an oil and gas sector recovery. (TheStar)

The rise in aluminium prices with the reopening of China, which is the largest global aluminium consumer, translates into stronger margins for aluminium producers, including Press Metal Aluminium Bhd. Year-to-date aluminium prices have risen 6% to above US$2,500 (RM10,873) per tonne currently. (TheStar)

Ancom Nylex Bhd’s agriculture chemicals business is set to benefit from the ban on use of paraquat in Thailand and Brazil. With the ban, there will be demand for Ancom Nylex’s formulations, namely, Dasaflo and Monex HC, which are identified as close substitutes to the banned poisonous herbicide. (TheStar)

Anzo Holdings Bhd shares plunged as much as 75% to half a sen in early morning trade on Wednesday (Feb 15), a week ahead of its suspension on Feb 21, after it was granted further extension until April 30 to submit its regularisation plan to the relevant authorities.The counter saw 19.88 million shares change hands. (TheEdge)

Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd (PMH) is facing a legal suit attempting to block the sale of its three indirect associates to NewParadigm Capital Ventures Sdn Bhd for RM90 million cash. The three subsidiaries — PM Securities Sdn Bhd (PMS), PCB Asset Management Sdn Bhd (PCB Asset) and Miranex Sdn Bhd — are wholly owned by Pan Malaysia Capital Bhd (PMC), which is in turn a 34.84% unit of PMH. (TheEdge)

Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd today unveiled its enhanced strategy plan, Acceler8, to drive the bank's growth over the next four years. Group chief executive officer Kellee Kam said the strategic plan would target new market segments and business verticals, regional expansion, championing sustainability, as well as driving synergies and value creation through digital innovations and partnerships. (NST)

Two extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) of Revenue Group Bhd fixed for Friday (Feb 17) pertaining to the removal of directors, will not be held, pending further direction from the court following a court order earlier in the week. On Monday (Feb 13), the High Court granted an ad interim order to restrain the e-payment solution provider from proceeding with either of the EGMs, pending the determination of an interim injunction application filed by its co-founders Brian Ng Shih Chiow and Dino Ng Shih Fang. (TheEdge)

MIDF Research raised its earnings forecast for Hup Seng Industries Bhd for financial years 2023 (FY23) and 2024 by 11.3 per cent and 8.4 per cent. This was after accounting for a lower cost of sales caused by a drop in the cost of raw materials. Hup Seng's core net profit of RM26.4 million for FY22 exceeded both MIDF Research and consensus' full-year FY22 projections at 123.2 per cent and 133 per cent respectively. (NST)

Analysts remain optimistic about Berjaya Food Bhd’s (BFood) growth prospects in the near term, underpinned by new store contributions, pricing power and higher retail footfall from the return of Chinese tourists. RHB Research said the group’s revenue in the first half of 2023 (1H23) of RM578.4mil and core earnings of RM67mil are within its estimates. (TheStar)

Source: New Straits Times, The Edge Markets, The Star 13 Feb 2023