MQ Market Updates - 14 March 2023

MQ Trader

Publish date: Tue, 14 Mar 2023, 05:20 PM

Pharmaniaga Bhd's chief executive (CEO) officer Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope has resigned effective today to pursue other interests. In a statement, Pharmaniaga said Zulkarnain had served the company since September 2020 and has achieved significant business growth in the Malaysian and Indonesian operations during his tenure. (NST)

Bermaz Auto Bhd posted a strong jump in profit from the fulfilment of backorders with its margin boosted by the ringgit’s strength against the Japanese yen. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Bermaz said for the third quarter ended Jan 31, 2023 (3Q23), it reported a higher revenue and pre-tax profit of RM976mil and RM115.5mil respectively compared with revenue and pre-tax profit of RM623.1mil and RM55.1mil respectively. (TheStar)

Maybank Group has introduced Malaysia's first integrated automobile financing solution for electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid customers. The solution covers various aspects of owning an EV or hybrid vehicle, including financing solutions, insurance and takaful coverage, and EV charging privileges. (NST)

Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) has strengthened its foothold in the Indochina market by securing extended rights from Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. and Nestec S.A. (Nestlé) as the exclusive manufacturer and distributor for Nestlé's Bear Brand sterilised milk in Cambodia. Under the new arrangements, F&N will now manufacture, distribute, and market Bear Brand sterilised milk products directly to end consumers in Cambodia, effective March 1, 2023, until 2037. (NST)

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and ZTE (M) Corp Sdn Bhd have entered into a partnership to build a hybrid cloud 5G core network. In a joint statement yesterday, TM and ZTE Malaysia said that over the next three years, this strategic partnership will foster innovation and advancement of state-of-the-art technologies for TM’s 5G Core project, which includes bare metal containers, software-defined networking-based architecture, hardware acceleration, and three-layer decoupling. (TheStar)

Pimpinan Ehsan Bhd (PEB) signed a third supplemental agreement with B.Grimm Power (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, reNIKOLA Sdn Bhd, Boumhidi Adel and Tengku Zaiton Ibni Sultan Abu Bakar for the acquisition of reNIKOLA Holdings Sdn Bhd and its subsidiaries. Under the agreement, PEB will include the acquisition of an additional renewable energy (RE) asset, Idiwan Solar Sdn Bhd, into its regularisation plan for RM13.9 million. (NST)

Fitters Diversified Bhd has justified its acquisition of 12.14 million shares in Computer Forms (Malaysia) Bhd due to the latter’s involvement in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. In its Bursa filing on Monday (March 13) responding to Bursa's request for further clarification on the deal, the group rationalised the acquisition of Computer Forms after CFM’s joint venture agreement with EA Mobility Holding Co Ltd on Feb 5 to sell, distribute, assemble and produce EVs in Malaysia. (TheEdge)

Innature Bhd, the franchisee for The Body Shop in Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, has achieved B Corp certification, thus joining its franchisor, The Body Shop International, a long-time leader in ethical business, which achieved B Corp certification in 2019. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, InNature noted the B Corp certification is awarded to businesses that meet high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. (TheStar)

BSL Corp Bhd, which has received an unusual market activity (UMA) query from Bursa Malaysia, said it is unaware of any reason for the sharp fall in its share price and rise in volume recently. In a reply to the UMA query, the electronic manufacturing services company said it is not aware of any cause except for the completion of a corporate exercise in relation to the rights issue of 1.65 billion new ordinary shares at an issue price of RM0.055 per rights share together with 689.23 million free detachable warrants 2023/2026 (Warrants B). (TheStar)

Revenue Group Bhd co-founders Brian Ng Shih Chiow and Dino Ng Shih Fang were charged in the Sessions Court here on Tuesday (March 14) with fraudulently causing a bank employer to dispose of a vehicle belonging to the company without a resolution from its board of directors. The brothers had claimed trial by pleading not guilty to the charge before judge Rozina Ayob. (TheEdge)

Kenanga Research has maintained its “overweight” rating of the building materials sector, mainly anchored by its “outperform” calls on Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd and OM Holdings Ltd, as it sees continued margin pressures on Ann Joo Resources Bhd and United U-Li Corp Bhd due to weak domestic demand in China. In a note on Tuesday (March 14), the research house said that the sector’s results for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2022 remained lacklustre — with 40% of results coming in line and 60% below expectations, despite an improvement in the latest quarterly earnings. (TheEdge)

Source: New Straits Times, The Edge Markets, The Star 14 Mar 2023