MQ Market Updates - 21 June 2023

MQ Trader

Publish date: Wed, 21 Jun 2023, 05:15 PM

Bumi Armada Bhd has inked a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Navigator Holdings Ltd (Navigator) to establish a joint venture (JV) company to provide CO2 shipping and injection solutions in the United Kingdom (UK). In a bourse filing on Wednesday (June 21), the floating infrastructure operator said Navigator is the owner and operator of the world’s largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers. (TheEdge)

UEM Sunrise Bhd on Wednesday (June 21) announced the new appointments of Datuk Hisham Hamdan as chairman and Reagan Chan Chung Cheng as director respectively, effective July 1, 2023. Hisham, who is currently the executive director of investments in Khazanah Nasional Bhd since April 2011 and the head of public markets, has previously covered the auto, agrifood, Iskandar Malaysia portfolios and served as executive director of research in Khazanah. He is also a founding member of the board of trustees of Khazanah Research Institute. (TheEdge)

Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology to minimise its high-risk customers segment to approximately 20%, from 30% currently. The high-risk customers include lower credit score rating borrowers, which are mainly the young age and lower income groups. Speaking at the press conference after its 26th annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday (June 21), Aeon Credit managing director Daisuke Maeda said that the group has come out with the AI initiative to improve its asset quality. (TheEdge)

S P Setia Bhd’s move to sell 500 acres of land in Semenyih, Selangor, to Mah Sing Group Bhd is seen as a move to monetise non-strategic landbank and focus on launches in its matured townships. The developer’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Petaling Garden Sdn Bhd, has agreed to sell 500 acres in Semenyih to three wholly-owned subsidiaries of Mah Sing, namely, Elite Park Development Sdn Bhd, Grand Prestige Development Sdn Bhd and Mestika Bistari Sdn Bhd, for RM392mil cash or RM18 per sq ft. (TheStar)

ACE Market-bound Daythree Digital Bhd is aiming to raise RM33.12mil from its initial public offering (IPO) to fund its business expansion. In a statement, the tech-driven global business service provider said plans to utilise RM14.7mil or 44.4% of the proceeds for working capital requirements to recruit an additional 380 customer experience executives. (TheStar)

Listing-bound SkyWorld Development Bhd may redeem the first tranche of its RM300 million sukuk in six to 12 months to plan and launch its flagship real estate project in Vietnam. According to its chief executive officer Lee Chee Seng, research has been done on the Vietnamese real estate sector in the past four years. (NST)

Bumi Armada Berhad today announced that following the recent start-up of the Kraken FPSO, production is currently circa 60 per cent of pre shutdown levels. "There is still further work, testing and investigations ongoing to stabilise and bring the vessel operational performance back to pre shutdown level," the company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia Securities. (NST)

Independent auditor Messrs PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) PLT has reported a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on Pharmaniaga Bhd’s ability to continue as a going concern. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, PwC said the pharmaceutical group had incurred a net loss of RM605.1mil in its audit of Pharmaniaga’s financial statements for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY22). (TheStar)

Scientex Bhd is cautiously optimistic over its performance in the current financial year, even as it cautioned that global demand for its products could be affected by weaker demand over the near term. “In the property division, we anticipate strong demand for our affordably priced properties, and will continue to launch new phases of developments, as well as leverage on our branding, affordable pricing and strategic locations. (TheStar)

Visdynamics Holdings Bhd expects the semiconductor industry to remain slow throughout the year and will not be spared from the impact as such. VisDynamics saw its net profit tumble 16.7% to RM2.62mil in the second quarter ended April 30, compared with RM3.14mil a year ago. During the quarter, its revenue fell 30% to RM7.45mil against RM10.6mil a year prior while earnings per share declined to 1.49 sen from 1.80 sen previously. (TheStar)

Despite the prevailing challenging environment, VS Industry Bhd expects demand for its products to pick up by the end of this year. The integrated electronics manufacturing services provider expects the demand recovery to be supported by the upcoming holiday and festive seasons by end-2023. This will also be boosted by the new product launches by brand owners after the present wait-and-see approach. (TheStar)

Mah Sing Group Bhd’s acquisition of a parcel of freehold land in Semenyih, Selangor, is expected to strengthen the property developer’s growth prospects. The development there, featuring affordable homes, is expected to be well-received by the market upon completion, according to analysts. (TheStar)

Apex Healthcare Bhd's near-term earnings momentum is likely to remain capped from the high base of financial year 2022 (FY22), according to Affin Hwang Capital. This is based on Affin Hwang's expectations of demand normalisation from the high base in FY22 coupled with lower associate contributions from the recent stake divestment. (NST)

Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research maintained its “hold” ratings on UWC Bhd, with a slightly lower target price (TP) of RM3.12 (from RM3.45), due to semiconductor cyclical downturn and macroeconomic headwinds. For the third quarter ended April 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), the company saw a core net profit of RM3 million, down 88% quarter-on-quarter and 89% year-on-year (y-o-y), bringing the cumulative nine-month sum to RM52 million, a decrease of 29% y-o-y, which missed HLIB’s and the consensus’ full-year forecasts. (TheEdge)

RHB Research is keeping a "hold" call on Scientex Bhd, as the plastic packaging manufacturer and affordable housing developer's valuations and long-term prospects remain attractive. In a note on Wednesday (June 21), its analyst Syahril Hanafiah said Scientex is currently trading at 0.5 standard deviations below its historical price-earnings ratio mean. (TheEdge)

Source: New Straits Times, The Edge Markets, The Star 21 June 2023