MQ Market Updates - 13 February 2024

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Publish date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024, 05:06 PM

AnwanBiru Technology Bhd via its wholly-owned subsidiary Awantec Systems SDn Bhd has entered into a service agreement with Redtone Engineering and Network Services Sdn Bhd to support the government's unified communication and collaboration project, MyGovUC3.0. In a statement, the group said Awantec will be providing Cloud computing solutions and services which includes products such as Google Workspace Enterprise and Google Cloud Platform. (TheStar)

Ekovest Bhd has secured an extension from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to facilitate and implement its "exit plan” in Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE) concessionaire Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd (Kesturi). Kesturi, the holder of the 54-year concessionaire for the 34-kilometre DUKE, is 40 per cent owned by EPF, while the interest of the remaining share is by Ekovest. (TheStar)

KPJ Healthcare Bhd plans to sublet the royal suite of Damansara Specialist Hospital 2 (DSH2) to its major shareholder Johor Corporation (JCorp), after renovating the hospital. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the healthcare provider said its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Rawang Specialist Hospital Sdn Bhd has issued a letter of acceptance (LOA) to JLG & BP Design Sdn Bhd for the proposed RM15.9 million renovation works. (TheEdge)

YTL Corp Bhd and YTL Power International Bhd have been included in the MSCI Malaysia Index, while Dialog Group Bhd has been excluded from the list, with effect from February 29. MSCI provided a list of the additions and deletions in a statement on Monday. (NST)

Zecon Bhd said it had accepted a combined total of RM851.94 million in Tawarruq Asset Financing Facilities from Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd (BPMB). The letter of offer from BPMB was received on Feb 9, 2024. Zecon said that RM616.94 was for its subsidiary, Zecon Medicare Sdn Bhd, which is the 30-year facilities and maintenance concessionaire of Hospital Pakar Kanak-Kanak Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HPKK). (NST)

Petronas Chemical Group Bhd's (PetChem) improvement in its fourth quarter (Q4) 2023 earnings will primarily be driven by higher overall plant utilisation (PU) as a slew of unplanned outages in Q2 and Q3 2023 were resolved. There were a slew of unplanned outages in Q2 (PC Methanol Labuan and PC Fertiliser Sabah) and Q3 (PC Methanol Labuan and PC Olefins Kertih), which dragged the company's overall PU to 82 per cent and 77 per cent, respectively. (NST)

FGV Holdings Bhd's proposed bonus issue of up to 364.82 million new Islamic redeemable preference shares will be delayed, as its controlling shareholder Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) asked for more time to secure Cabinet's approval for the exercise. The bonus issue is on the basis of one Islamic preference share for every 10 ordinary shares in FGV. (NST)

ITMAX System Bhd’s recent Variation Order No 7 (VO7) contract secured from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is expected to increase the group’s turnover by approximately RM23.6 million for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024) to FY2025, said Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB). In a note on Tuesday, the research house said the contract came as a positive surprise last week, as there had been no prior indication of additional scope of work for the existing contract. (TheEdge)

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd has completed the acquisition of KAF Equities Sdn Bhd via CIMB Investment Bank Bhd and will be rebranded as CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd. The company noted the acquisition was part of the bank's strategy to expand its in-house capabilities, which complements the group's wholesale banking business in Malaysia. (NST)

Avaland Bhd anticipates a robust year of growth in the company's bottom line for 2024, according to its chief executive officer of Avaland, Apollo Bello Tanco (Pol). "We believe 2024 will be a very exciting year for Avaland, as we are aiming to achieve RM700 million to RM800 million worth of sales," he said. (NST)

Malaysia’s biggest port operator, Westports Holdings Bhd, is considering external strategic investors to help fund a RM39.6 billion expansion that will see capacity nearly double in coming decades. “We would be open to it, if it’s someone who can come and add value to us,” executive chairman Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam said. “We have not ruled anything out.” (TheEdge)

Reneuco Bhd emerged as the third most active counter during early trade on Tuesday, amid the persistent downward trajectory of its share price that began last month. At Tuesday's noon market break, the counter recorded a trading volume of 23.63 million shares, with its share price half a sen or 9% higher at six sen. This gave the company a market value of RM67.3 million based on a share capital of 1.12 billion shares. (TheEdge)

Source: New Straits Times, The Edge Markets The Star 13 February 2024