KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): Based on corporate announcements and news flow today, companies in focus on Tuesday (Feb 14) may include: AirAsia X Bhd (AAX), MBM Resources Bhd, Tadmax Resources Bhd, Lafarge Malaysia Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Cycle and Carriage Bintang Bhd, Jaks Resources Bhd, OldTown Bhd, Econpile Holdings Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing Bhd and Telekom Malaysia Bhd.
 
AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) returned to profit in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16) after three years of losses, lifted by higher revenue and cost efficiencies.
 
The airline posted a net profit of RM230.54 million in FY16, against a net loss of RM349.62 million in the previous year, while revenue rose 31% to RM4.01 billion, from RM3.06 billion a year ago.
 
AAX said based on current forward booking trend, forward loads and average fares are trending better than the previous year.
 
MBM Resources Bhd posted a 68% drop in net profit to RM3.52 million in 4QFY16, from RM11.01 million or 2.82 sen in 4QFY15, due to a one-off impairment of RM30.3 million. Revenue, however, rose 2% to RM447.74 million, from RM437.73 million.
 
In FY16, net profit fell 26% to RM62.03 million, from RM84 million in FY15, while revenue declined 7% to RM1.68 billion, from RM1.82 billion.
 
The group expects market conditions to remain challenging going forward, but said new model launches by the brands within the group are expected to contribute positively.
 
Tadmax Resources Bhd saw a total of 15 million of its shares — representing a 3.06% equity stake — traded off market today.
 
The shares were moved in two blocks of 14.6 million shares and 400,000 shares, at 41 sen apiece or RM6.15 million. It is unclear as to who the parties involved in the exchange were, at the time of writing.
 
The largest shareholder of Tadmax is its managing director Datuk Seri Anuar Adam, with a total stake of 30.251%; followed by Datuk Faizal Abdullah (15.064%) and Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (5.53%), according to bourse filings.
 
Lafarge Malaysia Bhd’s net profit shrank 24% in 4QFY16 to RM33.94 million, from RM44.68 million a year ago, on lower cement sales.
 
Profitability was also affected by a one-off loss from disposal of its Ipoh-based subsidiary, higher loss on disposal and write-off of assets, higher finance cost, and higher share of losses in an associate, its bourse filing today showed.
 
Quarterly revenue dipped 11% to RM636.37 million, from RM718.31 million previously, as its cement segment was impacted by weak demand and pricing pressure, following soft property market and delays in certain mega infrastructure projects.
 
For FY16, Lafarge’s net profit sank 70% to RM76.67 million, from RM252.34 million in FY15. Revenue meanwhile slid 7.22% to RM2.55 billion, from RM2.75 billion, as higher sales from its concrete segment was unable to completely offset the weak performance from its cement division.
 
Higher crude palm oil prices has more-than-tripled Genting Plantations Bhd’s earnings to RM201.89 million in 4QFY16, from RM59.4 million a year ago, thus ballooning its earnings per share to 25.76 sen, from 7.69 sen previously. 
 
Quarterly revenue expanded 21% to RM513.4 million, from RM424.4 million a year ago, as it clocked in an average CPO selling price at RM2,858 per tonne, which had jumped by 37% from RM2,081 per tonne in the same quarter last year.
 
For the full year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16), net profit nearly doubled to RM367.49 million, from RM189.75 million, while revenue grew 7.6% to RM1.48 billion, from RM1.37 billion.
 
It declared a final single-tier dividend of 8 sen per share, plus special single-tier dividend of 11 sen for FY16, bringing the total dividend payout for FY16 to 21 sen per share, versus 5.5 sen in FY15. 

Cycle and Carriage Bintang Bhd’s 4QFY16 net profit fell 84% year-on-year, due mainly to decreased earnings from its Mercedes trading operations, which faced severe margin pressure.
 
Net profit in 4QFY16 clocked in at RM1.6 million, compared with RM10.2 million recorded a year ago (4QFY15), as revenue slid 5% to RM368.2 million, from RM387.6 million.
 
It announced a final dividend of 5 sen a share for its FY16, payable on May 24, 2017.

Investor Koon Yew Yin, a philanthropist who is well known for his good stock pick, has emerged as a substantial shareholder of Jaks Resources Bhd, after he has bought 23.88 million shares or a 5.45% stake in the company.
 
According to the filing with the local bourse, Koon bought the shares last Thursday. It is not known at what price Koon had bought the shares.
 
Jaks Resources has commenced the construction of a power plant, which it will operate for 25 years, in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam. The construction works have helped boost its earnings up 135.52% in 3QFY16 to RM13.86 million, from RM5.91 million a year ago, mainly on higher profit from construction.

OldTown Bhd posted a net profit of RM24.35 million in 3QFY17, more than double its 3QFY16 net profit of RM11.07 million, mainly driven by its manufacturing of beverages business; while quarterly revenue grew 13.3% to RM115.81 million, from RM102.21 million.
 
In 9MFY17, OldTown’s net profit surged 50% to RM50.86 million, from RM33.91 million in 9MFY16, while revenue grew 10.2% to RM318.24 million, from RM288.88 million a year ago.

Econpile Holdings Bhd says it has clinched its single-largest contract to date, worth RM570.4 million, for works at the Pavilion Damansara Heights development here.
 
The contract, which would see it undertake piling and basement substructure works for the mixed project, was awarded to its wholly-owned unit Econpile (M) Sdn Bhd on Feb 21, from Domain Resources Sdn Bhd. The contract is for a duration of 28 months. 
 
With the new contract, its order book is now at a record-high of RM1.4 billion, to be recognised over the next two years.

Petron Malaysia Refining and Marketing Bhd posted a near seven-fold rise in net profit to RM112.62 million in 4QFY16, from RM16.24 million a year earlier, on growth in sales volume and higher margin.
 
Revenue rose 22% to RM2.29 billion, from RM1.88 billion in 4QFY15, while sales volumes increased by one million barrels to 8.3 million barrels, when compared with 4QFY15. 
 
In FY16, Petron’s net profit grew 7.68% to RM237.6 million, from RM220.6 million in FY15, the highest profit since its entry into Malaysia five years ago, it said. Revenue, however, fell 6.75% to RM7.6 billion, from RM8.15 billion.
 
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM)'s 4QFY16 net profit fell near 20% to RM154.3 million, from RM192.4 million a year ago, due to foreign exchange losses from group borrowings arising from the weakening ringgit against the U.S. dollar, despite recognition of investment tax allowances granted in the period.
 
Quarterly revenue rose to RM3.24 billion, from RM3.18 billion previously, on better contributions from Internet and multimedia, and non-telecommunication related services, which was partially offset by reduction in voice, data and other telecommunications related services, TM said.
 
TM declared a second interim single-tier 12.2 sen in FY16, which will be paid on March 24.
 
For FY16, net profit grew 10.8% y-o-y to RM776 million, from RM700.3 million in FY15, due to lower forex losses on borrowings in the year, net of non-controlling interest's share of subsidiaries' losses. Revenue gained 2.9% y-o-y in FY16 at RM12.1 billion, versus RM11.7 billion the year before.