KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): Here is a brief look at some corporate announcements and news flow on Thursday (July 28), which include AMMB Holdings Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (LCT), Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (Pavilion REIT), Bursa Malaysia Bhd, Vitrox Corp Bhd, Frontken Corporation Bhd, MI Technovation Bhd, Samchem Holdings Bhd, KIP Real Estate Investment Trust (KIP REIT), Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, Yinson Holdings Bhd, Tasco Bhd, G Capital Bhd, Muda Holdings Bhd, Chin Well Holdings Bhd, Capital A Bhd, Caely Holdings Bhd, Top Builders Capital Bhd, QL Resources Bhd and SDS Group Bhd. 

AMMB Holdings Bhd’s (AMMB) 51%-owned subsidiary AmGeneral Holdings Bhd has completed the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary AmGeneral Insurance Bhd (AGIB) to Liberty Insurance Bhd (LIB) for RM2.29 billion. With the completion of the deal, LIB now has acquired 100% of AGIB, previously 51%-owned by AMMB and 49%-owned by Insurance Australia Group.

Maxis Bhd saw its net profit in the second quarter ended June 30 decline by 8.61% to RM329 million from RM360 million a year earlier, due to higher depreciation and amortisation costs, as well as the one-off prosperity tax. The group declared a second interim dividend of five sen per share payable on Sept 30.

Unisem (M) Bhd's net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 surged 276.7% to RM205.86 million from RM54.64 million a year earlier, on the back of higher average selling prices, coupled with the appreciation of US dollar/ringgit exchange rates. It declared an interim dividend of two sen per share to be paid on Aug 25. 

Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd’s net profit rose 26.11% to RM169.65 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, from RM134.53 million a year ago, on the back of increased sales. It noted on consumption acceleration — in line with the removed travel restrictions — supported by its demand generation activities and excellence in operational execution. The group declared an interim dividend of 70 sen per share and payment date of Oct 6.

Westports Holdings Bhd's net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 slipped 8.81% to RM162.29 million, from RM177.97 million a year earlier, as higher fuel costs more than offset container revenue. The port operator has approved a first interim dividend of 6.91 sen or RM235.63 million, down from 8.5 sen per share or RM289.85 million last year.

Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd (LCT) suffered a net loss of RM145.92 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared with a net profit of RM382.29 million a year earlier, due to margin squeeze resulting from increase in feedstock cost and decline in results of associated company, Lotte Chemical USA Corp.

Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (Pavilion REIT) net property income for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 jumped 74.5% to RM83.11 million, up from RM47.62 million a year ago, as revenue was higher, while operating expenses declined after the economy reopened. The REIT declared an interim income distribution of 4.08 sen per unit.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd had a lower net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022, down 33.16% year-on-year to RM59.47 million, from RM88.97 million a year ago due weaker revenue impacted by domestic and global developments, including global inflationary pressures. 

Vitrox Corp Bhd said its second quarter net profit rose slightly to RM51.35 million, from RM50.64 million a year ago, thanks to the stronger US dollar. Quarterly revenue decreased 3.46% to RM189.4 million from RM196.19 million last year, amid lower sales demand from the group’s machine vision system division, which offset continued high demand from the automated board inspection (ABI) sector.

Frontken Corporation Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 rose by 30.17% to RM32.2 million, compared with RM24.74 million a year earlier, on the back of improved revenue and better profit margins. The surface engineering service provider declared its first interim dividend of 1.60 sen per share for the financial year, to be paid on Sept 20. 

MI Technovation Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter fell 28.5% to RM18.66 million, from RM26.11 million a year ago, due to expansion expenses, and higher material and logistics costs. Revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 fell 20% to RM93.58 million from RM117.29 million, dragged by its semiconductor equipment business, due slowdown in the smartphone and mobile device industry, which is facing weakening demand from end users amid inflationary pressures.

Samchem Holdings Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 decreased by 5.4% to RM18.21 million, down from RM19.24 million a year ago, due to narrower margin as a result of a challenging business environment. Nevertheless, the group has proposed a second interim dividend of one sen per share.

KIP Real Estate Investment Trust (KIP REIT)’s net property income for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2022 (4QFY22) dropped 5.8% to RM14.2 million, down from RM15.08 million a year ago, due to higher utilities expenses and lower gross revenue. However, the REIT declared a distribution per unit of 2.1 sen, to be paid on Aug 25. It recorded more than five times growth for its profit after tax to RM49 million in 4QFY22, from RM9.27 million in 4QFY21, derived from changes in fair value of its seven properties. 

Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd's joint-venture company has secured a series of additional subcontracts from Petro Flanges & Fittings Sdn Bhd to supply high-grade carbon steel/stainless steel piping, valves and piping accessories, with a value of RM4.43 million, to companies in the oil and gas industry.

Yinson Holdings Bhd has inked an exclusivity agreement with bp Exploration (Angola) Ltd to reserve a floating production storage and offloading vessel for the latter’s proposed 10-well subsea Palas, Astrea and Juno Oil Fields (PAJ Project) in Angola.

Tasco Bhd's 70%-owned subsidiary Tasco Yusen Gold Cold (TYGC) has received the JSA-S1004:2020 certification from Japan's certification body Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), which indicates TYGC adheres to the standards for business-to-business cold chain logistics services.

G Capital Bhd’s 70%-unit Solarcity Malaysia Sdn Bhd has inked a solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with Muda Holdings Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary Federal Packages Sdn Bhd for sale of solar energy to Federal Packages from a 5.5 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar asset in Pulau Pinang. The plant is expected to achieve commercial operation by the first quarter of 2023.

Separately, Solarcity and Chin Well Holdings Bhd unit Chin Herr Industries (M) Sdn Bhd have mutually agreed to downsize a planned solar rooftop asset to 2.47 MWp, from the initial 3MWp proposed previously. The two parties inked a supplementary solar PPA to effect the revision.

Capital A Bhd’s aviation arm AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd said its unit AirAsia’s Advanced Air Mobility and Skyports Infrastructure have inked a letter of intent to explore the development of air taxi infrastructure in Malaysia.

Five directors of Caely Holdings Bhd have been appointed to the board of construction engineering group Top Builders Capital Bhd. They include Caely Chairman Datuk Loh Ming Choon, Executive Vice Chairman Wong Siaw Puie, Executive Director Datuk Seri Sin Hock Min, and Independent Directors Datuk Mohammad Hanafiah Zakaria and Ng Mei Choo. A check on Bloomberg indicated that the lingerie maker and Top Builders do not have any common major shareholders.

QL Resources Bhd highlighted the cost pressure it is facing amid supply chain disruption, and inflationary pressure will further narrow its margins. It added that the risk of a recession had exacerbated the group’s operating condition, but stressed that QL will uphold its responsibility to provide Malaysians with nourishing and affordable protein sources.

SDS Group Bhd, which made a debut on Bursa Malaysia’s ACE Market in October 2019, has proposed to transfer its listing to the Main Market to enhance the group’s prestige and reputation.