KUALA LUMPUR (April 27): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made the news on Thursday (April 27) involving Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM), Parkson Holdings Bhd, Classita Holdings Bhd, Sunview Group Bhd, Unisem (M) Bhd, Vitrox Corp Bhd, Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, United Plantations Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd.

Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM) via its unit Resorts World Miami LLC had entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Smart Miami City LLC. Based on the disposal consideration of US$1.22 billion (RM5.43 billion) of four parcels of land in Miami measuring 15.47 acres (Miami Herald land), GenM expects to realise an estimated gain on disposal of US$967 million (RM4.289 billion).

Singapore-listed Parkson Retail Asia Ltd (PRA), a 67.96%-owned subsidiary of ParksonHoldings Bhd, said its wholly-owned unit Parkson Vietnam Co Ltd is filing for voluntary bankruptcy on Friday (April 28), after 18 years in operation. The group said Parkson Vietnam has historically been operating at a loss, with such losses being compounded in recent years due to the challenging business environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Classita Holdings Bhd's former directors have decided not to continue with their legal bid to challenge the legitimacy of an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held in June last year. The EGM had resulted in the removal of these ex-directors — Loh Ming Choon, Jessie Wong Siaw Puie, Sin Hock Min, Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria and Koo Chen Yeng, the daughter of Classita substantial shareholder Datuk Seri Tee Yam @ Koo Tee Yam. At a case management session in the Court of Appeal on Thursday (April 27), the appeal by the ex-directors was struck off at their request. “As such, the hearing date fixed on May 12, 2023 is vacated,” it said.

Renewable energy player Sunview Group Bhd’s indirect wholly-owned unit, Vafe System Sdn Bhd, inked an agreement to acquire a 20% stake in Winstar Aluminium Manufacturing Sdn Bhd from Chua Nyok Chong for RM12 million. Chua currently owns 50.54% of Winstar, which is engaged in the manufacturing, fabricating, processing and selling of aluminium, metal and alloy. Post-acquisition, Sunview will have access to its own aluminium alloy solar mounting system through Winstar. The measure will allow the group to reduce its dependency on external suppliers of the aluminium alloy solar mounting system.

Unisem (M) Bhd’s net profit plunged 80.56% to RM9.86 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) compared with RM50.69 million in the same quarter last year. Its quarterly revenue also fell 16.59% to RM354.05 million from RM424.44 million. Nonetheless, Unisem declared a first interim dividend of two sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023. The dividend, with an ex-date of May 12, will be paid on May 26.

ViTrox Corp Bhd saw its net profit decline 34% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM32.99 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023), down from RM50.02 million a year ago, mainly due to the absence of reversal of provision of taxation as pioneer status extension for its wholly-owned unit ViE Technologies Sdn Bhd. The technology firm’s revenue fell 28% y-o-y to RM133.33 million for 1QFY2023, down from RM185.28 million previously, dragged by lower demand for machine vision systems amid the headwinds of a global semiconductor downturn.

Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd incurred a net loss of RM224.76 million for the first quarter ended March 31 (1QFY2023) compared to a net profit of RM104 million in the same quarter a year ago, while revenue sank 29% to RM1.97 billion from RM2.76 billion following lower average selling prices and sales volume.

United Plantations Bhd’s first quarter net profit surged 87.78% to RM112.1 million from RM59.69 million a year earlier, helped by a turnaround in its refinery segment's earnings. The Perak-based group's quarterly revenue, however, slipped 28.45% to RM459.1 million from RM642.91 million, due to lower revenues from both its plantation and refinery segments.

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd posted a net loss of RM24.25 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) versus a net profit of RM90.1 million a year ago, mainly due to losses from its gloves division. The glove manufacturer’s quarterly revenue declined 42.54% to RM394.71 million from RM687.01 million in 1QFY2022, amid lower revenues at the gloves and clean-room division.